Lyman M dies....questions

[trooperdan]

If you can get into the series of The ABC's of Handloading by Dean Grennell, he wrote a whole chapter in one of the books on how to make your own expander spuds that are all interchangeable on the Lyman M dies. He shows you how to make any size or shape spud using Loctite, standard size threaded rod and a box to hold them all. LLS

Do you know what edition or year that story was in?

[marlinman93]

The old Lyman M does (long and short) were not caliber specific. I have a pair of very old M dies, and they have interchangeable threaded expanders, so just the two dies and a good selection of expanders do everything I need in the way of expanding or belling cases. I've never seen an M die expander that both expanded and belled in one step? All my expanders have a straight body, so if I want to expand, and then bell, I have to do the bell with a larger expander in a separate step.
My very old M dies are also milled out on the sides, so I can see the expander touch, or enter the case mouths. I really love that feature too!

[marlinman93]

If you can get into the series of The ABC's of Handloading by Dean Grennell, he wrote a whole chapter in one of the books on how to make your own expander spuds that are all interchangeable on the Lyman M dies. He shows you how to make any size or shape spud using Loctite, standard size threaded rod and a box to hold them all. LLS

I believe the old timer I got my two M dies from must have either read that, or figured it out too! I got a wooden block full of expanders plugs with my two dies when he sold them to me! Most appear to be made and not purchased. They each have their own hole that the threaded end fits in the block, and the size written neatly by each expander for quick reference. Gave a whopping $20 for both dies, and 35-40 expanders.