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Originally Posted by oldbear1950
Aguila blanca I purchased the 3 die sets originally, and ordered the factory crimp dies separately. Then someone mentioned needed the taper crimp dies and ordered them separately also.
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The 9mm factory crimp die does the same thing as the 9mm taper crimp die, with the addition of a carbide resizing ring to iron out any bulging of the case that may result from seating the bullet. The seating/crimping die in the 3-die set also applies a taper crimp. So you now have three dies, all of which apply the same taper crimp.
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So now I have both. That taper crimp die for 9 mm also does 38 super/38 auto, and 380. At least that is what the paper it came with says.
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9mm, .38 Super, and .380 ACP are all the same caliber. The SAAMI bullet diameter for 9mm is 0.3555", for .38 Super is 0.3560", and for .380 ACP is 0.3565". I have used bullets intended for .380 ACP in 9mm cases, and I use the same bullets for 9mm and for .38 Super. The taper crimp die has enough range to handle that much variation.
But the taper crimp die takes the flare out of the case mouth, so it's the case diameter that matters. And those are different for 9mm, .38 Super, and for .380 ACP. The 9mm case has a pronounced taper, from 0.3913 near the case head to 0.3810 at the case mouth (SAAMI nominal dimensions). .38 Super has no taper; the case diameter is 0.3840". .380 ACP looks like a straight wall case, but it also has a slight taper, from 0.3739 near the case head to 0.3730" at the case mouth.
This is why the same taper crimp die will work on all three, but you can't use the same carbide factory crimp die for all three.
In reality, I probably could use my 9mm carbide factory crimp die or my .38 Super factory crimp die as a taper crimp die for .380 ACP, but the carbide sizer ring won't do anything, because it's larger than the .380 ACP case diameter.