Free Dies...what do I have here?

[njl]

A friend gave me his old .30 carbine dies. It's an RCBS 3-die set, and from the looks of the cardboard box and paper in it, it's OLD. The dies appear to be:

decapper and expander

sizer

seat & crimp

This is a bit confusing, since my RL550b would normally resize/decap/prime in station 1. Are these meant for a turret or single stage press where you would resize first, then decap/bell, then dispense some powder, then seat & crimp? The sizer doesn't appear to be carbide and the generic instructions warn to use a bit of sizing lube. Are these even usable on my 550?

I'd planned to just buy a Lee carbide 3-die set and Lee factory crimp die when the time came to start loading for my M1 carbines. Should I continue with this plan?

[Vulture]

Just buy a set of dies. Get a carbide sizer so you don't need lube. The factory crimp die comes in a set from Midway. It has a powder die you won't need with a 550. Althuogh it is out of stock right now if you mix and match you should be able to get underway. Dies are not that expensive so you may as well buy new ones.

Edit to add: I was looking at .40 so the size you want may be in stock.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Vulture

[Kyle O]

If .30 carbine is a bottleneck case, you will need to use some lube anyway.

[AlamoShooter]

If .30 carbine is a bottleneck case, you will need to use some lube anyway.

That isn't the same 30 Carbine that looks like a skinny 357 case?

The Decaping die can be nice with some crimped brass as it will punch the primer out easyer than if you are sizeing at the same time.

I want to get a decaping die for my 223 setup. some of the primers don't want to come out on mixed brass that I want to salvage. For now I am just seperating the brass I have with crimps .

[Bubber]

A friend gave me his old .30 carbine dies. It's an RCBS 3-die set, and from the looks of the cardboard box and paper in it, it's OLD. The dies appear to be:

decapper and expander

sizer

seat & crimp

This is a bit confusing, since my RL550b would normally resize/decap/prime in station 1. Are these meant for a turret or single stage press where you would resize first, then decap/bell, then dispense some powder, then seat & crimp? The sizer doesn't appear to be carbide and the generic instructions warn to use a bit of sizing lube. Are these even usable on my 550?

I'd planned to just buy a Lee carbide 3-die set and Lee factory crimp die when the time came to start loading for my M1 carbines. Should I continue with this plan?

Yep, I had a set like you mentioned. Mine were Pacific Dies. It was set up as a single stage loaders. You would resize all then set up for decapping and belling (expanding) then load powder then go to the seating die. If you could take the expander/decapping part and put it in the resizer (mine did not have the threads to do this) you could make it work on the Dillon 550 or most multistation loaders but set it tall enough that the expander does not expand but the decapper will deprime the case. And as a note, I lube even with the carbide resizer die as it makes it easier to resize. From what I can see is that a 3 30 carbine set runs about $94.00. So how much 30 carbine do you plan to shoot. Hope this is helpful. later rdd

[njl]

.30 carbine isn't a bottleneck. They do look kind of like a longer thinner .38super. My understanding was with carbide, they can be done without lube.

I've got a couple of carbines and a couple of cases of Aguila ammo (all from the CMP). I just figured when I used up the Aguila, it'd be much cheaper to reload the brass than buy more ammo.

[SLM]

With carbide dies you don't have to lube but a squirt or two of Hornady One Shot will make the brass run through the sizer die easier saving wear and tear on your "press arm".

[Kyle O]

The last time I saw one I was maybe 8 years old, and for some reason in my mind they were bottle neck.

no telling whats in my mind though