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I bought this micrometer for $25 and have been pleased with it:
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oley55: I think you are right about the thinness of the brass. It's probably not any softer than most, but definitely thinner.

gloob: I did try the experiment you suggested, again using Blazer...

gloob: Just to follow up on what I said earlier, I tried another experiment. I have an NOE expander that is .360 x .356 (same dimensions as the Lou's funnel you recommended), and I tried loading up...

Interesting! I have never tried to find the limit in order to preserve neck tension, but apparently there's more wiggle room than I thought.

Here's a question for you. In terms of doing a...

CORRECTION: It is easy to flare the case with the Photo Escape die. I was thinking of the NOE dies when I wrote that.

oley55: For .356 diameter bullets, the Photo Escape die works only if you run it down far enough to flare the case slightly. This is tricky since I don't think the die is really made with flaring in...

Someone (maybe you) brought those to my attention a few weeks ago. That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, but I don't think he has any sizes that would work for .356.

Yep, I got the HTC version, and so far I am pleased with the results. As a bit of background, I was getting lousy accuracy with my 125 grain TC Blue Bullets (special order .356 diameter), with...

Good to know, thanks!

No problem! Mine just arrived today, so I haven't tried it out. It seems to be the perfect length for typical 125 grain bullets. For longer bullets I would ideally like something that went further...

By the way, I contacted Alex, the guy who makes the Photo Escape powder through expander, and got some clarification on how it is meant to be used. It's basically like the NOE powder through...

I thought NOE stopped making the powder through expanders. I doubt that I could make those work with the current setup on my 650, but it's good to know they exist. Thanks!

Interesting, thanks for the idea! Or maybe this will be my excuse for getting a lathe....

Maybe I have my terminology wrong. What I think of as the "expander" part of the die is the part that first enters the case and is a smaller diameter than the bullet (usually something like .353"). ...

One more question. Looking at the picture of the UniqueTek/Photo Escape die, it looks to me like the expander part of the die is pretty short, and it's the larger diameter part that is much longer...

Thanks! Looks like the one offered by UniqueTek for .357 or .358 is manufactured by Photo Escape also. There's also one offered by UniqueTek called "Custom Powder Funnel" that seems to be the same...

Happy New Year! May it be even better than 2023....

I'm currently loading 9mm on a Dillon XL650 with a Mr. Bullet Feeder attachment. The powder funnel that comes with the bullet feeder is better...

Forrest r: I run a magnet through my brass, and I've seen the sort of cases you're talking about. I might miss one every now and then, but I don't think it would cause a problem like this. I...

Thanks, Petander! Yeah, I was surprised that there was ANY wear on the NOE expander, but there it is. I used that expander for I don't know how many thousands of rounds, but still.

They are...

P.S. I think the upshot is:

1) Make sure your expander plug is not worn out.

2) You might not need as big a bullet/boolit diameter as you think, at least with some coatings.

3) You might...

Most of my posts to these forums have been questions about how to solve a problem, but this time I've got a positive contribution to make. Those of you who are more experienced than I am will...

Gatch,

Bayou says the hardness of their bullets is BHN 16-17. Seems hard enough. I believe the real problem is my barrel, since practically everyone else in the world seems to have great success...

OP here with an update. I have now shot a batch of each of my test bullets (one from Bayou, one from Blue Bullets), both sized .358. The gun is a CZ Shadow 2, and the barrel slugs at .3565. I got...

Ausglock: Out of curiosity, what is the hardness of the lead you are using? I use COWW, so my boolits are probably in the 11-12 range, which may explain why using Dillon powder funnel swages down...

5 Iron: On my Dillon 650 I use a .357 NOE expander plug in position 2. You get about .001 of spring back, resulting in about .002 of tension on a .358 boolit. The plug is designed to flare the...