Reloading dies

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oldbear1950

New member
Has any current reloading company, published a chart, so you can check their dies, and see what the markings mean, or no markings? Some dies show nothing, the caliber, whether they are expanding dies, seating dies, nothing.
Or do you just have to call each individual company?
 
So I'm guessing you came across some old die, maybe at a garage sale, and can't figure out what it is. Most reloaders would know just by looking which brand it is. They all have their own distinctive look and their function would be obvious. I'm sure if you posted a couple of good pics someone will be able to identify it for you.
 
Resizing dies generally have a pin coming out the end to deprine the case. Seating dies usually have an adjustment screw or piece on the top and a cup on the inside to hold the bullet. Expanders usually have a flat pointed tapered cone inside. As far as caliber, some do and some dont in my experience.
 
Generally, but there are exceptions. I have a die set where the decapping pin is in the expander die. Have seen a few others like that, not many and usually older dies (like 50s or before, but not always).

Lyman uses "code letters", FL for the sizer (full length) the expander die body is M-1 (all calibers) and the expander stem has the caliber size marking, and the seater dies say DA (stands for Dual Action, seating and crimping)

RCBS sizer die body says sizer, the expander says nothing, and the seater says "seat". and the sizer and expander die also have the year of manufacture (last 2 digits) My dies are from the 70s, 80s. and some newer.

Don't know what other brands do, or did, sorry.

Some reloading manuals have a chart that cross references different makers shell holder numbers, but I don't know of any chart that does that for die markings.
 
Have any of you folks ever loaded paper patched 45-70 bullets?
I have two 45-70 rifles. One is a Henry lever action, that according to Henry, will accept the same loads as the Marlin lever gun. The other is an old H & R shikari that I wanted to lengthen the chamber, load long bullets, keep pressures the same as a trapdoor, and load some paper patched bullets. Never shot any of those.
 
oldbear1950 said:
Have any of you folks ever loaded paper patched 45-70 bullets?
I have two 45-70 rifles. One is a Henry lever action, that according to Henry, will accept the same loads as the Marlin lever gun. The other is an old H & R shikari that I wanted to lengthen the chamber, load long bullets, keep pressures the same as a trapdoor, and load some paper patched bullets. Never shot any of those.
Click to expand...
I want to try paper patching, its a bit of an art from what i have seen.

Check castboolits if you have not already. They have a section dedicated to paper patching.https://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?38-Black-Powder-Paper-Patching

Our cast bullet game is weak here, and a bit buiried, but we do have a section for it https://thefiringline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=43
 
Find a copy of The Paper Jacket by Paul Matthews. Great book on paper patching. I wouldn't necessarily call it an art, more a craft that requires the right material (proper bullet, onion skin paper, template) and a little practice. Personally, I've had mixed success. I started because I had an old cape gun for which I could not find the right diameter bullet. It is 0.470, but a paper patched 350 gr 0.459 from Buffalo Arms works great. I've since started casting my own, but have not tried my 0.470s yet. My 50-70 takes a nominal 0.512 bullet, but you can buy 0.500 straight sided ones designed for a paper patch. Have run a few of those, but it's a work in progress. I have yet to try it with a 45-70, but I have read (Mike Venturino) that the old time buffalo hunters primarily used paper patched bullets.
 
In about 20 years of reloading using Lee, RCBS, Lyman, and Redding dies, I've become accustomed to OPs posting closeup, clear photos for this type of question and generally on this very site. I used to come here for any reloading technical questions, first. One thing is that often you find guys that buy one brand and are a wealth of knowledge about it- very helpful members!

Unfortunately, discussion forums are moving from actual word posts to people posting links to other sites without any discussion. Guess what, those links have a limited life. So much for archived helpful responses for us researchers.

All the Service dept. technical folks have been helpful IME, although I always really limit my questions to not take up their whole day.
 
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Hikingmanm,

Simply posting links with no context is what we call drive-posting, and this board's rules prohibit it. However, when a link is to another thread hosted on this site, like the first one Shadow 9mm posted, it should never expire. The Castboolitz site the other link goes to also maintains old threads, so it should remain OK. But posts to photos hosted by separate hosting sites rather than hosting them here, or the same things hosted on other forums, as you suggest, can possibly all turn into dead air. The problem is we can't copy and then post them here without permission from the source, as that violates their copyrights.
 
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