pacific durachrome

[max it]

HI Ya,

I couldnt help it. I had time to kill. Went into a familiar gun shop. I bought a three die set for loading .38 spcl/357. What I got was:

expander decap a - this one i understand and will use in my dillon 550

38 spcl no. 3 a - this i understand is a seater die.

to load the powder i have to get a caliber change set from dillon

the other die i got is called: 38 spcl no. 1 a ???what is it for?

and I hope they are carbide; sort of look like it, you know dull aluminum or steel matte color.

any input much appreciated,

Max

[D. Manley]

The DuraChrome dies were pretty much "state-of-the-art" stuff back in the day. They were Pacifics best die series and got their name from the finish...which is very tough and rust resistant. I suspect you have their standard 3-die set. They could be carbide but I doubt it...if they are, it should be inscribed as such on the die. IIRC, Sizing Die, decap/expander and seat/crimp. I believe Hornady dropped the DuraChrome series not too long after they acquired Pacific.

I took out my old Pacific single-stage last year, cleaned it up and gave it a new coat of paint. Use it now for the Redding GRX die and as a dedicated collet pulling station. Although I have'nt used them in a lot of years I still have 2 or 3 sets of DuraChrome dies myself.

[Shoney]

Pacific is the forerunner of Hornady. I have a few Pacific Durachrome dies and they are very good.

Are you quite sure the "expander die" is also the decapper?

All the 3 die sets I have are sizer/decapper, expander, seater. All 38 dies I have seen are 38/357. This leads me to wonder if the dies you bought predate the 357???

[Shoney]

To answer the 550 questions:

Dillon set up the 550 series to use with their dies. They use a sizer/decapper, powder funnel is used as the expander, and the seater die and the crimping die are used seperately, i.e. the 4 holes are filled. The need for an expander die is eliminated, and you will have only 3 holes filled.

My 550 has been delegated for only 38/357. The use of 3 die sets other than the Dillon 3 die sets, incorporate seat/crimp in one operation. This is fine if you are loading only jacketed bullets.

However, when loading lead boolits, it is desireable to seat and crimp in different operations. This prevents the die from closing the crimp down into the lead as the bullet moves down. When applying a hard crimp (necessary on magnum loads) it is virtually impossible not to shave lead and even copper on jacketed bullets when seat/crimp is used in one opperation. In some cases the lead will shave over the top of the brass and these rounds will not chamber.

If you are going to load lead, you should ge another seat/crimp die or a factory crimp die, so the seating and crimping are done in seperate opperations.

[max it]

Guys, As I said I couldnt help myself. Time to kill at the gun store and bought these Pacific dies. Yes Shoney, they actually say only "38 Spcl" black marker on the box. So what i have probably precedes the 357. Which gun is what I have. As far as getting a seperate crimp die. HOw would I then seat? seeing that the seat die is also the crimp? In fact when I disassembled it there was shavings inside as if it did just what you said.
Only $15 in so if one of them is good I didnt lose anything, and got an ed in the process.

Much obliged,

Max

[Shoney]

To make the seat/crimp die a seat only die, adjust it up until the die dos not hit the bell of the case, lock it in and adjust the seating plug down to the desired depth.

To make the seat/crimp die a crimp only die, adjust the seating plug all the way up and screw the die down to the desired crimp.

You can use the 38 Spl dies as 357 Mag dies by adjusting them to the length of the 357 case.

[max it]

Yup Shoney,

It says expander-decap A.

But there is another with no guts in it that says 38 spcl No. 1 A

what could that be?

And do I need to lube because they arent carbide, it doesnt really matter as I dont shoot that many 38/357's its just my HD gun. Mostly shoot and reload .45 and 9mm.

Also I do have a choice of which press to use; i have both the dillon 550 and a Lee Pro 1000.


Much obliged,

Max

[D. Manley]

But there is another with no guts in it that says 38 spcl No. 1 A

Is that not the sizing die....?

[max it]

Well Mr. Manly,

you just may be right: the diameter is .372
which just is too tight for a case
and too tight for a cartridge
but maybe just right for a sizer. Hmmmm.
After all it is marked No. 1, then the seating die is No. 3. kinda confusing, is the decap/expander NO. 2?

much obliged,

Max

[D. Manley]

Pacific durachrome, sizer die?
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Well Mr. Manly,

you just may be right: the diameter is .372
which just is too tight for a case
and too tight for a cartridge
but maybe just right for a sizer. Hmmmm.
After all it is marked No. 1, then the seating die is No. 3. kinda confusing, is the decap/expander NO. 2?

much obliged,

Max

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Things were done a bit differently in those days.

[wncchester]

Your dies didn't precede the .357.

[D. Manley]

OK, dug out my old DuraChrome set just to check. Mine happens to be in .357 but other than that, are identical to yours. Die #1 is the sizer, #2 is the decap/flaring die and #3 is the seat/crimp die. IIRC, the dies back then were not "combo-marked" (.38/.357, .40/10MM, etc.) like they are now. Mine are not carbide and I honestly don't remember if Pacific offered them or not. The only carbide I have from that era are all RCBS. Back then, carbide was an expensive novelty...price did'nt really fall out until Lee introduced his at a drastically lower price.