Lyman M die?

[dk17hmr]

I think I might purchase an M-die in 30 caliber, to help out loading my many 30 calibers. The problem is I see they come in short (30-30 300 savage 7.62x39) and long (30-06, 300 mags, 30-40, 308 win).

If I get the long can I use it for my "short" 30 calibers?

[Tom W.]

Get the one made by RCBS. It will work for all of them.

[ktw]

You can always buy one and try it. Worst case it wont adjust down far enough to bell the mouth of the case on your short brass and you have to get the other die body, too.

-ktw

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I would think that the short die for the calibers mentioned is not that much shorter than the longer ones. It is checkable by comparing the case lengths. As such buying the short die and not running it in as far in the press would allow you to do all of the calibers involved with just the short die body alone. It would be a lot more critical with very short die bodies designed for pistol calibers or really short rifle ones. LLS

[mtgrs737]

I use a Lee Universal expander die and it has worked on everything I have tried it on, and it is cheap to boot. Good luck!

[rmb721]

I have both the Lyman M die and the Lee Universal expander die. I use the Lee.

[miestro_jerry]

Before I had the Lee, I made one out of another die, sort of a universal version. I just chucked up the plug in my lather and turned it to a sharp point. It still works great, the Lee one actually works better.

Jerry

[oso]

The M die body is the same for short or long cases, the difference is the length of a threaded part that holds the expander - short for the "long" cases and longer for the "short" cases. The "long" part is too short for the .308 Win (which is a shorter case than the 30-30 for which the "short" part is recommended) so the lock nut doesn't engage enough to hold. The "short" part can't be backed out of the die body enough for long cases as it is only threaded at the top portion.

[twidget]

I have the short .30 cal. M die that I got for .30-30 and .308 Win. It will adjust to work with the .30-06, too

[Calamity Jake]

Yap, get the 30 short then buy just the expanders for the different calibers

[cactusjack]

The Lee die just bells the mouth of the case, but the Lyman M die expands the whole neck. Either one will work, but I prefer the Lyman for rifle bullets.

[dk17hmr]

Well last night I ran a piece of 300 savage brass up the press and screwed a 32-20 bell die down until it touched the case mouth, I then lowered the ram and screwed the die down until I had a bell on the case mouth.

I guess I will just use that for now until I make another order for casting supplies.

[uncowboy]

I have the M dies and really like them. I have used them in my 550B in 308 and 3006 I decided to buy another for 30/30 and leave the tool heads set up. I use the M die in the 3rd position and seat and crimp in the 4th position. I slow down because I am so use to seating on the 3rd position you really have to pay atension. The Mdie is worth it! J.Michael

[dromia]

If you just want to expand the case mouth then get the Lee, however if you feel the need for having that "M" die step in the case mouth to square up the boolit in the case then Lyman is the job for you.

They are different approaches to the same task.

Me I have both, I mainly use the Lyman "M" dies, sometimes in conjuction with the Lee.

[marlinman93]

I pretty much just use the short M die. It works for long or short cases.

[mtnman31]

As OSO mentioned, the dies are the same, just the length of the threaded piece that holds the plug is different. I made the mistake of buying both the long and short before I figured this out. All you really need is ONE "M" die. After that you can get a couple different threaded rods and all of the plugs you need for the various calibers individually from Lyman. Right now, I've got a couple M dies and plugs for about 8 different calibers. I also use the M die to hold powder compression plugs for BPCR in 43 Spanish and 45-70. The compression plugs, I just turned on a lathe, though Buffalo Arms sells some as well. Bottom line is that M dies are one of my tools I consider indispensible.

[jhrosier]

Things probably have changed over the years, but there used to be two different length M die bodies, long and short. I have a couple of each. Of course there are also long and short threaded plugs, and there are also long and short expander plugs in some sizes. I only know this because of accidentally using a long .30 on .30 carbine brass. It stuck in the case and broke off the threaded part.

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you expected.":-D

Jack

[Muskrat Mike]

Don't forget the old Lyman 310 neck expanders! You can find them in varying sizes, .308,.309,.310,.311 for example and use a thread adaptor to screw them into your newer presses. I love them for cast bullets and find myself using them a lot. Mike:coffee:

[1hole]

I use a Lyman .30 Carbine M (short) expander for all of my .30 cal cases. It's an excellant expander design that isn't as case length critical for consistant expansion/flaring work as other flaring dies.

In fact, I use am M die instead of a conventional expander rod/button on all my rifle cases, from .223 to .35 Rem. for both cast and jacketed bullets. It leaves necks straighter, on average, than any conventional expander.

[jlchucker]

What OSO and MTMAN31 said. Same thing goes for the M die in 25 calibers, and probably others.

[skeet1]

I use the Lee Universal Expander for my .303 British it flares the mouth only, it works great and didn't cost much. I don't need to expand the neck as the sizing die takes care of that. I'm using .314 sized bullets with a Lee Collet Die all in a Lee Classic Turret press.

Skeet1

[Mk42gunner]

I use the expander plug from a set of RCBS .30 Carbine dies for everything from 30 caliber to .45 Colt. For the shorter cases I leave it in the short body from the Carbine set; for rifle length cases I put the Carbine expander plug in the long expander die from a set of 45-70 dies.

I got the idea for the 30 Carbine expander from BruceB, and then one day I noticed the 45-70 expander had the same size thread...

Robert

[stillhunter]

I prefer the Lyman to the RCBS, as the Lyman step gives you an advantage in alligning and seating cast bulletts. The RCBS plug is funnel shaped and only acts on the mouth of the case. I have three of the Lyman M's in use, 30-30, 30-06, and 45-70. I load mostly cast and depend on them, particularly with oversized bulletts.