Boy, this friend of yours sounds really familiarI have a friend on this forum that just got a 450-400 3.25" NE. That's probably in the top-5 most common NE cartridges of all time. (Pity it wasn't in the top-3 or he'd have easy access) He's struggling to find brass and I think he mailed away to Australia for a set of dies that were dusty on a shelf. Multiply the challenges many fold for a less known NE caliber and its a trail of tears.
Fortunately, I was able to get a regular set of dusty dies and a specialty trim die from CH4D. I also found 160 pieces of unfired brass in Australia at the same timeIt only gets harder from where you’re presently at!![]()