trouble flaring case mouth on 9mm Mak with Lee dies

[chaplaincolby]

Hey guys, I need some input to a problem I'm having loading 9mm Makarov with Lee dies. I'm using a cast boolit from the Lee 365 95 grain mold. The cases are 9mm Luger that have been trimmed down to 9x18. On about 1 out of every 8 or 10 cases I shave lead from the boolit when the boolit is seated. The boolits measure at .365. The case mouth often only measures . 362 -3 after flaring. I believe I need about a .366 case mouth with my boolits. Am I right with this measurement? By adjusting the expanding die down a full turn below what lee recommends for the expanding die and lubing the case mouth I can get .3655 after running the case several times through the die. This is time consuming and also will require cleaning the cases a second time to get the lube off. Any ideas to get a .366 flair with one run through the die and without lube?

[Wayne Smith]

Call Lee. Explain your problem. They will make you an expander that fits your needs.

[spfd1903]

I cast several hundred of the same Lee boolit a few weeks ago. Of all the Lee dies I own, have only used the powder through/expander a few times and was not happy with the results. The Lee Universal expander die along with chamfering the ID of the mouth left me with three lead shaves out of 200. I set the expander to a minimum flare and check about twenty boolits for insertion. Am using new Starline cases and 10:1 alloy. Average diameter of the boolits was .365.

[noylj]

1) Are you using 9x18 Mak die set and have all cases been run through the 9mm Mak sizing die?
2) Turn the FCD down until it touches the raised shell holder. Too many folks worry too much about over-flaring and they don't flare enough. Also, you REALLY should be expanding and flaring the case so the bullet will seat easier. Using the totally mis-named "Universal Expander," that really ONLY flares the case mouth, is not the best way to go. Measure the case ID before and after expanding. Ideally, the case ID after expansion should be 0.002-0.001" below the bullet diameter.
3) Did you trim before or after sizing all cases in a 9mm Mak sizing die? If you trimmed first, your present cases may actually be too short and you can't get the expander/flare insert low enough. Measure your sized cases (from a 9mm Mak sizing die). Trimming straight wall cases, you should only do if, by some miracle, the case exceeds max length and it should only be trimmed to, at most, 0.002" under max length.
4) If the above does not apply in your case, contact Lee. You should always contact the manufacturer first.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I just got thru trimming 500 9x19's to .708 for my Mak Project. I decapped them first but they haven't been sized.

I have Lee dies as well, but since I am loading them on my C&H press and want to use my C&H PM on top of my C&H thru powder expander I don't foresee a problem with flaring or boolit seating, also using Lee Boolits. Mine came out 102 gr which is great.

What I do on .40 S&W is to flare so that the case has a noticeable flare that is a few grand larger than the base of the boolit so that it will not shave lead. The flare is closed and taper crimp applied on the last step.

Since I deprimed only before trimming, I simply have to run the case thru the Mak Expander then charge and seat the boolit. Running it thru the Mak sizing die accomplishes nothing since the die is bigger than the 9mm case.

On the next loading they will get ran thru the Mak Sizer to size and deprime,,, "if" I can find them after they are fired.

"IF," I can't find them,,, then another 500 of the bazillion 9mm's I have will be sacrificed to the Mak Machine.

Randy

[chaplaincolby]

I use a similar process in my trimming and reloading of my 9mm MAK. The expander plug in my Lee expander die is not putting a sufficient flair on the case to prevent lead shaving off the cast boolits when they are seated. I can get a proper flair on my cases if I put .066 in worth of washers on top of the plug. I have been in contact with Lee and they are sending me a new expander plug.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I had a similar problem with a .40 S&W C&H Flaring Thru Powder die. No matter what I did I couldn't get enough flare.

Turned out the expander plug was for a 10MM and the snoot was hitting the web of the .40 S&W cases before the flare was complete.

I called C&H and they told me they had mistakenly shipped the wrong plug with my die. A regular .40 S&W plug worked perfectly.

I got the die and expander plug for the Mak cases 10 years ago when I got the other .40 cal die as I knew I was going to do this some day.

Finally getting around to it [smilie=w:

Randy

[MT Chambers]

A properly made expanding die should do both expanding and then flaring.