How do I know if my dies are carbide?

S

Scott Bear

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Prince George
I bought a set of 9mm Lee dies. I thought they were not carbide, but the instructions that came with them are for carbide dies. No marks on the case they came in or marks on the dies themselves.

Any advise?

Thanks,

Scott.
 
I can double check but i think my RCBS ones might be marked. But what do i know off the top of my head is they are a darker grey color. All of my other RCBS dies are significantly different in color.
 
The Lee dies that I had, that were carbide, had a definite difference in the colour of the carbide ring that was inserted into the steel of the die. It was quite visible.

If the part number is not panning out any useful info, have a look under good light and you should be able to see the different colours.

Cheers
Trev
 
I believe all modern Lee pistol sizing dies are carbide except for;

30 Luger
357 Sig
30 Mauser
44/40
7.62 Tokarev
400 Cor Bon
32/20
50 Action Express
38/40
7.62 NAGANT
 
Have a look inside the die. The carbide is an insert, not the entire die, at the base of the die.

Deprimer.JPG


This is a carbide .500S&W die. It is larger inside so you can readily see the ring insert, but your die will have a similar insert if carbide.
 
Looks like they are carbide. Not bad for $20 at a gun show considering my .45 ACP RCBS carbide dies were $70. Maybe I should have shopped around. The Lee 9mm ones even came with a shell holder. We'll see how they compare when I actually get loading.
 
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