[badbowtie]

I have a lee 4 Hole Classic Turret Press that I have not used in several years do to other things but am getting it all back out and going to start reloading again. I have a turret all set up for my wifes 38 revolver. That is the only ammo I have ever reloaded. I also have a 4 die set for my 45 that i also want to start loading. I also am going to start loading 380 I have a resizing die for it but not sure when I look up dies everything is set of 3's I am kind of confused. I need to buy the rest of the dies for the 380 and another turret. Please fill in some of my questions and what I have forgoten.

[cfullgraf]

Generally, handgun cartridge die sets contain three dies, a resizer, a mouth expander and a seating/crimp die.

Some folks crimp in a separate step from bullet seating, so they have a fourth die.

I believe Lee may be the only company that sells a four die set, including their Factory Crimp Die in one of their lines of die sets. In my opinion, the FCD is a solution looking for a problem so save your money. Other companies sell handgun die sets with mostly three dies and if you want something extra, like a separate taper crimp die, you have to purchase it ala carte.

For auto pistol, you want to taper crimp, primarily it removes the belling of the mouth. Current production auto pistol seater dies should have a taper crimp built in.

A roll crimp is usually the crimp of choice for revolver rounds, again, the revolver seater dies should have the roll crimp built into it. But, at least RCBS makes a taper crimp 38 Special seater die.

Hope this helps.

[RandyP]

For the .380 I bought my Lee FCD (Factory Crimp Die) as a separate item. It does not yet come as the 'usual' 4-die set.

The FCD gets mixed reviews, I have no negatives to report using it.

[john16443]

Since you will have to purchase dies for the new calibers you'd like to reload for, I echo the general consensus of separating the seating and crimping operations for the auto pistols. Buy the carbide 3 die set and the separate taper crimp dies for the calibers in question.

[badbowtie]

I have the 4 die set already for the 38 and the 45 I guess I only bought one die for the 380 years ago which is the depriming die so I need the rest of them. I am going to try to finish building my reloading bench tomorrow night and will be back into loading again.

[cfullgraf]

You may find it less expensive to buy a full 380 ACP three die set as opposed to buying the two individual dies you need separately.

[Lost Sheep]

Do you have the primer dispenser device for large pistol primers?

Lee makes an adjustable bar to substitute for the disk that goes into the AUto-Disk Powder measure. Some people like it, some don't. But is does allow you to get those "in between" weights. The other way to get the "in between" weights is to ream out the powder cavity on a spare disk to drop the desired weight. But then you can't adjust it back down again.

Is the 380 die you have carbide? If so, I would look around for a set of dies in tool steel and take advantage of the bargain. The case-mouth expansion die and seat/crimp die of the carbide sets are just the same as in the tool steel sets.

Yes, definitely get extra turrets, and an extra Auto-Disk or two if you have the room. They are inexpensive enough to have one for each chambering and then you never have to dismount them. Make caliber swaps SUPER easy. Pro Autodisks are nicer than the standard, too.

Lost Sheep

[RandyP]

To throw the small charge of Win 231 I use in my .380 reloads, I went to the micro-disk in my Pro dispenser. The adj. charge bar would not go small enough.

[badbowtie]

I do not have the device for large pistol primers yet I guess I need to look and see what I need for that still. I don't think when I finish moving and organizing everything tonight I will see to make sure I don't have one. Yes my depriming die for the 380 I have is a carbide one and I did notice it was cheaper to buy the 3 die set and buy the extra die for the 380 it is cheaper than buying them seperate. I looked into the adjustable powder charge I am just using the disks I have the pro set so I have a bunch of different ones. I only have the 45 and 38 dies on turrets so far but have never loaded any 45 yet. I also will buy another turret when I buy the 380 dies.