NOE. expander with Lee Classic Turret and. Lee "ultimate" 9mm dies?

[PNW_Steve]

Hello Everyone,

I am working towards casting and loading 9mm. To break the learning process down onto smaller bites I am starting with cast, PC'd bullets purchased from Casting Machine.

I have read in several places that when loading cast I should use the NOE expander. My dies bell the case mouth with the powder dump. Where does the expander go?

Thanks.

S.

[slide]

Casting Machine uses hi-tek coating. It is good stuff! Just f.y.i.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I think you are saying that you don’t have holes. You could size and prime your cases, and then switch dies. I am not sure, but someone on this forum may make custom powder thru expanders.

[onelight]

If I needed an oversized expander on my LCT I would resize when I deprime before case cleaning .
Then the first station on the LCT would hold the custom expander .
Or with a three die set you could size ,expand , flare & powder drop , seat and crimp on station 4

[PNW_Steve]

Darn. I thought going with a four position turret would handle all of the processes. Perhaps a Lee APP with the size/deccap then the expander die in position one on the LCT??

[Wheelguns 1961]

Darn. I thought going with a four position turret would handle all of the processes. Perhaps a Lee APP with the size/deccap then the expander die in position one on the LCT??

This is the reason that I went with an rcbs turret press. I feel your pain.

[dragon813gt]

You can do it w/ four stations.
1. FL Size
2. Expand
3. Powder Drop(set die to not expand)
4. Seat/Crimp

I know a lot of people don’t like to seat/crimp in one step. I’ve had no issues w/ it. The above setup is how I have done it in both a 550B and LCT. 2 and 3 can be swapped assuming the expanded won’t compress the powder. Now that I think about it this is how I setup the 550B since it has the powder failsafe.

[Green Frog]

I'm wondering why we are talking about this on the "Casting and Reloading Hand Tools" forum, but since you ask and this is where the conversation is going, I use a Lyman All American four station turret press for loading my 327 Fed Mag cartridges, but the technique would be the same with about any turret press.

I set things up in the following way; Stage 1- Decap and full length size with a Carbide die. Stage 2 - Expand case mouth and introduce powder with a combination die that does both. I have a rotor-type powder measure mounted right onto this die. Stage 3 - Seat bullet and remove flare of case mouth, either roll crimp at this point or go to Stage 4 for some sort of taper crimp.

Notice that I don't mention priming. This is because I do everything in batches, running a large group of cases through each stage in sequence, and I prime off-press with a hand tool between Stages 1 and 2. In this case I use a First Generation Lee hand priming tool. By inspecting all of the cases in a batch after each stage to make sure they have been processed correctly, safety is assured. I could do all of this with a single stage press, but the turret press keeps everything adjusted and ready to use. If I'm using a press and not a hand tool I leave it set up, so I get good consistency without having to readjust each item each time.

But of course all of this is moot when I use my Casting and Reloading Hand Tools. I really like to use my 310 tool for priming, flaring and seating/crimping steps. I wonder which forum I should go to to discuss that?

The Confused Green Frog

[onelight]

Darn. I thought going with a four position turret would handle all of the processes. Perhaps a Lee APP with the size/deccap then the expander die in position one on the LCT??

I would try a few loads with the standard Lee 4 die set and see if you have a problem before going to custom size expanders . I use the Lee 4 die set for 8 different 9mm and they work fine , but I load moderate velocity loads with coated bullets.

[ulav8r]

I set things up in the following way; Stage 1- Decap and full length size with a Carbide die. Stage 2 - Expand case mouth and introduce powder with a combination die that does both. I have a rotor-type powder measure mounted right onto this die. Stage 3 - Seat bullet and remove flare of case mouth, either roll crimp at this point or go to Stage 4 for some sort of taper crimp.

Notice that I don't mention priming. This is because I do everything in batches, running a large group of cases through each stage in sequence, and I prime off-press with a hand tool between Stages 1 and 2.
The Confused Green Frog

Why do you decap your primed brass???????????? 😃✔ (That check mark was green when I selected it.)

[PNW_Steve]

I would try a few loads with the standard Lee 4 die set and see if you have a problem before going to custom size expanders . I use the Lee 4 die set for 8 different 9mm and they work fine , but I load moderate velocity loads with coated bullets.

I will give it a shot with what I have. I am loading a 122gr FP powder coated bullet.

I set the dies up in the press and seated a bullet using the Lee dies as is. The base of the bullet leaves a tiny bulge all of the way around. It chambered in my Walther PPS fine but was difficult to extract.

[PNW_Steve]

I have been looking at the Noe expanders and have seen several mentions of Noe powder through expanders for Lee powder dies. Does anyone have any experience with those?

[44magLeo]

ulav8r, you may want to read Green Frog's post a bit closer. He decaps and FL sizes at#1, He expands and charges at #2. He primes off the press between #1 and #2.
Leo

[meotai]

For .358 or .357 boolits I've used a 38 expander in the Lee autodisk. I just have to spray lube inside the brass neck to avoid sticking on the return stroke. I didn't like the 38 expander for .356 boolits; not enough neck tension.

[onelight]

I will give it a shot with what I have. I am loading a 122gr FP powder coated bullet.

I set the dies up in the press and seated a bullet using the Lee dies as is. The base of the bullet leaves a tiny bulge all of the way around. It chambered in my Walther PPS fine but was difficult to extract.

The difficult to extract may be from not enough crimp or from seating depth for that bullet shape in your chamber.
When those are all correct it should chamber and extract just like a factory round.

[Green Frog]

Why do you decap your primed brass???????????? 😃✔ (That check mark was green when I selected it.)

Read slowly. I decap and FL size on Stage 1, insert fresh primers off press, then flare case mouths and drop powder at Stage 2. Then I finish the process in Stage 3 (and Stage 4 if necessary.). I never mention decapping primed brass, unless you are talking about the dead primers removed in Stage 1(????)

Froggie

[onelight]

Darn. I thought going with a four position turret would handle all of the processes. Perhaps a Lee APP with the size/deccap then the expander die in position one on the LCT??

I use the APP to deprime before cleaning brass , would be just as easy to resize on it at the same time.
A four hole turret will give enough stations for standard size ammunition with a separate crimp.
If you want a custom size then you need a custom size powder through expander .
Or with a stand alone expander you can seat and crimp in the last station .
Or move the sizing to its own session like mentioned on the APP along with de-priming before case cleaning .
There are about as many ways to organize the process as there are reloaders , they all work for the folks that use them.

[SwissShooter]

You can load 9mms with a Lee Turret and a 4 die Lee set, You don't need another expander. Buy the dies and read the instructions. I load 6 handgun cartridges and the 450 Bushmaster with Lee 4 die sets. No issues.

[ulav8r]

It is easy to overlook a few words. Now anyone that misses them in the future will get a reminder to re-read the frog's post.

[Alferd Packer]

I have been looking at the Noe expanders and have seen several mentions of Noe powder through expanders for Lee powder dies. Does anyone have any experience with those?

Call up NOE on a Saturday, or even a Sunday afternoon and Al "the Swede" who started the business will be there puttering g around and he will be glad to explain to you about the NOE stuff.
He is very knowledgeable, and will treat you right.
He has been very nice to me and explained some thing too.