Lee Loader

i bought a whole bunch of starline 357 magnum brass and have been having a heck of a time running it through the sizing die. it is brand new brass and i have to pull the press handle fairly hard to force the case into the die and much harder to pull the case out of the die. this is the lee carbide sizing die and i set it up per the instructions. i even tried some lube on the cases and the die, but got the same results. i checked youtube videos and no one seems to have to crank the handle as much as i do to force the case in. if i back the die out considerably (so the case is only entering the die a little), it seems to work without the drama, but i figure this defeats the purpose of resizing the cases. i thought i might have a bad die so i polished the inside a little but still no joy. i then ordered a resizing die from hornady (because i liked their bullet feed die so much) and guess what? same thing, even with lube. so either i can't read instructions and i'm setting up 2 different resizing dies completely wrong (not likely), or maybe the brass is on the big size, or maybe i'm not supposed to resize new brass? the interweb seems mixed on the issue. many people say yes, resize new brass and many others say no need. i tried sizing some that i have shot once (both starline and factory) and they resize much easier. however, it still requires a bit of effort, especially to pull the cas eback out from the die. so, how much effort is required to resize 357 brass and do i need to resize new brass? thanks.

Hmmm, I guess you will need to cal Starline. If they won't fit in either die, I doubt they would fit in the chamber or cylinder. For some reason or another I have the dim light on, back there somewhere, where someone else had problems of a similar nature with the Starline.

I size all my new brass.

they chamber and shoot fine. will call starline tomorrow to be sure.

I got a lot of M1 Carbine, 9x18 Mak brass from them. Never had a problem, thankfully. I've alway considered it to be very high quality brass. So I agree, call Starline. The strange part of this is that they chamber. Be sure to mention that. Something weird is going on.

Did you buy it straight from Starline?

I use their .357 brass. I resize all new brass.

I did buy directly from starline. Have a call into to their tech guy. His name is Hunter, so that's a good sign.

What are you using for lube ? As a last geewiz did you try it through an FCD with the parts out . I've read about some lubes in all of the exactly right conditions not working well with carbide dies . You did mention using a different die also .

I know it's new brass but maybe a short cycle tumble would help, maybe it wasn't tumbled long enough after forming . It may be just "rough brass" and be sticky . I've experienced that before .

Carbide dies shouldn't need lube but I've tried several different kinds, including oneshot. Got a call back from hunter. Advised it's not necessary to resize new brass but if I really want to, I should tumble first with dry, used media. I'm set up for wet tumbling instead of dry and may try wet first. That said, I'll make up a few rounds and see how they cycle / shoot without resizing. If they're ok, I may skip resizing until next time round with these cases.

Sounds to me like ...... I don't know the right words I guess ...the brass needs to be burnished, sized or fired or polished to , "close the pores" I guess .

of those choices, i'll take fired.