Hi All... the deeper down the rabbit hole I get into reloading cast, the more questions I have! Today's question is around case expansion for pistol cartridges. Specifically, I am reloading 500 S&W Magnum in this case (but applies to all). The boolits I am loading are 0.501" (so 0.01" wider than the typical Jacketed, as you'd expect). My current expander die really just bells the case, but is there a real need to use a proper expander to produce a bell and widen the case? If so, is there a standard rule as to how much to expand relative to boolit diameter (i.e. I've read keeping case tension to ~0.003-0.004 below projectile diameter is appropriate?).
I tend to think expanding would be necessary. If so, any thoughts on the NOE Expander Plugs?