There's a guy in classified who has a set of RCBS dies in .357/.38. They are reasonably priced and I would like to buy them if they are carbide. He doesn't know if they are carbide. I know that with the newer RCBS dies, the carbide dies come in a gray box, and the dies in green boxes are tool steel, but these dies appear to be older. Has RCBS always had this color coding system, & if not, how do we tell if they are carbide or not?

buck, the sizing die should be marked carbide. I have a set, green box, from like 1976???

Thank you

I have a set from the 70's that are green steel dies.

If you look at the bottom inside edge of the sizer you will see the carbide ring if it`s a carbide die, no ring it is steel.

BTW
I`ve also carbide dies in the green box. Mine are mid 60`s vintage, I can`t say when they changed.

Ol' Joe is correct.
I too have a couple of carbide pistol die sets from the late '60's and they are in the RCBS Green plastic boxes . There is a stamping that says "carbo" on the top of the sizing /decapping die in the same place that gives the cal. designation so it makes it easy to know if carbide or not.

The "green box" Carbo dies sets will usually have a label
that's got a blue strip on it, but not always...

AllanD

Ol' Joe has the best way to tell. When you look at the sizer die end-on from the bottom, you'll see a slight ring about 1/16" to 3/32" and that will tell you if it's carbide. No ring - No carbide.