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This is kind of an extension of the thread from earlier today, about the decapping/sizing/expansion issue with a .45 die I have.
After reading what people said, I went back to the shop to look at the dies, and took pictures. What I apparently have is something very...different.
Here are the pics:
First pic shows the decapping die and the sizing die:
The next pic shows the decapping die disassembled:
It doesn't show in the first pic, but the sizing die has threads on top where you could presumably install a decapping assembly--but not the one that I have on the case mouth expander! (Different diameter openings).
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? It's an older set of dies, likely from the 1980s sometime.
I'm also trying to figure how I should use them. I could resize the cases before decapping and casemouth expansion, or maybe could resize after seating the bullet.
I ran a test cartridge (bullet already seated) though the resizing die and it produced a cartridge diameter the same size as an empty cartridge.
So what do you think? Resize, then decap and casemouth expansion at the same time? Or decap/expand, seat bullet, then run them through the sizing die?
(Third alternative is get a new set of dies, but these are carbide and I don't want to
.
After reading what people said, I went back to the shop to look at the dies, and took pictures. What I apparently have is something very...different.
Here are the pics:
First pic shows the decapping die and the sizing die:

The next pic shows the decapping die disassembled:

It doesn't show in the first pic, but the sizing die has threads on top where you could presumably install a decapping assembly--but not the one that I have on the case mouth expander! (Different diameter openings).
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? It's an older set of dies, likely from the 1980s sometime.
I'm also trying to figure how I should use them. I could resize the cases before decapping and casemouth expansion, or maybe could resize after seating the bullet.
I ran a test cartridge (bullet already seated) though the resizing die and it produced a cartridge diameter the same size as an empty cartridge.
So what do you think? Resize, then decap and casemouth expansion at the same time? Or decap/expand, seat bullet, then run them through the sizing die?
(Third alternative is get a new set of dies, but these are carbide and I don't want to