[jfremder]

Well, thanks to the help here, I've successfully loaded about three thousand 9mm pistol cartridges over the last few months. My next two calibers are .357 Mag and .223 Remington.

First the Pistol, anything special I'll need for .357? I don't trim the 9mm now.

Now about the rifle, I'm thinking I'll need a powder charging die in addition to the lee three die rifle set in order to use my auto disk. I also think I might need the double disk set too?

I have a primer pocket cleaner, and a reamer/deburr tool, and I ordered a case trimmer.

Do I need anything else? What about a case gauge?

I'll be using the .223 ammo in a Savage Bolt rifle (12FV) Anything spcial I should be doing with the new unfired brass?

[kludge]

.357 -- I've never trimmed a pistol case.

.223 -- Yes you will probably need the rifle charging die to use the auto disk. I haven't loaded rifle cartridges with the auto disk, so I can't answer the double disk question. Anything else? Do you have calipers? Absolutely essential. With new brass - lube, resize, trim, clean, and load.

I can tolerate loading pistol cartridges like the 9mm and .40 without a chronograph, but with rifles, you are blind without it, IMO.

[greyling22]

if your 3 die set is like mine (lee) you get a neck sizing, a bullet seat and a full length sizing die. you only use 1 type of sizing die, and since it is a bolt gun I would use the neck sizer, bullet seat die, and get the rifle charging die. still only 3 dies.

as far as double disk or not, it depends on which powder you are using. in my lee load manual, most of the loads require 2 disk, but not all. if you full length size you will need case lube. if you neck size you probably won't but I"d buy some anyway. the lee rub on stuff works well for small volumes.

357 is stupid easy to load for. I never trim my pistol brass, use the same bullet for my 9's and my 357, and have to toss cases occasionally when they split. the roll crimp I use on them wears them out faster than the factory crimp.

[Bula]

I'd full length resize first, then subsequent loading (fired from your rifle only) would be with the neck sizer only. I load my .223 with 55grainers and use AA2230, the double disc setup works great with fine ball powders--stick powders, not so much.

[RustyFN]

Yes you will want the rifle charging die and the double disk kit.

[Walkalong]

You will have to trim .223, and I recommend trimming .357 for a consistent crimp, although many get by without doing so.

[The Bushmaster]

Calipers...Do you have calipers?

Anyone who says that they don't trim straight wall revolver cases to insure all are the same length (+/-.002") need their collective heads examined. How do you expect to get a uniform crimp on each case?

[bukijin]

I load those calibers on my Lee 4 hole turret.

.357 is very similar to 9mm except that you may want to pay more attention to crimping.

For .223 you need to lube the cases before sizing them ;) After sizing, measure the length and trim if necessary. The lube must also be cleaned off before shooting...This means that I don't use the auto-index feature for .223, rather I use the turret as a single stage press and do batch reloading. If you choose to use the auto-disk, you need the double disk kit and the rifle charging die. Personally, I charge the cases away from the press with the Lee perfect powder measure which works really well for me.