Expander die

[Mad_Charlie]

Quite the opposite.
I have 3 or 4 expander stems of various diameters to match the bullets I am loading at the moment.
RCBS once sent me by mistake a stem that had not been ground down and was .430".
I though the bullets were loose! They were.
Later I discovered this could be use with oversized .432" bullets.
I write the size on the top of each stem and now have a die frame for most of them so they can stay set-up.
For consistancy's sake, I like to keep the fit at -.002".
That's a radial .001 interference.
Keeps cast and plated bullets from deforming and yet enough to hold copper bullets in place.

===
Nemo

What,,you been looking over my shoulder? This is what I do, it works well.

 

[Drm50]

Expander

I use expander with all bullets. I have noticed bullets, jacketed,
that have beveled heels, that could be seated without expanding.
I expand because I think you get a more positive and even
crimp.

 

[Nemo288]

Yeah expanding theoretically makes up for variations in case thickness.
When it comes to revolvers I am not sure how much a deal this is.
Most revolvers are not what you would call benchrest accurate.
If I can hit a grapefruit at 25 yards, I know I am good for deer hunting and anything closer up.

===
Nemo

 

[fredj338]

If the bullet has enough radius or bevel base & if the case mouth is chamfered enough, it can work with jacketed. IMO, it only works well with jacketed, not at all with lead or coated lead & hit or miss with plated. Pull a bullet, look to see if you are scraping the plating off.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

It could be the bullets I'm using, havent tried it with another brand or style but I have a bunch of Berry's and they slide right in.

I got a box of 240gr FN Berry's 44Mag (#97080), about 18 months ago, that were horribly undersized. So much that many would fall into the case & had little to no case tension. Never got any satisfaction from Berry's so I trashed them & never bought any more. Check their diameter for size & uniformity. I'm sure they must have made more than one (200) box of them. Your sized cases shouldn't easily accept a properly sized bullet.

.

 

[Nemo288]

When it comes to 240gr plated bullets, I like the Rainier.
Their FP and HP have nearly identical dimensions so load the same.
With a concave base, they obturate well and are accurate.
All they make is the 240s in 44 and they do it well.

===
Nemo

 

[MJFlores]

I want to try those, and some from Extreme. So far, I get incredible accuracy from the Berry's 240 grain flat point but I'd still like to try the others to see how they do.

 

[at_liberty]

In the meantime, try not using an expander when loading your next pistol cartridges, you may be surprised. Could be that expander dies were needed for lead bullets, but really aren't for plated or jacketed bullets. It's worth experimenting anyways.

I noticed you can buy a pretty expensive set of pistol dies from Redding, that comes with a sizer, seater, and crimp die...no seater included. Maybe it's the wave of the future...

Or there is an assumption that a case-activated powder measure has a powder-through expander (PTX), allowing a station open for a separate crimp die and a precision seater. That is standard fare from Lee BTW.

 

[at_liberty]

I'm wondering if I'm the only one who's stopped using an expander die when reloading typical revolver cases such as .44, .38, .357, etc? The last few hundred rounds I've loaded for my .44, I didn't bother expanding the case mouth and everything turned out fine. I'm using a single stage press, and the bullets are plated (I don't think I'd try it with lead ). Anyway, I get to skip a step and in my mind working the brass a little less is always a good thing. Just wondering who else does this.

You say you are using a single stage press, but if you should have happened to use a case-activated powder measure, it could include a powder-through expander (PTX), eliminating the need for a separate expander, when set to do belling sufficient to accept the bullet straight up for seating.

Die sets vary in their diameter yields. I found Lyman and RCBS Cowboy the best performers for me, when loading lead diameters. If you were to use one of those with plated diameters, the bullets might well seat without further case mouth expanding.

Note that one of the functions of the expander in whatever form is to ensure concentricity of the case mouth.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Learned about the Lyman M Dies years ago when I started casting bullets. Perfect, concentric, and consistent neck expansion every time. Bullets always seat smoothly, easily, and perfectly concentric.

I have removed the expander balls from all of my rifle and pistol die sets. I deprime using a punch and mallet, then size cases, then expand on the M-die, prime, charge, seat, and crimp. So I am going through several additional steps. I don't mind a bit.