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Posted: 4/21/2012 2:04:21 PM EDT
Last weekend, I was at a gun show in Fond du Lac, WI and found this little cutie! 
As I've been thinking about buying a dedicated .357mag die set (I like to set and forget  ) - all the pieces seemed to be present and accounted for:
And the price was right, I decided to buy it! 
So, today I've got it all out, cleaning them up - they must not have been used in a LONG time, 'cuz there was some serious syrupy looking old dried out lube on them...even required breaking out the pliers to loosen them up!  THEN, I discovered this:
That's NOT RCBS!!!! Okay, fine, it's obviously a decapper, and it has (even if you can't see it in the picture) a carbide insert for sizing. Engraved in the body is '.38-357 TC sizer'. Off to CH4Ds' site I go, and discover that this - or at least the current version - can decap, size, AND expand the case mouth. COOL!!!! 
Er...well...not so quick! Upon disassembly, I discover that the expander bushing is missing.  Oh well, no big deal, we have this fine RCBS die over here....
Uh, wait, WTF?!? This looks to my, uneducated RCBS die owner (all the rest of my dies are Lee) eye like a decapper (missing the pin)/sizer and expander die... So, off the RCBS site I go.... FAIL
They show 3 dies sets that consist of decapper, sizer, and bullet seater - but nothing that resembles THIS die.... Upon closer inspection, I notice this: 
THERE IS NO CARBIDE INSERT! What's more, the inside diameter of the die is the same from stem to stern - and it's NOT the appropriate diameter to size a .357mag case! ! In other words, this MAY make a good universal decapper (with a pin!) but, it ain't going to do me much good for sizing/decapping my .357mag cases.... 
Is this a big dilemma? No, I CAN make this work! My Lee die sets (for straight wall brass) require at LEAST 3 trips through the Rockchucker. 1) Decap/size. 2) expand. 3) Press bullet, 4) (Option) Crimp case. So, if I have to swap out the dies, I can. BUT WHY?!? It looks to me like BOTH dies (the CH4D and RCBS) are capable of doing multiple steps per pull of the handle... 1) Decap. 2) Size. 3) Expand... So why should I settle for changing dies more than I have to?!? The question becomes, can I buy and insert a 'carbide insert' into that RCBS die, along with the decap pins? (RCBS website SUCKS - although I hear their customer support is AWESOME) Or, am I better off buying the .357 bushing from CH4D (and some extra decap pins)? |
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Pardon me if my attempt to picture how this would work is completely wrong, but... how can you expand and size in the same step?
Typically, the carbide ring is in the base of the die, which is where the expanded case mouth would have to pass last, before exiting the die. Wouldn't it just size back after you had expanded? |
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I have an old set of CH dies... they are bizarre for sure (at least to me they are). With these dies, sizing is done in one die (no decapper installed in this die!), then in the second die, you adjust your expander for proper case mouth belling and it will deprime at the same time. So here's what you can do, set up the CH sizer and make sure the decap/expander is raised up high enough that it's not flaring... You'll overwork your brass. So then you'll size and deprime with this die. Now you can set up your RCBS expander die and use that one next to get your proper case mouth flare.
You can make these work for ya 
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Quoted:
You sir, may have a point! Pardon me if my attempt to picture how this would work is completely wrong, but... how can you expand and size in the same step? Typically, the carbide ring is in the base of the die, which is where the expanded case mouth would have to pass last, before exiting the die. Wouldn't it just size back after you had expanded?  And thus, my confusion...
I just went back and looked at the CH-4D site again and, apparently I misread what I was reading before! It's a NECK SIZING bushing system...NOT an expander. I guess the confusion came when I looked at the parts page for their sizing dies and they show expander plugs for them....
Quoted:
It is an interesting die - at least compared to my Lee die sets.... And yes, I WILL make it work! I have an old set of CH dies... they are bizarre for sure (at least to me they are). With these dies, sizing is done in one die (no decapper installed in this die!), then in the second die, you adjust your expander for proper case mouth belling and it will deprime at the same time. So here's what you can do, set up the CH sizer and make sure the decap/expander is raised up high enough that it's not flaring... You'll overwork your brass. So then you'll size and deprime with this die. Now you can set up your RCBS expander die and use that one next to get your proper case mouth flare. You can make these work for ya
Quoted:
It appears that I have your #2 and #3 dies, minus the decapping pin in #2, and somebody along the way substituted that CH-4D sizer/decapper die for the original RCBS sizing die.
The older RCBS pistol die sets I have are: Die 1. Sizing (no decapping) Die 2. Mouth Belling and decapping Die 3. Seating die. This appears to be the case in your new dies. And, that may have added something to my confusion! My Lee sets all have decapping/sizing in one die and expanding in another. To adjust the belling, on the Lee dies, you move the whole die in/out of the press and with this RCBS die, you move the plug up and down in the body of the die. Oh well, live and learn!
And thanks for helping me unconfuse myself! 
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