Steel vs Carbide dies

[sterno]

Is there any advantage to using steel dies for straight walled cases? Someone was telling me that carbide dies only have a carbide ring and it can belly the case near the base. Is that true?

 

[Jim Watson]

Carbide dies have a ring insert of tungsten carbide that does the actual sizing. It can leave a noticeable transition at the case head where the radius of the die mouth and the depth of the shellholder end the sizing action. Not a "belly." So what? It doesn't hurt the brass or the shooting.

A steel die might give less of a noticeable transition, but you would soon get tired of lubing and de-lubing pistol brass for a cosmetic effect.

 

[Mike Irwin]

In my experience steel dies give as much of the transition as carbide dies.

 

[wilson133]

As a reloader who used to reload with steel dies before carbide dies existed, here's my tip. Do not use steel dies when carbide dies are available. Lubing each case is slow and annoying, and back when the only case lube was that sticky stuff, it was beyond annoying..

 

[JJB2]

after using both steel dies and then carbide dies you'd have have a heck of a time trying to get me to not use carbide!!!!!

 

[.499 BigBore]

the one thing about carbide dies is they are very easily broken if you do not position the shell into the holder correctly, as in trying to load fast, i have done this, the case was not aligned properly and when the handle went down the case was at a slight angle and it cracked the carbide ring, with steel dies all you do is ruin a case !!