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Newbie: How to identify carbide die upon inspection?

6K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  hiker 
#1 ·
Are the steel and carbide (pistol) dies a real challenge to tell apart? The steel dies can rust if not wiped down...are (new) carbide dies shinier compared with new steel dies?

Newbie in the Reloading Department :scratch:
 
#2 · (Edited)
what brand of dies are they?If they are RCBS the carbide dies will come in a grey box.Steel RCBS comes in a green box.Most of the newer Lee dies are Carbide as far as I know.Dillon dies are Carbide too.You can tell Carbide by the grey color on the sizeing die also.Carbide will be heavy too,,just some of what I know of off hand.You will only notice the Carbide in the bore,not the whole die itself,as it is a quite expensive material and almost no way to have the threaded part made of Carbide.They also come in a brand name of TiTanium Carbide,but the bore is Carbide.
Forgot to add,,only the sizeing die is of Carbide.The rest of the components are steel.You should use lube on the shell caseings,regardless of what people say.Especially new shell cases.If you don't,you can get by,but it takes a bit more muscle,compared to the butter feel of sizeing cases.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the comments. It was a general question since I've bought plenty of used pistol dies (RCBS and Lee) and some were in the original plastic case -others not. My reloading equip. was paid for before inserting the first brass case - after selling a ton of used items and duplicates bought 'cheap' from others.
:biglaugh:
 
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