When to apply case lube, seat and crimp in two steps or one?

[DMShag514]

New to metallic reloading. Working with a single stage press and batch loading for 38 special. I've got a mixed bag of used dies that were gifted to me. My resizing die is a carbide job, not sure who made it, so no need to lube there. My expander die is a 'Lee Powder Through' and my Bullet Seater/Crimper is a used Lyman. Neither are carbide. Do I need to lube my 38 cases before I run them through these two dies? Also, I'm dropping powder using a Lee Auto Drum attached to my expander. I'm seating 158 grain DEWC from Missouri Bullets. When seating these as flush as possible with the case mouth, should I seat and crimp in two steps or is it feasible to do both in one pull?

[Jeff H]

No need to lube for any die except for case sizing. Carbide dies do save the time and material required for lubing - even for sizing, but I do lube one in every ten or twenty and it makes resizing much easier. Not required, but it is an extra step I take.

It is possible to seat and crimp in one pull. There are arguments against it, but once I get a die set up for a given bullet, I do both at once. One argument is that you are still seating as the crimp is formed and you push the bullet (part of it) into a crimped case - at the very end of the stroke. Timing this to have the crimp finish as the bullet reaches its maximum depth is not difficult but you can sometimes make your first one a little ugly. If your case lengths differ from one to the next, doing both at once can be a problem. I trim all my new/new to me brass to be uniform in length, so I don't have that problem.

Once in a while, when loading a really stout max load for which I apply a more firm than usual crimp, I will do those two steps separately and I apply the crimp by feel rather than max'ing out the stroke. Not something I'd recommend without having reloaded a LOT of cases first to get the "feel" of it.

With compressed charges, the bullet can sneak back out a little by the time you crimp if you do it separately, but I have rarely had to use a compressed load in any of my own handgun (including handgun-cartridge carbines) loads.

Since you're crimping over the forward edge of a wadcutter, there is no forward driving band to mess up by driving the crimped case mouth into it from below, so I'd be even less concerned about killing those two birds with one stone.

[GasGuzzler]

I wouldn't lube the cases in that specific example. I would probably never consider trimming something like 38 Special (straight wall and relatively mild 99% of the time) but I do seat and crimp in two steps whether I'm on the single stage or the turret. Then again, with 38 Special and lead bullets it's not nearly as critical.

[Macd]

I dry lube (with a light spray) all my handgun dies except of course the powder through die before using. Not necessary but as Jeff said it makes for a smoother operation.

I crimp in two steps for 357 Mag, 38 Special and 45 Colt but I use a four die set on a turret press. I think on a single stage I would take the time to trim cases to a consistent length and crimp when seating bullets.

[mikld]

I only lube my carbide sizing dies occasionally, and mainly for my 44 Magnum and 9mm brass), Just a bit of cream case lube on every 5th or 6th case. Seating/crimping in one or two steps is a matter of choice. If you can easily get the seating movement and the crimp forming coordinated, then try "one stop" seating/crimping. I separated the steps when I started reloading a bunch of years ago and still prefer seating then crimping. I batch load so there is no need to consolidate steps and I use different crimp styles not included in standard seating/crimping dies. For my revolvers I use standard roll crimps but more often I use Profile crimps and collet crimps. For my semi-autos I use a standard taper crimp (I don't actually crimp my semi-auto handloads, I just remove any flare in the case mouth). Another reason I separate steps id I feel I have more "control" of each different operation...