VanGoghComplex
Member
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2015
- Messages
- 160
So I just got my Lee four-die carbide set. I wanted a second set so I could leave one adjusted for .38 and one adjusted for .357.
I loaded 50 rounds with them, and my first impression is... mixed.
The resize/decap die was great; far better than the RCBS I was using. It resized the case farther down than the RCBS, and the primers weren't getting skewered and sticking to the pin every three rounds like the RCBS does.
The powder through flare die was... interesting. Having a moving part in it weirds me out a bit, but it wasn't too hard to set up or use. I'll be complimenting it with a Pro Auto Disc soon.
The seating die was problematic. For starters, although I had only put what I thought was a little flare on the case mouths, almost every single shell got "caught" at the point where it enters the die. The OD of the flare was slightly larger than the ID of the die, so the seating die had to smush it a bit. That hitch of resistance was annoying enough, but add to that the fact that it also meant my semi-wadcutters had to be seated almost perfectly vertical, or the die would catch the shoulder of the bullet before the cone and yank it sideways. Finally, unlike the RCBS, the Lee only has a round-nose seater plug. My bullets are hard enough that it didn't deform any, by it also didn't force them "true" in the process of seating them, like my flat-noise RCBS plug used to. I have a couple rounds in the batch where the bullet looks a tad cockeyed if you look at it just right. O_O
The crimp die was uneventful, other than using it is a jerky lever action; it "re-resizes" the case post bullet-seating, which... I guess I understand, but it's never been a problem for me before.
Any tricks or tips from other Lee users?
I loaded 50 rounds with them, and my first impression is... mixed.
The resize/decap die was great; far better than the RCBS I was using. It resized the case farther down than the RCBS, and the primers weren't getting skewered and sticking to the pin every three rounds like the RCBS does.
The powder through flare die was... interesting. Having a moving part in it weirds me out a bit, but it wasn't too hard to set up or use. I'll be complimenting it with a Pro Auto Disc soon.
The seating die was problematic. For starters, although I had only put what I thought was a little flare on the case mouths, almost every single shell got "caught" at the point where it enters the die. The OD of the flare was slightly larger than the ID of the die, so the seating die had to smush it a bit. That hitch of resistance was annoying enough, but add to that the fact that it also meant my semi-wadcutters had to be seated almost perfectly vertical, or the die would catch the shoulder of the bullet before the cone and yank it sideways. Finally, unlike the RCBS, the Lee only has a round-nose seater plug. My bullets are hard enough that it didn't deform any, by it also didn't force them "true" in the process of seating them, like my flat-noise RCBS plug used to. I have a couple rounds in the batch where the bullet looks a tad cockeyed if you look at it just right. O_O
The crimp die was uneventful, other than using it is a jerky lever action; it "re-resizes" the case post bullet-seating, which... I guess I understand, but it's never been a problem for me before.
Any tricks or tips from other Lee users?