380 dies

[Steve bjers]

Where can I ask ? or get answers on pistol dies

 

[somethingbenign]

Scroll a bit further down. On the main page and you'll see a reloading/handloading section. Odds are a mod will move this thread to the right place too so just ask away.

 

[Steve bjers]

has anyone had concerns with lee dies on 380 rounds. I have had good luck loading 9mm riffle stuff with lee dies butt my 380 are coming out like crap don't know if its the die or me any help

 

[GRIZ22]

You say "coming out like crap". Be more specific and someone may be able to help.

 

[Steve bjers]

when I seat the round the case gets scrapped or dents right below where the bullet is in case

 

[cheygriz]

Send back to Lee. I'm not a fan of Lee products, but their customer service is excellent.

 

[Steve bjers]

What would you replace it with

 

[Walkalong]

What would you replace it with

RCBS three die set.

 

[Dudedog]

My Lee .380 dies work fine as do all my other Lee dies rifle and pistol.
Are they the best dies out there? Probably not, are they capable of making ammo that shoots just fine, yes.
You need to be careful you don't have the powder drop/flair die down to far or you can buckle/start to buckle the case.
.380 cases are more "fragile" than 9mm cases IMO.

(Edit: You can probably guess how I know this)

PS: Welcome to THR,
lots of great people here.

 

[kcofohio]

has anyone had concerns with lee dies on 380 rounds. I have had good luck loading 9mm riffle stuff with lee dies butt my 380 are coming out like crap don't know if its the die or me any help

Welcome to THR!
Are you seating and crimping with the same die? Are cases sorted by headstamp, or mixed cases? If you are using separate dies for seating and crimp, disregard those questions.
As Dudedog said, the 380 casing are more fragile than 9mm. If not enough mouth flare, your bullet seating could be too much for the 380 walls to handle. But not too much flare where you don't have enough neck tension.

 

[kmw1954]

Hello Steve,
I've got Lee 380, 9mm X2 sets and 45acp dies and no problems with any of them.

I would suggest taking the powder thru/flaring die apart and clean it well, then do the same for the seating die. Nothing fancy, just to clean and get any old grease, oil, wax or crud out.

The walls of the 380 are pretty thin and deform easily. With my 380 dies I have a problem using the Lee Auto Drum measure with them, The return spring in the measure is strong enough that if the case is off center by just a small bit it will chip out a small piece of the case mouth while feeding into the die. I know this because if I remove the Auto Drum and put a Auto Disk in the die the problem immediately disappears. I also talked with another friend that was having problems with his 380 dies also, He too took them apart and cleaned them and then carefully reset each one and his problem went away also.

 

[Jonesy814]

I have the Lee deluxe carbide 4 die set for 380. I have had no problems other than crushing the occasional case due to excessive flair when setting up. There shouldn't be any part of the die even touching the case when you seat a bullet. Sounds like either a damaged/ defective/ dirty die or that's its not set up correctly. Are you wearing and crimping in 1 operation? I seat in one operation then use the Lee factory crimp die to crimp

 

[Hasaf]

I am also using a Lee four die set. I am not having trouble with anything but the polycase bullets, those only work with cases that are in great condition.

The only advice I can give is to carefully go through the set up instructions, that come with the dies, again.

 

[Livin_Cincy]

I like flat point bullets in 380 ACP.
You can buy a second seating stem and file it down flat for use in your Lee Die.
Or you can buy a stem for a Lee sizing die and use it instead of the actual Lee seating stem.
I have had no issues with Lee 380 (4) die set.

I picked up some Lyman 38/357 Dies recently.
While more expensive than Lee dies they do have value.
You get a Lyman M-Die to flare your case for a soft lead bullet.
You also get a choice in bullet seating stems.
With a revolver Caliber, a Lee FCD is not so important as you want big bullets for the cylinder throats.
I have not looked at Lyman 380 dies... yet.

 

[drband]

I also have the Lee 4-die carbide set. No problems at all with the dies using the AutoDrum pm.

If yours is still problematic after carefully setting it up again, call Lee.

 

[Dudedog]

The return spring in the measure is strong enough that if the case is off center by just a small bit

I have noticed the same thing, Lee Pro Disk no issues, Auto Drum they need to be centered just right. Spring sure seems like it is stronger than it needs to be.

 

[quaid]

when I seat the round the case gets scrapped or dents right below where the bullet is in case

Are the scrapes running up and down the side of the brass? Or around the circumference?

The dent - is it a depression inward or outward? Is it a buckle/fold like when you drop a shirt on the ground and it wrinkles?

 

[bersaguy]

I had the same thing happen when I started with 380 on the lee turret. Turned out the little plastic ratchet was worn out and the die and ram were not lined up perfectly. Once I understood the problem I just settled the turret by hand until the new ratchet arrived, no more problems

 

[drband]

I had the same thing happen when I started with 380 on the lee turret. Turned out the little plastic ratchet was worn out and the die and ram were not lined up perfectly. Once I understood the problem I just settled the turret by hand until the new ratchet arrived, no more problems

^^^^This!^^^^

 

[Jimster]

I’m also a happy Lee 4 die set with auto drum user.

 

[Walkalong]

I happily use some Lee dies as well, but the question was if he wanted to replace them, what should he replace them with.

 

[kmw1954]

I believe the original question was how to deal with the problem he was having with his Lee Die and the 380 cartridge. A suggestion was to send it back to Lee or replace it.

Sure he could replace it but then we do not know if he is using a turret press or a progressive press or if he is using the Thru die powder charging with a Lee powder measure.

I use the Lee Auto Drum but not on the 380 case because of the problem I described. But then this topic isn't about the powder measure.

 

[Walkalong]

What would you replace it with

Which is what I quoted and answered.

But if posters can help him fix the issue all the better for him.

 

[joeanybody]

I have an rcbs set that does the same thing as problem op having. Id dont think its the dies per se but the expander. My rcbs set has a lyman m-die clone that squishes the case a little, causes it to bend, warp, and crush. I tried chamfering the inside of the mouth, the outside of the mouth, readjusting the expander,resetting all dies to load at max. Nothing helped. Was about ready to just give up on that miserable little cartridge. I purchased a lyman m-die multi expander powder through die for about 25 for 223,308, and 7.62x39. For kicks i tried it on the 380 and what do u know. I got 100 perfect rounds the first go. Havent looked back since.

 

[Walkalong]

I have never had any issues with sizing, expanding, or seating bullets in the horrid mix of .380 range brass I used to load, nor recently when I loaded some up again after a long hiatus from the caliber.

That said, if he has some stepped .380 brass.......but I don't understand what his issue is for sure.

Bulge in stepped .380 brass when you seat a bullet below the step, or if the expander goes deep enough, it will do it as well.