die questions

[kielbasavw]

i am just getting into reloading, and have done some research on a little bit of everything. i recently bought an old reloading set from the late 70's early 80's (everything is dated) for $350. it came with quite a bit of stuff, an older RCBS Reloader Special (RS) press, bunch of books, some powder, primers, brass, ect blah blah blah.

here are the dies it came with, and then my question:
rcbs 38spc 3 piece die set
rcbs 357 seater die
rcbs 38 acp/super 3 piece set
rcbs 30/30 fl 2 piece set
rcbs 30/30 trim die set

a friend has been telling me that 38/357 are and use the same dies, my question is why would i have a seperate "357 seater die" and also, i dont see any "carbide" stamping on my dies, and i would really prefer not to lube ever single case if i have to. what do you guys suggest to do about finding carbide dies to switch over. and i do not need 38super dies.. what could i get for that?

[Cheep]

The 357 seater die is probably too deep to seat 38spl and you may be able to trade the 38super for dies you want.

[scotty99]

The guy you bought this from likely had separate .38 and .357 seater dies so he would not have to readjust when switching between calibers. Adjusting the resize and expander dies is pretty quick, but the seater die takes more trial and error.

[koehn,jim]

Check with Lee for carbide dies or Dillon.

[XDRoX]

While back some companies did make 38spl only dies and 357 only dies. The guy you brought them from added the 357 seat/crimp die to load 357. The 38spl sizer and expander will load 357, just not the seat/crimp.

Personally I'd sell all of it and buy a brand new Lee carbide set for like $25 or whatever they cost nowadays. Last time I bought one it was under $25. It will load both 38spl and 357mag and they will be carbide so no lube required.

[XDRoX]

Check with Lee for carbide dies or Dillon.

He's using a single stage press. Dillon dies don't come with an expanding die.

[kielbasavw]

I would love to find out where yourgetting your 25 $ ccarbide sets

[kielbasavw]

Would I want to get rid 38spc dies,and ppick up a csrbide set, but keep the 357 since seating doesn't require lube, and two dies would be more convenient?

[Bill Steele]

Personally, I would just keep what you have and use a little lube. But then, I use Hornaday One Shot on my all pistol cases, even with my Dillon carbide dies. Makes sizing easier, easier on the brass, better all the way around. The Hornaday One Shot doesn't need to be removed before you shoot, although I do tumble my finished handgun rounds for a short time to clean them up.

[kielbasavw]

My friend told me to use one shot, I suppose I could go that way but, if I have the choice to g carbide. I'd really prefef it

[XDRoX]

I would love to find out where yourgetting your 25 $ ccarbide sets

I haven't bought Lee dies in years. Looks like midway and grafs has them for $31.

And yes, keep the 357 seat/crimp if you don't want to re-adjust the 38spl die.

[XDRoX]

My friend told me to use one shot, I suppose I could go that way but, if I have the choice to g carbide. I'd really prefef it

Some guys like Bill use lube anyways so not having carbide dies isn't a big deal. I never use lube for pistol loading, so I also prefer carbide. I gave away all my old non-carbide dies and replaced them with carbide.

[kielbasavw]

I was told it's good to lube every few rounds or so on carbide. What could I get for a set of used rcbs non carbide dies, is it eve worth the effort of selling

[mark501w]

I often times will add a lee carbide sizer to old die set .Natcherz has them for less than 20.00.

[Bill Steele]

My friend told me to use one shot, I suppose I could go that way but, if I have the choice to g carbide. I'd really prefef it

Well, you do have a choice. You can go a lot more wrong than just to follow Chris' (XDRoX) advice and get a set of Lee carbide dies.

If you plan to sell those RCBS dies, now would be the time. The marketplace forums here on Calguns have a reloading "for sale" section.