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Hi fellas, I'm needining to buy several expander plugs for my Lee universal expander die. When I talked to a guy at n.o.e, he seemed to stumble a bit when I asked how many thousandth of tension I should have on my pistol boolits. I asked about .358, .359, etc. I never really got a solid answer from him. Anybody have an answer? I hate ordering the wrong dang stuff as I have a terrible time getting my mail in the first place. Any help is appreciated. Thx
.002-.003 max to keep from squeezing the boolit smaller.
I strive for two and use a good crimp.
You need to allow for some spring back.
Thx jake. I appreciate the feedback.
Unfortunately I think NOE's expander spuds, although a great idea, are a tad too small for cast bullets, at least for my preference. I would also like for them the have a case bell feature just above the M step. Al has always responded to my emails and been helpful. I'm working with a new mold from him now.
Not certain I'm on the same page with you ... but I purchased one of Lee's universal expander dies and was greatly disappointed. All they are good for is to bell the case mouth. I know an old machinist (we attend church together) and I loaded some ammo for him that he had a hard time finding. He took the Lee expanders and made from tool steel duplicates that not only bell like I wanted but expand the neck on all calibers for which I cast - .2255, .2455, .3095, etc. They are the same overall length as the Lee "inserts" and do a bang-up job. Big Boomer
I want to get several sizes of these to try. Reasonably priced, but I want to include a .433 size in the total. That size has been at "0" inventory for over a week, so I just keep checking.
I'm with you. Just last week I received an expander plug from N.O.E. for the .44 that was the biggest listed at a .430 size. I have only tried it in new Starline .44 Special brass and I could easily tell that my .432 size bullets were seating with less resistance compared to the smaller expander I use for heavy loads in the .44 Magnum. The bullets I was using were registering 14 on my LBT hardness tester but I would like to have an expander at .432 which would work well with a softer (@ 9-10) bullet taking into account spring back with the brass using midrange loads in my Colt Single Action .44 Special.
Interesting
We suggest that you use a expander plug that is .001 over your bullet size
Should give you .003 neck tension and account for neck spring back.
If you are use to using .005 to .010 neck tension and sizing your bullet as you seat them
then yes they do seat looser.
So if you size your bullet .322 use our .323 x .319 expander plug
And the .319 part will give you .003 + - neck tension.
We are changing the discerption of our pistol expanders to coincide with our rifle expanders
and I hope this helps clear up some of the problems.
We have a small bell feature on our expanders now but maybe we need to enlarge it some.
twc1964
Sorry about being a stumble bum and not answering your question better
Bullet maker, maker
Swede Nelson
Responses don't get any better than that :goodpost:
That's ok swede, everyone has an off day now and then. Your post helped me understand what i need. I will be calling in an order for 4 different expander plugs. Thx
I just ordered some and I'm at a bit of a loss for what I need.
They work outstanding in my Lee die - I just ordered the wrong size for everything. For instance, I size my .45-70 boolits to .459. I ordered the button at .459 x .463 (the little shelf that replicates the Lyman M setup)...and the bullet drops right into the case. Too large! So...I gotta order a few more smaller ones by a thousandth or two.