C&H 38 Special Dies

[Taildragger-J3]

Don't have calipers here to measure the diameter of the expander ball. When I look down inside the die without the decapper in it, the bottom 1/2" or so is polished smooth and a smaller diameter than the portion above it. When I put the insert along side the die, what appears to be the expander ball is about 1" above the bottom of the die, so it's above the smooth 1/2" sizing portion (I think)

I'm attaching a close up. The bottom of the die appears to be turned from one piece of metal. I don't see any insert.

Also, the inside was pretty dirty. What do y'all use to clean the insides of your dies (if you do).

 

[Walkalong]

Brake cleaner, bore cleaner, whatever you have handy will clean the die.

 

[fecmech]

I think you have a plain steel size die. Here is a pic of the inserts in my two CH dies, they evidently changed manufacturing designs at some point. You can clearly see the inserts.

[/IMG]

 

[Taildragger-J3]

Yeah, these are definitely one piece of metal. No inserts.

On a related note, what kind of lube do y'all use with steel dies? I've got some RCBS but was wondering if there's something else that's better, cheaper, less messy, or whatever.

 

[Jim Watson]

Agreed, that is a plain steel die and cases need lube.

I have used Hornady One-Shot spray lube with some success, except on heavy resizing and reforming.

 

[Taildragger-J3]

I contacted CH4D for info about these dies. Here's their reply:

It's usable. That die set is probably 50 years old. The 2 die set wasn't a good idea because the case mouth was belled in the sizer die then resized coming out of the die leaving just a very slight bell from the "spring-back" or "memory" of the brass. It worked reasonably well with jacketed bullets, not so well with lead.

I ran a couple of cases through the die last night and they resized nicely. Like CH4D said, I couldn't seat a bullet in it. I got out my old Lee Loader for .38 and opened the mouth with the little expander in it then could get a bullet started. I'm pretty sure the seating die would press it in and crimp. I guess my next purchase is an expander die. -- Just put in a bid on one.

 

[jr_roosa]

If your sizer is a carbide, it might not have a clear ring like the picture above. Mine looks like it blends in, but is carbide none the less.

It should be stamped with some mention of "carbide" if it's carbide.

-J.

 

[Taildragger-J3]

Given the estimated age per CH4D, and the lack of any markings, I doubt that these are carbide dies. Not a big deal. I don't load 1000s of rounds, and a little lubing won't slow me down that much. I'm going to check into that Hornady spray.

 

[jr_roosa]

Oh, I took a closer look at the picture...I agree. I don't see the carbide ring that mine has.

Before you invest too much in completing the set, check that they size adequately. I just posted on my old .38/.357mag CH carbide die set that was not sizing enough and expanding a little too much. I was getting loose bullets, and I'll probably replace the set with a newly manufactured one soon. Polishing down the expander a bit helped, but I don't think by enough.

-J.

 

[Taildragger-J3]

I ran 5-6 cases through the die last night and they were squeezed down pretty well. I could not get a bullet to enter the mouth, and the slipped right into the chambers in the cylinders of my .38's. These dies don't look like they've had much use, probably because of the expander issue. I think I'll hang on to them.