carbide vs steel pistol dies? any way to tell if it's carbide?

[SpeedyR]

any way that's easy to tell if an older set of dies are carbide or steel? I have a couple of pairs of older Lyman dies (38.357 and 45auto) that I am assuming are steel. I've got newer dies that are carbide but was going to sell these or trade them and thought I'd see. nothing on the box (both are older black boxes w/ silver lettering, felt interiors) that says anything besides caliber.

I suppose I could just try the w/o lube and see if I get a case stuck.

 

[Tomthumb]

To determine if your dies are carbide or steel, look at the mouth (business end) of the outside sizing die. Carbide dies have a ring of carbide silver soldered in to the mouth. You can see a slight color difference between the inside and outside of the die. Steel will be the same color all the way across the mouth. Also because carbide dies are more expensive the original box will always be marked 'Carbide'. :~}