Hey all,
My Lyman 38/357 mag depriming/sizing die was finished sizing my Starline brass all the way down to .372. I thought my cases looked pretty odd and when loading a cartridge (SWC confirmed at .358) it has a bit of an hour glass look to it.
I looked at my manuals and the spec is .379 outside diameter. I measured the carbide ring at .371.
So I called Lyman and spoke with a customer service lady and asked if there was an issue with the die or is there some possible way I might be causing this issue. She went off to speak with someone and when she came back she said they were sending me a replacement die.
I just got the die, deprimed & sized a fired .3795 outside dimensioned case......and it's all the way down to .372 with this replacement die too. Stubbornly I did it on a second case just to confirm and yep, .372
Long story short: the reloading gear I had prior to losing it all was comprised of this same Lyman 38/357 mag carbide 4 die set but purchased about 10 years ago. This new set purchased about a year ago (just now getting to reloading .357 mag again). I don't recall those previous dies doing this to my ammo. Now, the extent of hour glassing is readily noticeable with these new dies.
Here's my question: Am I nuts? Did I just not notice this before with my previous reloading experience (my lighting is completely different than before)? Am I doing something wrong? Or are these dies actually spot on?
Thanks for any of your thoughts and suggestions!!
Andy
My Lyman 38/357 mag depriming/sizing die was finished sizing my Starline brass all the way down to .372. I thought my cases looked pretty odd and when loading a cartridge (SWC confirmed at .358) it has a bit of an hour glass look to it.
I looked at my manuals and the spec is .379 outside diameter. I measured the carbide ring at .371.
So I called Lyman and spoke with a customer service lady and asked if there was an issue with the die or is there some possible way I might be causing this issue. She went off to speak with someone and when she came back she said they were sending me a replacement die.
I just got the die, deprimed & sized a fired .3795 outside dimensioned case......and it's all the way down to .372 with this replacement die too. Stubbornly I did it on a second case just to confirm and yep, .372
Long story short: the reloading gear I had prior to losing it all was comprised of this same Lyman 38/357 mag carbide 4 die set but purchased about 10 years ago. This new set purchased about a year ago (just now getting to reloading .357 mag again). I don't recall those previous dies doing this to my ammo. Now, the extent of hour glassing is readily noticeable with these new dies.
Here's my question: Am I nuts? Did I just not notice this before with my previous reloading experience (my lighting is completely different than before)? Am I doing something wrong? Or are these dies actually spot on?
Thanks for any of your thoughts and suggestions!!
Andy