Lee Loader

Hi Folks,

I am going to try reloading 357 sig. As I have begun itemizing the additional components and tools I will need to buy, I of course went to Lee to look for the dies. Two things caught me by surprise. First, sig dies are not offered in a 4 die set? Why not? Especially since 357 sig bullet retention is a noted point to pay attention to. I would think any and everyone reloading sig would want/need the factory crimp die?
Secondly, Why steel only and not carbide? I am a somewhat a new re-loader, (couple years now), maybe 2000 combined 9mm & 45acp. I guess I made a wrong assumption after reading up on, and buying my carbide dies originally, that they were superior to steel. Apparently, my assumption is incorrect otherwise all dies would be carbide. Any comments, steel -vs- carbide will sooth my curiosity!

Rog

I may be totally wrong, but my memory of the subject tells me that the carbide die vs steel die issue is due to metallurgy of the two. Carbide, being extremely "hard", is much more difficult (expensive to produce) to shape into tapered/bottle necked cases than "steel". Straight (actually parallel) case dies are considerably cheaper/easier to produce. My .38/.357, .44 spl/.44 mag and .45 acp carbide dies work perfectly, as expected, without the need for case lube. On the other hand, even though my 9 mm dies are touted as "carbide", I have to send a case lubed piece of brass through the sizing die every 4th or 5th round or I going to have problems. Even though the .9mm is "straight wall", it is a tapered case (not parallel). I often wondered if my 9mm sizing die is actually out of spec, or if it's typical of tapered case dies regardless of the carbide moniker.

There are, from what I've heard, "carbide" dies available (other brands) for most everything .... if you want to pay the price.


jd

Dies for straight walled or tapered dies can be made carbide and are "better" because you don't need to lube the cases. The "357" sig is not a straight wall case but a bottle neck cartridge. The reason I put the 357 in quotes is because it actually isn't a 357 cartridge but a 9mm (.355) cartridge. The sig cartridge needs to be lubed so it won't stick in the die, same as most rifle cases. You can buy steel reloading dies for the 45 acp and 9mm but you will have to lube them to keep from sticking a case in the die.

I have both carbide and steel die sets. Even some of my pistol die are steel. The only advantage I see is carbide don't require lube. This is no advantage to me as I lube every case going into a sizer because it just makes everything smoother especially on a progressive.
As mentioned the 357sig is a bottlenecked case so I assume that's why it isn't made.

I thought I had responded to this earlier but evidently "pushed" the wrong button. As said by others carbide dies are "generally" for straight walled (or slightly tapered as most are) and steel for bottleneck cases. I do believe Dillon offers carbide dies in 223 and 308, not sure if any other vendors do or not. Lee used to custom make their rifle type crimp die for straight walled cases but not sure if they still do that or not. I think you'll find as you read more about carbide dies that a lot (most maybe) or starting to lube cases even when a carbide die is being used. Usually just a spray type as it's not near as important as lubing a bottleneck rifle case but I would think that a 357sig case would probably work just fine with that type lube. Just spray a bag full, shake them around a bit, let them sit long enough for the lube to dry then go to work....

.40 bottle-necked to 9mm means it's a rifle case made short for ninja use.

mr surveyor wrote:I often wondered if my 9mm sizing die is actually out of spec, or if it's typical of tapered case dies regardless of the carbide moniker.

I think it is typical of the 9mm Luger JD. Like daboone, I found my 9mm Luger cases run smoother through my Load-Master when lubed. Since I started using Turtle's Zip Car Wash & Wax when I clean the cases, I've been able to eliminate the lube for sizing.

As best I could determine when I was looking for 357 Sig dies no one made a set with a carbide sizer. When I started I was using a lot of unprocessed range brass and wanted a carbide sizer in the worst way. Someone point out to me that the Lee 40 S&W seater with the carbide ring would take care of the body sizing and then just neck size with the regular die. It worked, but then I discover wet cleaning with steel pins and either Turtle or Armoral car wash/wax and now I decap the used brass and clean it and size in the regular dies. So far haven't needed to do any bulge busting.

Actual it's more a 10mm necked down the 40 Small and Weak is too short to form cases and it's not worth the effort, kinda like try to make 256 WM cases out of 357 mag with just the fl sizer.

Make smoke,