What do I use to flair rifle cases for cast?

[Tripplebeards]

Yeah I know it’s a dumb question but I’ve been casting for two years now only in straight wall pistol ammo and my pistol dies have always comes with a flair die. Well I want to load up some 35 Whelan and 35 Remington and was just about to start reloading them and thought how am I going to expand my .358 case necks? I would assume I can’t use my 44 caliber of 45 caliber expander dies. I do on a Lee factory crimp Collett die to squeeze it back down after my boolit is seated..

[brewer12345]

You can get Lyman M dies in your caliber or Lee sells and inexpensive universal flare die.

[RKJ]

Lee makes a "Universal expanding die" which I use. I see it on Amazon for $14.98. It works pretty well and simple.

[txbirdman]

Needle nose plyers

[Tripplebeards]

Thanks I just ordered a lee off of eBay for $16.91 shipped. Amazon will jam me for shipping if I don’t spend 25 bucks. Guess I’m dead in the water till it shows up ... Or try the needle nose pliers trick.lol

[Wheelgun]

I use the Lee universal expander and/or the NOE expander plugs.

[Tripplebeards]

I was going to ask if I have to crimp as well... I knew the answer since the case was being flared and it has to pushed back flush. I have a 35 Remington factory crimp Collett die. I’m guessing it will work for the Whelen as well?

[GregLaROCHE]

You may want to look into NOE’s expanders in the future. They aren’t expensive and will fit in the Lee expander tool. They give you more options on how the case is expanded.

[Tom W.]

I bought one by RCBS from Midway years ago that I use to flare my 30/30 and 30-06....

[Tripplebeards]

35 rem Collett die will not work. I stuck a load of 35 whelen case in it and the neck goes way above the collet.

[Pablo 5959]

The NOE expander plug in the Lee universal die is the ticket for me.

[megasupermagnum]

You can't use the 35 Remington collet crimp die on the 35 whelen. If you had someone make you just the right length spacer ring you could, but it's much easier to just get the right crimp die. I've never personally tried, but if you are looking for a quick and dirty solution, try a 9mm taper crimp die.

As for the expanders, the NOE expander do work. They are anything but the holy grail, but there is no other solution currently out there if you want to fine tune down to the .001. In rifles you have other options as well like bushing sizing dies, and different mandrels for the Lee neck sizing die. In 308 Winchester I use the Lee neck sizing die with a mandrel that sizes the neck ID to around .309", then just put a tiny bit of flare with the Lee universal expander die. If it wasn't for having to full size once in a while, I would say it's easier than a straight wall cartridge.

[GhostHawk]

I started with a center punch and a light tap with a small hammer. Voila, flared neck. Did not take me long to get the universal flaring tool from Lee.

I wish it was an option with every set of dies to get a powder through expanding die. Some I'd pay for it, some I would not. But I love them in my pistol calibers which have them.

[quilbilly]

I use the tip of an old knife sharpening steel acquired at a garage sale for 50 cents. It is perfectly round and flares anything from 7mm to 40 caliber plus nicely cleans the brass. The large wood handle makes it easy and comfortable on arthritic hands. I use an old Navy boatswain mate's marlin spike for 22 through 7mm caliber but the sharp point means you have to pay attention or you will put holes in your finger.

[wills]

Lyman M dies

https://www.lymanproducts.com/rifle-...panding-m-dies

"(Three-Die Sets, Neck-Expanding “M” Die—See other side forMulti-Expand/Powder Charge Die; Used in Four-Die Sets)The Lyman Neck-Expanding “M”die expands and flares case mouths to facilitate bullet seating. It is included in all three-die sets and maybe purchased separately for most cartridges. Cast bullet reloaders should use this die to prevent “shaving” of bullet metal during the seating operation"

https://www.lymanproducts.com/media/...2_die_sets.pdf

[smoked turkey]

I really like Lyman M dies for flaring brass to allow seating a cast boolit prior to sending it home in the sizer die. However the expander ball in most die sets is set for j-words bullets and not cast. This is especially true when using say a sized .311 cast boolit for your 308 Winchester. the expander ball is now way undersized for seating that .311 boolit. The Lyman M die also expands the case neck just before it makes the small funnel shaped flair for cast boolit seating without shaving the boolit in a too small case neck. Unfortunately the Lyman products are very limited in what is offered for seating the great variety of cast boolits we use. I highly recommend the NOE expander plugs for use in the Lee neck sizing die. Al offers a large array of different sizing plugs and I can't satisfactorily seat cast boolits without them. I highly recommend them to anyone seating cast boolits.

[JM7.7x58]

Just another vote for the NOE expander plugs. Works great for me. They make odd sizes, and I needed an odd size to seat my .318” sized pills.

JM

[Texas by God]

I just chamfer the inside of the neck. But PM me, I've got an old Lee flaring tool in 35 cal. if you want it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[phantom22]

So I've run into this issue loading for my 45-70 and 30 caliber rifles. However I had a solution in my shop already. I have the lee die sets for 45acp and 30 carbine. I can use the 45acp expand through powder die to flare my 45-70. I take the expander insert out of the carbine expand through powder die and put it in the 45acp die to use on my 30-06. Just don't rush it and make sure the neck goes into the expander or it can crush the case mouth if misaligned.

[Screwbolts]

another vote for the NOE type expanded for the LEE universal Die.