RCBS #18212. Right dies for me?

Moe123

Moe123

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Hi all,
Forgive my newbiness, but I am gathering/buying equipment so I can finally start relaoding in a near future. I found a set of 38/357 RCBS Carbide dies. Item number is 18212. Is this what I need? I want to feed my GP100 with .38sp full wadcutters. I will also feed my S&W M52-2 with them. I might also want to load a few SWC in .38 once in a while.
I guess my question could be summarized in: Do I need to buy a die set that does a specific type of crimp? (roll, taper, or others that I don't know...) What would be the best? Thank you in advance.

Moe
 
Those dies will work fine but I highly recommend a Lee factory roll crimp die to crimp/resize the rounds after bullet seating. When using cast bullets you will likely find some of them are difficult to chamber due to the case expanding during the bullet seating process, the crimp die fixes this problem.
 
You may need a special seater insert for the die to use it with full wadcutters. They used to be common, but most dies I see now days come with semi-wadcutter and/or Round Nose seater plugs. I can't tell you by the number, you may be able to tell by the label on the box, but with used dies the plug may have been changed somewhere along the line. Best way would be to take them apart and see. On the other hand, if they are cheap enough, just buy them and if you do need the wadcutter plug just buy that item only from RCBS. - dan
 
Thank you for the replies,

Cummins, you are not the first I hear saying the Lee Factory Crimp dies are really nice. If you use them, do you still apply a crimp at the bullet seating die?

Dan, the set is new so the price is not a factor. Availability is more of my concern. So, I check in the box to see if there are 2 plugs?
 
Would it be just better to buy a Lee Deluxe set with 4 dies and the shell holder? Or 3 RCBS + a LFC die is a better way to go?
 
I would guess that most die sets for revolver cartridges roll crimp and most auto pistol ones taper crimp. I use Dillon dies for my pistol reloading. They use separate seating and crimp dies, which makes it easier to adjust one or the other. The Lee Factory Crimp Die allows you to do the same thing, but also sizes the loaded round as it applies a crimp, which will get rid of any case bulging.
 
My Dillon .38/.357 die set came with a wadcutter seating plug as well as a double-ended one to accommodate either RN or SWC bullets. I'm not sure if other dies come so configured or not.
 
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