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Old March 1, 2012, 09:10 PM   #1
Fusion
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Problem resizing .380 brass with RCBS die

I bought a set of RCBS carbide dies for .380 off of a forum that were supposed to be NIB. I have no reason to doubt his as they look new. Anyway, I hadn't used them until tonight and I tried to use them. It just doesn't seem to be resizing the case mouth as it's still out of round after running it through the die. I set it like I normally set my dies. I screwed it in until it touches the shell holder. This is also what the manual says to do.

Any advice on this? What can I be doing wrong? I took it apart and it looks like all the parts are there from what I see in the instruction book. It's the decapping rod, and the decapping pin. I don't see any obvious issues. Any idea's what I'm doing wrong?
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Old March 1, 2012, 09:14 PM   #2
dacaur
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what kind of brass? You are running the ram all the way up? There really isnt much you can do wrong...
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Old March 1, 2012, 09:16 PM   #3
Fusion
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Running the ram all the way up, and I'm using mixed brass, but mostly RP, Winchester, etc. A few pieces of PMC, etc thrown in.

I don't know of much that I can do wrong either, and it's not like this is my first time reloading, as I've reloaded quite a few rounds of 9mm. This is just my first time ever having this problem, and I don't see what could cause it.
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Old March 1, 2012, 09:19 PM   #4
dacaur
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Well, remember that with straight wall cases the sizing die doesn't expand the case mouth, the expander die does that... I would try running the expander die and see if they are round after that...
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Old March 1, 2012, 09:21 PM   #5
Fusion
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Maybe that's my problem. It's just that many pieces are dinged in at the case mouth, and it's not pushing these dings back out. I guess I've never noticed this with the 9mm, and while I've noticed it many times with rifle rounds which is what I reload 98% of the time, it just pushes them right out.
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Old March 1, 2012, 09:27 PM   #6
ScottRiqui
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It could be that RCBS sizing dies work differently from my Lee dies, but I just now intentionally put a significant bend in a .380 case mouth and ran it through the resizing die, and it straightened it right out.
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Old March 1, 2012, 09:30 PM   #7
Fusion
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Looking at it, that's how my Lee 9mm dies are as well. It's looking like I should have just stuck with Lee dies which is normally what I use. I'm not sure what my problem here is.
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Old March 2, 2012, 08:35 AM   #8
243winxb
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Full Length RCBS Carbide Pistol Dies

Quote:
I screwed it in until it touches the shell holder.
Do not do this, you can crack the carbide ring. You should have a 3 die set. The expander/belling die has the decapping pin on older die sets. The expander will make the case mouth round.
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Old March 2, 2012, 09:58 AM   #9
Edward429451
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Even if it is an older set of dies with the decapper on the expander, it should still do lots of sizing. Perhaps not enough to iron out the deeper dings but you should be able to see a difference.

If they are that old, and look that new...they may have been bubba'd. I read about the diy types that modify dies and make tooling changes. This is ok if you know what you're doing, but so many times bubba picks up the wrong die, or goes too deep with the stone etc..(Mistakes are sold off but polished up first)

If you already did different types of brass, it screams bad die. Call RCBS and I bet they will send you a new die.

[QUOTEIt could be that RCBS sizing dies work differently from my Lee dies,][/QUOTE]

No. Sizing is accomplished the same way. Forced into a constriction to reduce the diameter. Bubba likely used to pinch his fingers with a tight sizer and a little case so thought to open er' up a little to make case insertion easier...and went too far.
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Old March 2, 2012, 10:19 AM   #10
Idaho Spud
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When you're prepping your 380 brass cull out all the cases with dinged brass and run those up into the expander die first (not enough to "bell", just enough to round out the mouths), then resize them. If the brass is really bent at the mouths, you may have to use a dowel or some such implement to make them reasonably round before sizing. The carbide ring on your sizer die needs to just "kiss" the shell holder, you don't want to screw the sizer die down so far that the press ram "cams over". That'll crack the carbide insert.

edit: typo
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Old March 2, 2012, 10:20 AM   #11
dunerjeff
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Several of my pistol dies are RCBS and some of the range pick-up brass has the ejection dings in them,they either come out with the sizer or the next die with expander.No matter what brand die ,they do the same process,squeeze in,then expand back out to a specific size.Whether they do it with one die,like most rifle dies,an expander on the depacing rod, or with two seperate dies, its the same.
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Old October 10, 2013, 09:17 PM   #12
jazzyla9
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.380 case expander die

I am a reloader for 40 plus years. I recently tried to bell the case on some .380 brass and the case made a slight bulge in the case. I have had these dies (RCBS carbide) for years without a problem. I have tried to reset the expander die and the problem is still there. What is causing this and how can I fix it? Is this die worn out or am I doing something wrong? I have tried to reset this die with the instructions that came with them. No, they won't chamber in the gun.
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Old October 10, 2013, 09:40 PM   #13
BuckRub
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I'd like to see a picture of your sizing die.
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