Expanding plug type preference ?

[FrankG]

What type of expanding plug do you find works best for cast ? A plain tapered type or the 'M' style of Lyman ?

I have used both over the years but seem to always make the 'M' style when I need another for cast loads .

[Janoosh]

Naturally, it all depends on what I'm shooting. For a round ball load, the Lee expander, all other milsurp boolits, Lyman M die. For a hunting boolit in my 30/30 and target work, the Lyman M die. I feel the Lyman die gives better boolit alignment. For quick, easy plinking loads, you can't beat the Lee expander.

[MGySgt]

Lyman M die - I just ordered 2 new ones

[noylj]

I consider case expansion to within 0.002" under bullet diameter (0.001" is perfect) to be critical to not destroy the accuracy of a lead bullet. Thus, those "expanders" that simply flare/bell the case mouth will never give you the best accuracy.

[dromia]

"M" die for me all the way, Buckshot and no doubt others here will make you spuds to your dimensions.

I will very occasionally use the Lee tapered expander die in conjunction with the "M" die when I need a gentle flare to the case mouth to aid seating.

[stubshaft]

"M" style spud only. Like Dromia said if you need one in a specific diameter contact Buckshot. He has made me special sizers and spuds in the exact diameter I specified.

[FrankG]

Same here , I always make the 'M' style along with lube dies I need . There isnt a good source for casting stuff in town .

Curious is all , as none of the other die manufactures use the 'M' style ?

[bbqncigars]

AFAIK, Lyman is the only major die manufacturer that has an 'M' expander profile. Some of the custom die makers have this option. Like FrankG, any expanders I make use a similar profile to the 'M'.

[blikseme300]

The M-style works best in my pistol reloads, IMHO. I have never used the Lyman unit as I have been using 3-stage progressive loaders, Lee Pro 1000's. For these I crafted custom powder through expanders that mimic the M-style.

I recently acquired a Hornady LnL AP and crafted my own PTX for boolits in .40S&W. This PTX creates a gentle flare at the lip of the case and opens the brass to .4015 for 95% of the bearing length of the boolit. (Measured on the PTX shaft.) There is some spring-back of the brass but I have not measured the final size of the opened brass. The boolits are snug and pulled ones after crimping are still at .4015". I size the boolits to .4015" through self-made custom die in a Star.

I have no leading in 3 of my pistols using this combination. The loads are loaded quite hot using HP38 and accuracy is excellent. Fit is king with boolits in pistol and a good expander is critical in my experience.

Bliksem

[Ziptar]

"M" Die or Lyman's Muli-Expand neck size / powder through die.

The Multi-Expand is a pretty good deal. It includes plugs for several calibers with the same profiles as the "M" Dies and can be used without a powder measure.