I purchased a 3 die set of Hornady 357mag. dies. ONe is a decaper/sizer I believe. ONe is a expander, and one a seater die. I was wanting to know if I can get by with using just the sizer die and seater die like you do on rifle sets or do I have to use the expander die too?

RTFM

You need to read a manual on reloading. The expander die tapers the opening so a bullet can be properly inserted. You will , or already have ruined some cases if you don't. Reloading is not a simple easy thing to accomplish, if any of you out there think this is a joke like some of our politically correct schools, you will probably get a very expensive and hopefully not deadly lesson. 35,000 > 68,000 PSI toys can & will bite the careless.

Another thing that you could do is have a good gun smith help you out. I would still get a couple of reloading manuals and read them. Sierra makes ones that are for pistols and one for rifles. They are a good start. Email me with your phone number and I will call you and help you out. ryan_marine@yahoo.com

Ray

The reason i asked is because I used it as the directions said. They said to screw the expander die in until it touched the shell holder with the ram up all the way. I set the lock ring there and then run one case through it and was blown away to see the mouth of the case very expanded! It seemed very out of proportion. Is it suppose to be this way or do I need to screw out the expander die away from the shellholder until it barely expands the case mouth? And if this is the answer, can someone use some calibers and tell me what to expand the case mouth to. Thanks

What I do is set the die body about 1/16 to 1/8 inch above the shell holder and screw the expander way back. Put a case in the shellholder and raise the case into the die all the way . Now take and screw the expander down till you feel it make contact with the case.Once you feel it make contact adjust it down alittle at a time , pulling the case out to check it. You want just enough bell on it to help start the bullet . But I would also take the advice already given as it is very good. You must Read The F***ing Manual as it was so eloquently put . It really is important to get one . Most will cover all the setup problems you may encounter.