Loading .357 Sig with Lee 1000

[Peter W Bush]

So I bought a Lee Pro 1000 yesterday because everybody was out of Hornady LnL progressives. I've loaded on a Projector and single stage presses before but never loaded 357 Sig. Any advice on loading 357 with the Lee? Thanks.

[shinbone]

Well, here's a few tips Ive picked up.. 357Sig is what I mainly load right now.

Dont get RCBS dies because they size the bottleneck too far down.

Lee 357Sig dies are good but only come in steel. That means you have to use lube. Many people use carbide 40s&w sizer/decapper so they can skip the lube.

Make sure you have a good crimp on the bullet. This caliber is prone to bullet setback. And bullet setback is dangerous for a caliber already having nominally high pressures.

To use 357Sig to its full potential, use 9mm JHPs or jacketed TC. Lead and plated are ok, but youd have to run a lighter charge. Which essentially turns it into a 9mm.


Other than that, I think its the same as loading any straight-walled pistol caliber. Good luck, its a fun caliber to shoot.

BTW. If you want "ooohs and aaahhhs" use bluedot powder. Your gun will double as a flame thrower.

[GeoffLinder]

Read this:

http://www.handguninfo.com/Archive/www.Pete-357.com/357.safety.reload.htm

And this:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=3563

And then read some more then and only then start loading .357 SIG

The point here is it's not really like most pistol cartridges, it's much more like a bottle-neck rifle cartridge.

The biggest problem with reloading the cartridge is getting a good tight bullet fit and/or crimp going to make sure you DO NOT get bullet setback as the round bangs up the feed ramp and is chambered, this can cause a dangerous over-pressure condition and you know what that means!!!!

Be cautious and you will probably be fine.

Might not be a bad idea to try single stage loading some test ammo and get it all sorted out that way before you put the dies into the progressive and just start cranking out lotsa' .357 SIG that isn't done just right.