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I never got the memo from Lee Precision...

glenwolde

glenwolde

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I ordered a spare 9mm Luger Powder-through-expander die. Sometimes I load on the Dillon, sometimes I don't. I'd like to be able to use the Lee Auto Disks I have off-Dillon.

OK they aren't the greatest measure but they are accurate in my experience and they are the only automatically actuated fixed-disk measure. They are half the price of the Dillon measures.

I really prefer the fixed disk measures.

They changed the expander. When did that happen? It's clearly a Lyman M-style expander. You can see the step. It works great. Bullets go in straight and deeper by hand. I'm ecstatic as I only shoot lead. I'm ordering more.

My old expander on the right vs the new one on the left.

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That's not an m-die, it's more bad tooling. That's the same typical short bodied jacket bullet expander that lee is famous for.

A picture of what a true m-die looks like. It has the lllloooonnnnnggggg body and the "step" at the top of the expander.
vnmkz9e.jpg


45cal lee expander next to a lyman m-die.
AtiYtlr.jpg


A lee 9mm expander next to a custom expander I made (with top lip included).
aFsP8TI.jpg
 
Forrest r said:
That's not an m-die, it's more bad tooling. That's the same typical short bodied jacket bullet expander that lee is famous for.

A picture of what a true m-die looks like. It has the lllloooonnnnnggggg body and the "step" at the top of the expander.
vnmkz9e.jpg


45cal lee expander next to a lyman m-die.
AtiYtlr.jpg


A lee 9mm expander next to a custom expander I made (with top lip included).
aFsP8TI.jpg
Click to expand...

I'll disagree. It's not as long as the Lymans. It could be improved for sure but it's better than their standard ones. It seems to work fine. I'll call it a win.

Lee Precision, Inc. - M style powder through expanding plugs



.
 
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I ordered every one they had for what I load. They are all of $3-$4 each. They are better than the originals. The Lyman ones are nicer but they don't work with my powder measures.
 
Thank you for showing me the new product from lee.

Hard to believe they're finely addressing the extremely short body of their expanders. Let alone putting a step in them.
 
Way reasonable prices! Can pretty much buy a set (380, 9mm, 40 &10mm, 45, 44SPL/MAG) for what one Lyman M-die costs... And I have a couple!

But, where's the 38SPL/357MAG one?:confused:

Cheers!
 
As a general rule, I avoid Lee stuff whenever possible. Their stuff is priced cheaper for a reason.

First Class is never a mistake.
 
I love Lee Precision, and except for their powder scale, everything I have ever bought from them has worked great.
 
Then there's the two levels of expansion dies from Redding...:eek:

Including a "Premium" one with a TiN plug (coated with Titanium Nitride)!

Cheers!

P.S. The "regular" Redding model has worked fantastically for me in 9mm: very much like the M-Dies from Lyman. Still going to give the new plugs from LEE a chance: at around $4 a pop how can one go wrong?
 
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I'm liking Lee stuff....

I'm mostly an RCBS guy, but like you say, the prices are right. When the 'M' die is set just right, it also flares the case a little. Does that expander do the same or is flaring not needed or a different step?

I LOVE my Lee 9mm 'M' die.:)

Also the Factory crimp dies are great, where I need them, anyway. I kinda wish I had a FCD for everything and just use it lightly if a real crimp isn't needed.

Glad you got a piece of gear that you LIKE!!!!!:cool:
 
Lyman’s patent must have run out. I am surprised, however, that Lee can call their new expander an M-die. Maybe Lyman needs better lawyers.

I like to load lead bullets for .38 Special, .44 Special, .45 Colt and .45 ACP. I started using the Lyman M-die expanders about 15 years ago and buy their dies sets for pistol cartridges specifically because of that “better mousetrap”. If the new offerings from Lee work the same way and are finished/polished just as well, that’s great.
 
I use the Autodisk on my Dillon for pistol cartridges. It is wonderful, so much easier to setup and change out and about 1/3 or less the price of the Dillon. Not to mention, I swear it is more precise/consistent than the Dillon.

I was using the spring return, but had a couple of cases where it hung up. I switched to using the chain. I use the white bushing on the Dillon powder measure return rod and run the chain thru it, so it works like the Dillon, just uses the chain instead of a rod. Works perfect.

I will be looking into those new Lee powder funnels, thanks for the info.

I bought an expander for the Lee from Track of the Wolf and it was just a plug, couldn't understand why they didn't drill it out so you could powder thru it. Wondered the same about the Lyman M Die. It is a simple fix. If I had a lathe, I would be making my own and modifying as needed. Glad to see Lee finally decided to do a simple fix to improve their product.

Rosewood
 
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rosewood said:
I use the Autodisk on my Dillon for pistol cartridges. It is wonderful, so much easier to setup and change out and about 1/3 or less the price of the Dillon. Not to mention, I swear it is more precise/consistent than the Dillon.

I was using the spring return, but had a couple of cases where it hung up. I switched to using the chain. I use the white bushing on the Dillon powder measure return rod and run the chain thru it, so it works like the Dillon, just uses the chain instead of a rod. Works perfect.

I will be looking into those new Lee powder funnels, thanks for the info.

I bought an expander for the Lee from Track of the Wolf and it was just a plug, couldn't understand why they didn't drill it out so you could powder thru it. Wondered the same about the Lyman M Die. It is a simple fix. If I had a lathe, I would be making my own and modifying as needed. Glad to see Lee finally decided to do a simple fix to improve their product.

Rosewood
Click to expand...

I do exactly the same thing on my old Dillon. To be fair, Lee also has to make these to work with jacketed bullets too, so they're bound to compromise.

Yes the Lyman ones are better, except you often have to flare in a separate step. I'm not into adding steps, or I wouldn't have a Dillon.

As a side note, the Lyman Multi-Expander Powder Charge die is on sale at Midway. I bought one of those too right before I found out about the new Lee funnels. I called Lyman to get the optional funnel for the 9mm Makarov and found out they are discontinuing this die. They'll still offer the expanding funnels....for now. If you're interested get one while you can. You could use this on a Dillon but for now it's limited to a manually operated powder measure. The top of the Lyman die is standard 7/8 x 14. I can screw my little dandy into it. I'll use it sometimes as I don't load everything on the Dillon.
 
No way that’s awesome! I think I’ll have to pick up one in 9 and one in 38. Thanks for the heads up!
 
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