LYMAN RELOADING DIES

MIKE’S SHOOTIN’ SHACK

- Mike Venturino

As I write this in the month of December 2021, I’m celebrating my 55th year of handloading. There has been so much change in that time! My first complete reloading setup for the .38 Special consisted of all Lyman equipment. Naturally, then I’ve always had a soft spot for Lyman’s dies. Back then, they came in black cardboard boxes. Opening my first black box, I found three dies: a sizing die with a decapping rod, a case expander/mouth belling die and a seating/crimping die. A long time passed before I heard of such things as carbide sizing dies, micrometer adjustable seating dies or taper crimp dies. Having a steel resizing die in that first set and being ignorant as to how easy they become embedded with grit, within a couple years, it was ruined. It scratched every case lengthwise. Those scratches turned to splits within a few more reloadings.

About a year later, another problem was encountered when I added .30-06 to my chores. Upon opening my second black Lyman box, I was surprised there were only two dies in it. One was for sizing/decapping and the other for bullet seating. Knowing that only a minor amount of .30-06 jacketed bullet shooting could be afforded, I had also purchased a .30-caliber Lyman mould. (It was No. 311375 for a 168-grain spitzer.)