Help with NOE expander plug sizes

[Murphy]

I will be loading for two different .30 caliber rifles. A 30-30 Winchester, and a 308 Winchester. I've real a lot of threads regarding case neck tension, etc. until I was bleary eyed. I'm still a tad confused on the NOE Expander

I experimented some long ago with a 30-30 and cast and have a .310 sizer die. So that is where I will begin with sizing my cast boolits. I am aware of Lyman M dies, RCBS and a others who make expanders. I will be going with NOE expanders for my efforts with the two cartridges I've mentioned. I already have the LEE Universal Expander Die (very handy).

I feel .0002 neck tension should work okay. So would the NOE .312 x .308 Exp. Plug be the correct one to order? Will it extend far into the long 30-30 case neck?

Murphy

[megasupermagnum]

NOE makes two styles of plugs, rifle and pistol. The rifle style seems to mean that it goes farther into the case, and the pistol version is shorter. The rifle ones do go quite a ways into the case neck. There is some springback in the brass, so a .308" expander can be a little tight. I think most die sets expander ball is .307". I would go for .309", and .310" can work too. The other, larger dimension listed is what it expands to. It is a short step section. Personally I've come to really hate this design. A taper is a much better way to go, and allows you to adjust how much flare you want. I find the NOE plugs are sometimes just BARELY enough to seat a bullet, and just as often are not quite enough, and you shave lead. In that case I then have to run all my expanded brass back through a Lee expanding die to flare it. The other problem with the NOE plugs is they have so much surface area, you need lube of some kind. Sizing dirty brass, the soot helps, but isn't ideal. I like to give a quick spray in the necks with Hornady one shot lube. They also come rather rough, and a polishing with fine sandpaper helps a lot.

I really wish NOE would fix these. They are 80% there to a good thing.

[sigep1764]

I use the NOE expander plugs in 30-30, 270, and 223. Mine were all ordered in the last 2 to 3 years and were pretty smooth. The 223 rides in station one on a Dillon 550C. I leave the plug just a little loose so it self centers in the case neck. My 30-30 plug is a .314 x .310, the 270 is .280 x .276, and the 223 is .228 x .224. 30-30 boolits are sized .312, 270 is sized .279-.280, and the 223 are sized .225. None of the pulled boolits are sized down at all. I use Lee Factory Crimp Dies for enough neck tension. YMMV, but I would buy them again.

[Minerat]

The big number is the flair and the small is the neck expansion. They work just fine for me, especially the .172 for a 17HH and then use factory crimp die to uniform the neck and take the flair out.

[garandsrus]

Murphy,

I would go with the 308 x 312 or even 314. You just need the top of the neck to be larger than the bullet diameter. .002 neck tension (you have an extra zero in what you wrote) should work fine.

My biggest problem loading for 30-30 is getting a mold that allows the bullet to chamber easily. The bullet needs to be less than 308 at the case mouth, or just in front of it.

The NOE is basically the same as the M die.

[GregLaROCHE]

They work great, but be careful if you get several sizes for the same caliber as I did. They are not marked and it is a pain knowing which is which. I don’t know why they don’t mark them like they do on the inserts for their boolit sizer.

[Murphy]

Thanks for the advice guys.

It looks like the .312 x .308 is the what I am looking for. I'm also going to look into one for my 380 Auto. I started loading for the 380 Auto several years back. Boy oh' howdy what a bugger that one was. I finally wound up using my Dillon 9mm expander to get the cases expanded without creating a bulge in the case.

Murphy

[Conditor22]

IF I'm seating a .310 boolit I will get a .314-310 expander plug, brass springs back a little after expanding and I find that little spring back is plenty of tension to securely hold the boolit without swaging it down in size