.357 max. dies

[jakester]

Well after all the reading and comments I went and bought a .357 handi.
It is at the smith getting reamed and trigger job, but now the rest of the story.
1. Do you need to purchase .357 max. dies or will standard .357 mags. work?
2. Has anyone tried the Hornady flex tip bullets in .358 diameter?
3. Has anyone tried the nitride die sets- are they much better than carbide?
thanks all

[cwlongshot]

Well after all the reading and comments I went and bought a .357 handi.
It is at the smith getting reamed and trigger job, but now the rest of the story.
1. Do you need to purchase .357 max. dies or will standard .357 mags. work?
2. Has anyone tried the Hornady flex tip bullets in .358 diameter?
3. Has anyone tried the nitride die sets- are they much better than carbide?
thanks all

Reg 357 Dies from RCBS, Hornady, Redding, Lyman will work just fine.

Yes, but 180 is a better practical limit based on powder capacity.


IMHO, Just stick with carbide...

CW

[yukondog]

I use Lee 357 dies and they work fine. I get my best grouping with 180's

[OldBob]

  Lee .357 carbides here w/ no problems. So far mine seems partial to 180 gr SSP's and 190 gr cast boolits from the Ranch Dog designed Lee mold.

[Badnews Bob]

Lee .357 mag dies are what I use and they work great. Also mine really shines with 180 gr bullets, I mostly use hardcast but I like hornady XTPs real well.

[gendoc]

well, i got to add.... my lee mag dies do a better job than my rcbs.
why, i dunno !!!! its just the results i guess.
been use'n them for bout 13 years for my ruger max.
i wonder if quality has fallen since then..........?
can't tell ya bout the handi max....i would not do that to an excellent performing
barrel. when i already have one.  

[quickdtoo]

I've only used my Lee dies to FL size 50 rounds of 360 DW and 30 rounds of Max brass so far, but they seem to work just fine, can't say the same for the seater die on the Speer 180gr FP bullet, will have to modify the seater plug to work with the pointier bullet.

Tim