.38 Spl Cases, Part II

[unwashed]

Would you reuse these cases? 38 was my first reloads a long long time ago and admit was not so educated on maintaining and cleaning my dies. These cases are about 30 years old, I could attribute this to dirty dies, lube or whatever to cause these scratches on these cases. Now I'm more experienced and meticulous with my equipment.

So anyway, I since cleaned my steel die, even ran a barrel bush with drill through it and the non scratched reloads are much better but do have some very light scratches on them.

First, would you reuse those cases? Should I sand the die with some 600 grit or finer sandpaper? Or buy a new die?

 

[Charlie98]

If that's all the cases that are affected, I'd junk the cases and move on. In any event, I would replace the die with a carbide (or Hornady nitride) die.

 

[FROGO207]

Yhey will probably get one more reload then split so it's up to you if you want to bother. If you are using a steel die then sanding out will work but the advise of getting a carbide die will save you time and effort as it does not need to have brass lubed first. If you have a carbide die already it can also be cleaned of gauling with the 600 grit paper and a split dowel in a drill trick. I have purchased several plain steel 38 dies in the past for pennies because the previous owner went to carbide. I mainly use the seating dies as dedicated seaters for different profile bullets along with a spacer to swap from 38 SPL to 357.

 

[lightman]

I would shoot them and not worry about it. You might try polishing your die. I probably would start with a large bore mop with something like Flitz and spin it in a drill. If that doesn't help I would start over with some 1200 grit emory cloth spun in a drill.

Carbide dies would be a great addition to your loading bench but you should be able to salvage your die.

 

[unwashed]

Thanks guys, I think I'll start with polishing. I know about carbide but I use RCBS and there doesn't seem to be any to be found. I would of originally bought carbide but back in 1988 but they only sold them for a select few calibers and/or were very expensive. Opticsplant has it for $61, yikes and a 1-3 months ship time. Not to crazy for Lee. Time and effort I have plenty of

 

[357 Terms]

Not to crazy for Lee.

I've loaded tens of thousands of 38/357 with Lee dies and have been more than satisfied.
I can guarantee the Lee (carbide) dies will treat your brass much better than your current set, and perform just as well or better.

 

[unwashed]

I've loaded tens of thousands of 38/357 with Lee dies and have been more than satisfied.
I can guarantee the Lee (carbide) dies will treat your brass much better than your current set, and perform just as well or better.

You may be correct, maybe it's my old school thinking, lee didn't always have good stuff. In fact there was a time when lee was second rate and cheap. But it may be time for me to update my perspective. Still gonna try the polish first though.

 

[AJC1]

You may be correct, maybe it's my old school thinking, lee didn't always have good stuff. In fact there was a time when lee was second rate and cheap. But it may be time for me to update my perspective. Still gonna try the polish first though.

I couldn't be further from a lee fan boy but I like their factory crimp die because it allows me to keep my seating die set. I seat and crimp in different steps and use the same cast bullet 90% of the time. Some people hate that die but using sized .358 lead bullets only gives a little bump where the flare passes through, and comes back out crimped with no contact. I trim all my cases so I use a cross lock on that die also and dont need to adjust. If your using a progressive or lee turret it's a big help.

 

[mdi]

Polish only, try not to remove any metal/enlarge ID. Oversized case OD may lead to problems later on. The only time I've seen a sizing die/brass that bad was after many rounds of sizing dirty brass and particals embedded in the die ID...

Nuttin wrong with Lee. The only thing wrong with Lee products is they are badmouthed by "Tool Snobs" and those that couldn't read instructions. I have used Lee 38 Special dies since 1970. The only indication of anything done to a cartridge case is some of my nickel plated cases that have been reloaded so many times the brass shows through the nickel...

 

[FROGO207]

They should be able to be polished out with ease. The die is a lot harder than the brass or the nickel plating that is gauled on the surface. As far as the Lee dies I probably have more sets from them than any other manufacturer. The second place would be RCBS dies. The Lee have the different lock ring but I just put them on upside down and when removing start it out by turning the nut loose then remove the die by turning it leaving the nut alone. If Lee was not a player the reloading dies and other associated equipment would cost at least 2X what they do, so keep that in mind.

 

[Herman B]

It's difficult to get a precise read on the scratches (ridges?) in the photographed brass. They look more like small ridges that would catch a nail.

 

[unwashed]

Ok, polished the die with 600 grit with a drill for a few minute and tested and repeated the process and resized. Case only has 1 very light scratch on it which I can live with, see what they look like after a few resizing. OD didn't seem to be effected.Thanks for all the help.

 

[Blue68f100]

I would polish out the die. Like said start with 400-600 grit sand paper and work up to 1200-1500 if you have it. Once the brass/ni is removed from the die it will be fine. The sizing dies are very hard so I would not worry about scratching it with fine grit sand paper. You could also use some steel wool, 00, 000, or 0000. It might work faster for removing the big chunks stuck to the die. This normally is caused by lack of lube, and/or dirty brass.

You posted while I was typing.

Take the time and remove it all. If any is left it will just keep getting worst. Once it's all removed it will be a lot easier to keep clean.

 

[.38 Special]

My first handgun dies were plain steel .38 Special and I scratched them up pretty badly. I still have them, and this thread makes me think about polishing up the sizer. I'm a big fan of carbide, though, and have replaced nearly all of my handgun dies with them, so even a freshly polished plain die would likely never get used again.

Oh, and you can count me as another life-long Lee disliker who still will admit to owning several of their die sets, which all work just fine.

 

[Bcwitt]

I've loaded tens of thousands of 38/357 with Lee dies and have been more than satisfied.
I can guarantee the Lee (carbide) dies will treat your brass much better than your current set, and perform just as well or better.

Agreed. You just can't beat Lee carbide for value.

 

[dcloco]

Dump the cases. 38 SP cases are plentiful and very inexpensive.

Why risk injury or damage?