neck expanders

[odis]

I'm in the process of gearing up for reloading for my 1891 Argentine. I have dies and new brass and will be buying a new mold for it once the bore size has been determined but I was wondering about a die for belling the case mouth, any suggestions?

[462]

I'll open this many-times debated topic by suggesting the Lyman M-die with expander plugs -- custom-made, if necessary -- that match the boolit's length and amount of neck tension you want.

[Char-Gar]

I'll open this many-times debated topic by suggesting the Lyman M-die with expander plugs -- custom-made, if necessary -- that match the boolit's length and amount of neck tension you want.

I will second the motion for a Lyman M-die. The Argie is a fat 30 and the regular 30 caliber M-die will be much to small. The Lyman M-die (31 caliber) for the .303 British should be just the ticket for your rifle. IIRC, they run .310.

RCBS makes their expanders and can be had in .311.

If you want anything larger you are going to have to contact one of our lathe guys on the board and have one custom made.

[geargnasher]

I prefer the RCBS cast-bullet-specific rifle expander dies, they can be had in more specific sizes thatn the factory Lyman dies, but the selection isn't comprehensive. It may be easier to get an oversized Lyman die (like .32 caliber rifle) and turn down the spud to the size you need. This would be difficult to do with the nitrided RCBS spuds. Personally, I prefer the bellmouth shank to the two-step shank that Lyman uses when I can get the RCBS in the size I need.

To add to what 462 said, I've found that 1.5 -2 thousandths of "neck tension" is just the ticket for cast boolits in most bolt-action rifles. Usually, an expander that's one thousandth smaller than the boolit size will do fine, sometimes it needs to be two thousandths smaller to get enough tension, but that depends on the state of anneal of the brass and the thickness of the neck, together with how much the sizer die sized it down to begin with.

A chamber cast or impact slug that includes the throat and chamber neck area really helps when selecting tooling and boolit design.

Gear

[odis]

Does anyone have an opinion on the Lee die?

[joec]

Does anyone have an opinion on the Lee die?

I'm using Lee and for my 45-70 I got the expander insert from http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/1221/1

Now Lee is also make them custom per your needs. All I use are Lee dies for all my loading if they make them. The only one I don't use is by Lyman for Magtech Brass 12 ga shot shells.

[Bullet Caster]

I guess I'm too cheap to buy the proper expanding die for my .30-06 and for the 7.62X39. I just use a pair of needle nose pliers. Been doing that for a year now and have not had any problems. Just my 2 cents worth. BC

[1hole]

Lyman's M expander is THE choice for cast bullets, rifle or pistol. I don't know if they still market it for .31 caliber but they probably have some of the expander spuds in stock.

[odis]

Lyman's M expander is THE choice for cast bullets, rifle or pistol. I don't know if they still market it for .31 caliber but they probably have some of the expander spuds in stock.Yes Midway has them in stock.

[MtGun44]

Lee universal expander die works fine for me.

Bill

[fatnhappy]

Lyman M dies for me. I wish they made an expander "kit" so you could get all the popular spuds in a single shot.

[GabbyM]

I like the Lyman M dies. They are cheap and you can chuck them up in a drill and polish to your desired shape and size. RCBS also has a good high quality product. But in the end all that matters is your case neck is the size you desire.