LEE Universal expander die DIY

[Del-Ray]

So I read another post where someone was wondering why a universal belling die was called a universal sizing die.

And it got me thinking, I had one, and I'd been trying to figure out how to make myself a few custom M style expanders. I've got a pretty cheesy lath at work, I can't cut threads, or do anything really fine, but I can turn things down.

So I did this:

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On the left are the two belling inserts that come with it. Next to those are my first attempts. In which I learned that a lath that can be adjusted to cut about .001" off when roughing, will suddenly cut .003" when you need to take just .001" off.... Next to those are my working pieces. The first for my 40-60, which expands to .4045". And a die for my sharps that expands to .457" for my .458" bullets. Since it's a single shot I just wanted enough tension to hold them together. Oddly enough I took a swag at the length, and it's perfect. It goes down just far enough, and bells the mouth an extra few thousands.

I'm going to turn the two flops into a .308" sizer for my 30-40, and a .356" for my .38.

How am I getting the fine adjustments? About an hour or more of sanding and polishing.

[geargnasher]

You can use a bastard file to rough them to the last two thousandths or so, then sandpaper the last bit. They don't have to be polished like a mirror, 400-grit is plenty.

You certainly have the right idea there, making those long enough and large enough to prep your brass properly to receive cast boolits and hold them with the proper tension without crushing the drive bands down. I also like that you didn't make that silly two-step shank that Lyman does on their "M" dies, it serves no purpose other than to deform boolits and ruin case tension at the mouth, below the area which might be crimped in some applications.

Gear