A strange person
Member
I picked up a Lee loader kit in .44MAG recently. I figured it would be a good truck reloading kit (as to why I would need such a thing, know that I have a "truck" version of just about everything I own.)
Lee's site states that the .44MAG version may require "considerable force" to size the cases. The instruction that came with it also state that the lee loader kit neck-sizes only, though I assumed that this referred only to bottle-necked cartridges. It said nothing about using case lube. I used a Lee loader kit for a .308 for a while, never used lube, and never had any problems.
To make it short, I went ahead and used case lube on my .44MAG cases anyway, because I thought that a straight-walled case would be harder to size in general (in addition to the warning from Lee about the .44MAG in particular). Sizing, even with case lube, did indeed require "considerable force", and one of the cases I sized looked slightly misshapen after, though it may have been my imagination. However, I noticed that the cases go into the die quite a ways before being "caught".
Maybe the Lee pistol kits really are neck-sizers only after all? Maybe I should just skip the lube? I ask because the only lube I have on hand is Frankford Arsenal's, and the toxicity warning labels on the thing have pretty much scared me away from using it since I got it in the mail. I also decided that spray lubes suck after using it just once. Does anyone here have experience with Lee's pistol kits?
Lee's site states that the .44MAG version may require "considerable force" to size the cases. The instruction that came with it also state that the lee loader kit neck-sizes only, though I assumed that this referred only to bottle-necked cartridges. It said nothing about using case lube. I used a Lee loader kit for a .308 for a while, never used lube, and never had any problems.
To make it short, I went ahead and used case lube on my .44MAG cases anyway, because I thought that a straight-walled case would be harder to size in general (in addition to the warning from Lee about the .44MAG in particular). Sizing, even with case lube, did indeed require "considerable force", and one of the cases I sized looked slightly misshapen after, though it may have been my imagination. However, I noticed that the cases go into the die quite a ways before being "caught".
Maybe the Lee pistol kits really are neck-sizers only after all? Maybe I should just skip the lube? I ask because the only lube I have on hand is Frankford Arsenal's, and the toxicity warning labels on the thing have pretty much scared me away from using it since I got it in the mail. I also decided that spray lubes suck after using it just once. Does anyone here have experience with Lee's pistol kits?