Reloading 44mag

cuddysark said:

I am trying to use RCBS 44mag dies; but the resizing die is almost impossible to work.

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It appears you have a non-carbide die I the loop.

FWIW, I came home with a set without a carbide sizer about 40 years ago, and resizing brass fired in my SBH was an athletic event to say the least. Large chamber dimensions, loads were even hotter at that time, and I practically needed to clear the floor pumping the handle.

Still the case.

I use a carbide die to get over size brass under control, and the old sizing die to bring it to a point where I can drop the round in any of my .44's.

Cheezywan said:

Note to self: Try the steel die.

Note to self: Don't forget to lube cases when you try the steel die.

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Not to worry, you will remember the lube real fast if it comes to that

Actually the steel dies have an advantage over the carbide dies I have, they will size a case farther down the base. I have also removed a bit of the shell holder to increase the amount of sizing I can achieve.
Sounds like a waste of time, but I have multiple .357's and .44's, and my carbide dies will not size everything to work in multiple firearms. My BH/SBH are the worst offenders. Even with mid level loads, my DA revolvers from Smith and Ruger, and both carbines have much tighter chambers than the BH's, and will NOT feed brass from them without extra work.

Oh, and don't size nickel cases in the steel die. The nickel seems to stick to the steel and build up very quickly, leaving deep scratches.