For .357 these questions three.

[Bikebreath]

I have almost finished painting the room where I'll assemble the RCBS Rock Chucker and use the Lee set of 3 carbine dies for .357.

Other info...
•Tumbled a couple hundred .357 cases and inspected all. Then I measured them. I divided them into 3 groups:
1) all that were within .003 of the recommended trim-to length of 1.280;
2). all that were below that and
3) all above.
•On order are Speer .358 158gr LSWC and LSWC HP's
•For the Ruger SP101.
•Going for a gnat-fart-load for the range and general plinking.

1- For a revolver does it matter so much for case length as long are not over the 1.290 max length?

2- I know for 9mm separating by head stamp could be critical, but does it matter with .357?

3- Should I get the crimp die or just go with the seating die? (I think the answer to this is get the Lee crimp die).

Thank you all in advance.

 

[alucard0822]

As far as length goes, you want to trim any case that streaches over max, and check them closely for any signs of cracking or poished spots inside or out that indicate damage, being that handgun cases once trimmed usually will not streach much untill they wear out, I usually trim once to 1.280 then throw them out once they reach 1.290, usually after a dozen loadings. If they are too short, as long as the bullet is seated to an acceptable OAL, then there are no immediate problems other than the case may crack or wear out before it reaches max OAL. As always check every case every time visually.

In a revolver, especially with a relatively large volume case like 357mag, they are pretty forgiving of slight differences in thickness unless being loaded up to the max. For this reason there is little difference I have found in major brand cases, starline, Win, and remington. The problem is with working up loads, some brands of cases are thicker, and may increase pressure if loaded with the same powder charge worked up in a thinnner case, this can potentially be dangerous in loads near max pressure, and as a rule should be avoided in all but light plinking and target loads reduced well below the max.

To crimp, a lee FCD is great, they produce uniform crimps, especially heavy crimps not possible with a combo seating/crimp die, and are not prone to buckle cases, and being they post size, they iron out any minor bulges that do occur. With heavy loads in light revolvers you can get a strong pulling force on the bullets and potentially jam the cylinder, so some loads in some revolvers benefit greatly from the heavy uniform crimps this die easily produces.

 

[Bikebreath]

Great...thanks alucard. I was hoping you would post an answer. Having seen many of your in-depth posts in the Reloading section I had reason to think I'll need the factory crimp die...I put it on my list.

All the brass is once-fired. Think I'll caliber for thickness and sort that way.

 

[herr.baer]

As long as it is a wheel gun the lengths aren't as critical as with a semi.

I have never crimped my .357 and haven't had any troubles.

 

[1raggedhole]

.357 Case Length

Have been loading .357 with light target loads for about 5 years now and my viewpoint on case length varies with the bullet I'm going to load: I use a lot of plated bullets, Berry's and Rainiers, and for them just taking out the bell with a slight taper crimp enough to get them into the cylinder is fine, and case length isn't critical. On the other hand, with any bullets that I'm going to use a roll crimp with, I'll sort cases by length to get a uniform roll crimp on the whole batch. I have enough .357 cases that I don't have to mix headstamps, I'll separate a brand into nominal +/- .003, then over and under. The overs I'll trim to +/- .003 nominal, the shorts I use for a different batch, either the same load with the dies re-adjusted or a different load. I use separate dies to seat and crimp, so I can re-adjust both dies for a shorter batch, but keep the batches separate. Hope this helps.

 

[Bikebreath]

Welcome, 1raggedhole...(there's a joke there somewhere...)

Hmmm...wonder how I came up with the .003 as the same break point. Must be in the stars...

 

[Bikebreath]

As long as it is a wheel gun the lengths aren't as critical as with a semi.

I have never crimped my .357 and haven't had any troubles.

I didn't think it would be as critical, but this is no guessing game...thanks

 

[alucard0822]

Great...thanks alucard. I was hoping you would post an answer. Having seen many of your in-depth posts in the Reloading section I had reason to think I'll need the factory crimp die...I put it on my list.

All the brass is once-fired. Think I'll caliber for thickness and sort that way.

A lot of time the wall thickness, case head or web thickness will change, for the most part it is the volume that affects pressure in a given case, and being they are all the same exterior dimentions, you can get a pretty good indication of interior volume by weighing the cases, calipers might show thicker walls, or a thicker case head, but unless you do a lot of measurements to each case you can't know for sure, although each brand typically weighs within a few grains of each other. Sorting by brand and weight for hot loads is usually the best way, although it is a little overkill for handgun calibers, and normally a practice reserved for rifles, but the principals behind it is the same for either.

As far as crimping, Being I load within 3 different lots of brass, 2 lots of about 2,000 or so cases of mixed headstamp, and one of starline only(for hot loads) I really only trim them once after the first firing, then check a few out of the lot when that particular lot completes a firing cycle and is ready to be reloaded, this ensures all the brass in that lot is loaded the same number of times, and ideally gets streached the same. For the majority of my loads I use 158gr rainier plated bullets. I only do a light roll crimp, and it is sufficient to hold the bullets when fired out of my 686 or lever gun. The sorted starline lot that is used for heavy or experimental loads sees either heavy hardcast bullets, either 158-200gr gas checked bullets, or 125-158gr JHP XTPs, all loaded hot. Each case is checked for length and trimmed, then gets a moderate crimp on the jacketed bullets, or a heavy crimp on the cast, the lengths range from 1.280 freshly trimmed to 1.290 being on it's last load and the end of it's life for me, usually about the same time the case needs to be trimmed the primer pocket is loose, and it goes into the scrap pile anyway. With all of these, the factory crimp die works well. It does not work as a rigid stop, but actually presses the outside diameter of the case to about .355", and you could theoretically crimp half way down the case if you wanted to, it would have a nice roll in the middle with the case .355" above the crimp, and .379 below it, so length is not as critical as it would be in a different die design, if set for shorter case length, the longer cases might have a little flat ring just ahead of the crimp a couple thousandths long, and if set for long cases, shorter ones would have a slightly lighter crimp. I've never had a need to make case lengths exactly uniform with the die, and haven't seen much of a change in velocity measurements either.

I like to reload, but hate to reload at the same time, I like fiddling with measurements and variables, then testing them, but hate the monotinous work of chugging out a few hundred cases on the press. For this reason I do as little prep work as possible for the vast majority of the loads I produce. I tumble my pickups, and check them visually once cleaned, measuring about 1 in 10 to make sure they aren't near the max length, if all is well, they go in a couple gallon sized lip-lock bags labeled for their lot#. When I load, I dump them in the hopper on my progressive press set up for them, then I pull the handle, set bullets, and fill the primer tray and powder hopper when they get low, and after a couple hours I have a thousand loaded rounds ready to be checked a final time, then boxed up.

 

[Cowboy T]

It's not *that* critical, since you're talking about a wheelgun. I have a Ruger Security-Six in .357 Magnum that loves just about anything I feed it. Just make sure you're not over the max length. If your cases are short, no harm at all in a wheelgun. For example, I fire lots of very hot .38 Special rounds (just shy of full-power .357M levels) through my Security-Six on a regular basis. That gun loves it and begs for more.

As for the Lee Factory Crimp Die, it's a good die, and I like it. I usually don't use it, though, since I'm loading on a 3-stage progressive (Lee Pro 1000). If the Pro 1000 were 4-stage, I'd use it, of course. But it turns out that the combo bullet seating/crimp die gives a mighty fine crimp for my hot .357M loads. You can actually do quite a firm crimp with that combo die if you ask it to, without buckling the case. Just be careful and use common sense during the adjustment. I use a medium to medium-heavy crimp. Note that you do *not* have to crimp the round to death, even for hot .357M! Medium-heavy is fine.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Lee Factory Crimp is a fine die, and reasonable enough priced it can't hurt to have one in your bag of tricks. But unless you have any extreme combination of case walls, bullet diameter, and chamber dimentions, the standard seat/ crimp die can make good loads.

 

[Slimjim]

Also, if you run a low charge of powder, you'll find that your cases wont stretch alot, if at all. My .357 magnum loads with 5.2 grains of red dot behind a lead cast bullet, dont stretch at all.

 

[Cowboy T]

5.0gr Bullseye pushing a 150gr LRNFP in .357M cases, and mine don't stretch, either. They tend to split first. Even 11.8gr 2400 behind the same boolit, in a .38 Special case, doesn't stretch the cases very much.

 

[Dans390]

roll crimp needs equal case length to roll same amount each time
factory crimp squeezes the bulge from mixed brass to fit all chambers