I'm relatively new to reloading. I got my Dillon 550 early last spring with 9mm dies and I've been loading and learning over the summer. I've had a really good time, and didn't run into any problems with 9mm.
But, I recently got a set of Lee .38 Spl dies and this past Saturday, my son and I set it up and loaded some. I figured it would take a little more force for re-sizing .38 brass, since it's a longer case, and it did, but not really very much.
But, where I did notice a really big difference was with the powder funnel/case expander die. I set that up so that it leaves just enough bell to seat the bullet, but the narrower part that pushes down about the same depth of the bullet (when it's seated) drags very hard when I pull it back out. My loader is securely fastened to a stout, heavy work table, but I still had to be careful each time I pulled up the lever so that it wouldn't shake things too much. I even ended up putting a very light coat of oil on the die every few rounds and that helped quite a bit. I ended up loading 130 rounds or so, with a range of powder charge for testing and otherwise, they loaded just fine and look good. Being new, I just don't know if that's normal or not.
I was using new Starline brass. I'm going to try some once-fired brass that I just cleaned and see if that makes a difference.
But, I recently got a set of Lee .38 Spl dies and this past Saturday, my son and I set it up and loaded some. I figured it would take a little more force for re-sizing .38 brass, since it's a longer case, and it did, but not really very much.
But, where I did notice a really big difference was with the powder funnel/case expander die. I set that up so that it leaves just enough bell to seat the bullet, but the narrower part that pushes down about the same depth of the bullet (when it's seated) drags very hard when I pull it back out. My loader is securely fastened to a stout, heavy work table, but I still had to be careful each time I pulled up the lever so that it wouldn't shake things too much. I even ended up putting a very light coat of oil on the die every few rounds and that helped quite a bit. I ended up loading 130 rounds or so, with a range of powder charge for testing and otherwise, they loaded just fine and look good. Being new, I just don't know if that's normal or not.
I was using new Starline brass. I'm going to try some once-fired brass that I just cleaned and see if that makes a difference.