This may be a dumb question

[MrBrian]

Why are there only 2 dies in rifle die sets, and 3 or 4 in pistol die sets?   Is it just missing the crimp die?   I'm just getting into reloading rifles and was looking at a 6.5x55 Swedish set and it made me ponder....  

 

 

Edit:  Another question,  if I want to reload 45-70 rounds with black powder, will I need a special powder measurer to keep from having a static explosion?

 

Edit2:  Why is it that lighter bullets require more powder?  You'd think the opposite because a smaller mass should require less energy to equal the same velocity...  I can see how if you want the same amount of force out of a smaller projectile, you'd increase the powder charge, but wouldn't that make unsafe chamber pressures?   And how do the companies that write reloading manuals measure the chamber pressures?

Edited August 19, 2015 by MrBrian

[runco]

When in doubt, mumble; when in trouble, delegate; when in charge, ponder.  James H Boren 

 

So are you in charge with your charges?  No pun intended. :rofl:

[MrBrian]

I guess I'm not in charge of my charges, since the charges that I'm using are the charges of a reloading manual.... For if I were truly in charge of my own charges, my gun would be in many pieces...

[RED333]

Why are there only 2 dies in rifle die sets, and 3 or 4 in pistol die sets?   Is it just missing the crimp die?   I'm just getting into reloading rifles and was looking at a 6.5x55 Swedish set and it made me ponder....

 
These are the most important link in the reloading process. You'll need a set of dies for each caliber you plan to reload. There are three dies in sets used for loading straight-wall type cases and two dies in sets used for loading bottleneck type cases. The third die in a 3-die set is used to expand the mouth of straight-wall cases. In a 2-die set, expanding is done in the sizer die.

 

Edit:  Another question,  if I want to reload 45-70 rounds with black powder, will I need a special powder measurer to keep from having a static explosion?

 

Yes

 

Edit2:  Why is it that lighter bullets require more powder?  You'd think the opposite because a smaller mass should require less energy to equal the same velocity...  I can see how if you want the same amount of force out of a smaller projectile, you'd increase the powder charge, but wouldn't that make unsafe chamber pressures?   And how do the companies that write reloading manuals measure the chamber pressures?

 

More powder is needed with a lighter bullet to produce the needed pressure. With a heavier bullet less powder is needed because the bullet itself has more inertia that needs to be overcome before it will start to move. This gives the powder more time to burn, increasing case pressure to the appropriate level before the volume between the case and bullet really starts to expand appreciably. The other reason I can think of is that lighter bullets are not seated as deep into the case as a heavier bullet, and so again, powder needs to be added to compensate for the increased volume in order to generate sufficient case pressure.

[Omega]

Ok, just deleted a whole bunch of text that I was writing to just add this link: http://www.chuckhawks.com/adjust_reloading_dies.htm

It better explains the die sets and what each die does.