reloading

[oldbear1950]

I am fairly new to this, reloading I mean. It is my understanding that a carbide sizing depriming die can be used in conjunction with steel expanding die and seating die. And since the sizing/depriming is carbide, does not need to be lubed. Is that correct?

[RC20]

I found lube to help regardless.

Yes I mix and my dies as only sizing is where the carbide applies.

[Shadow9mm]

Yes, carbide sizing dies should not need lubrication. Neither should the steel mouth flare/expanding die. You can use lubrication if you want too, but it should not be needed.

[jag2]

Not needed but a very noticeable difference if you do. Much easier.

[Shadow9mm]

Originally Posted by jag2

Not needed but a very noticeable difference if you do. Much easier.

Depends on the dies. My hornady carbides are way smoother than my lees.

[dahermit]

Originally Posted by oldbear1950

I am fairly new to this, reloading I mean. It is my understanding that a carbide sizing depriming die can be used in conjunction with steel expanding die and seating die. And since the sizing/depriming is carbide, does not need to be lubed. Is that correct?

There are exceptions. Carbide .30 Carbine cases need routine lubing. Also as previously posted, lubing carbide dies that generally do not "need" lube to work can still provide a smoother operation if lubed.

[PA-Joe]

It also depends on reloading pistol vs rifle rounds. Most rifles prefer lube.

[44 AMP]

"Carbide" sizing dies are steel dies, They have a ring of carbide "glued" in, and work well without lubrication for straight cases, and short cases with minimal taper. Longer cases with more taper require lubrication. Rifle cases require lubrication and carbide dies for them are rare and extremely expensive. (don't know today's prices, but decades ago, when a carbide pistol sizer die SET was $30 a single carbide sizer die for .308 Win was $150)

If you lube straight wall pistol cases, a carbide die works even slicker.

also be aware that if the press ram (shellholder) contacts the carbide ring the carbide can crack, requiring replacement of the die.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

If you lube straight wall pistol cases, a carbide die works even slicker.

Yepp.

.45 ACP is a short, straight wall case. That's mostly what I load. I have found that a light lube with Hornady's One-Shot aerosol case lube (which dries almost instantly to a very thin film that's not messy or greasy) provides a very significant reduction in the amount of force needed to pull the handle when resizing.

Also, the only time I ever had a case get stuck in the resizing die was when I was making a couple of dummy rounds and was too lazy to lube them.

[Unclenick]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Rifle cases require lubrication and carbide dies for them are rare and extremely expensive.

I have them in both 308/7.62 and 223/5.56. They are intended to last longer in volume reloading operations. They also scuff brass less because it is harder to embed crud in them. But as you say, you still have to use case lube. The reason is the carbide portion is a large piece the length of the case that includes the complete case profile, where the carbide insterts for straight wall sizing are just a stubby ring that is much less expensive to make. The latter has much less contact area with the brass, and thus you can usually escape the lube with them (though, as AB says, that does make the sizing operation even slicker). But if they were to shape carbide dies for auto pistol brass to match the whole SAAMI case profile, including any taper (the way steel pistol case dies do), then you'd have to lube for them the same as for steel and they would cost a lot more.