Pacific Durachrome Dies - 357 Mag??

dcloco

Purchased a used set (cannot tell that they are used).

Need to know the order of use. Dies are marked as follows:

357 Mag NO. 1 x (threaded, but no threaded plug installed)
357 Mag NO. 2 x (has decapping pin/case mouth expander)
357 Mag NO. 3 x (has bullet seating plug)

Is this the order? The NO. 1 seems to be rather tight for a sizing die.

Thanks for the help in advance.

Throckmorton

Are they carbide dies? If not that would explain the sizing die being 'tight'.You'll see a ring at the mouth of the die that is a different color than the rest of the die if it's carbide.If not you MUST lube the cases or risk getting one stuck in there.
Sounds like they are in the right order for using.

Throckmorton SASS #23149

Pearyw

I have been using these for 30 years. No 1 is your sizer and you use it first. Pacific is probably the only die I can think that de-primes and flairs the case mouth in the same step, your no 2. You seat and crimp with the no 3. Pacific was bought out by Hornady. I am still using a Pacific press that I bought in the mid-70's. These could be plain steel or carbide. It is easy to see the carbide ring in the no 1 die if it has one.

dcso3009

I have an old set of RCBS that bell and deprime at the same time...
I thought I had an original.

dcloco

Thanks for the help. Dies are "Durachrome" - I believe I have to used sizing lube.

They work ok...quite a bit of arm effort though.

Pinhead

dcloco, have you ever tried any of the Imperial sizing wax. It works great and not as messy as the oil base products. You can wipe the wax off with a towel instead of having to go thru a cleaning and drying step.