Lee Rifle Charging Die

[Ben]

You may or may not be aware that Lee Pistol expander die inserts fit the Lee Rifle Charging die ( Lee Part # 90194 ) also. Here is the die :

http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/792...to-30-calibers

By placing pistol die expander inserts in the die, this gives you the ability to flare a 30-06, 30/30 , or .308 Win and throw the powder charge at the same time.

You can use a Lee Powder Measure if you're using powders that will meter smoothly through one of them ( like 2400 ) :




or...............

You can use a weighed charge and pour it into the red Lee Funnel as you see in the photo.
Powders like IMR - 4350 , etc. just are not suitable with the Lee Powder measure you see above.

Photos.................





The case in the photo below is flared a little too much. This can be controlled by adjusting the die out a bit.
In this photo , the entire g/c is in the mouth of the case ( in my opinion....a little bit too much flare )





I stand corrected, the price isn't $2.00 for the Lee 30 M-1 expander plug , it is $3.00 , see
link below to order one :

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/PM-EXP-PLUG-30M1.html





I've done the same thing before with my 358 Win. by placing a Lee 38 Spec. Pistol expander die insert into the rifle charging die and using it to expand the necks of my 358 Win. cases and throw a powder charge at the same time.

Makes real quick work of the expanding and powder throwing operation in cast bullet loads.
I like to shoot 16.0 grs. of 2400 in my 30-06. This is a super fast and very accurate way to
assemble these loads.

Thanks,

Ben

[Maven]

That's really good to know, Ben. Guess I'll have to keep my Rifle Charging Die & Deluxe Auto Disk Powder Measure and order the expander for the .30cal. carbine now!

[Ben]

Paul,

You're only $3.00 away from having a super quick and easy way to flare and throw the powder in .30 cal. cases.

I did not mention that in order for this to work, you'd have to have a rifle caliber that would also interchange with a current Lee pistol application, like cal. 30 rifle cases and the use of a .30 M-1 carbine expander unit, or you could use the system with the 358 Win. , .35 Rem. or in 35 Whelen and use a Lee 38 Spec. expander die unit in the Rifle Charging die.

To my knowledge, there is not a way to use this system with calibers like the .270 Win. , 7 mm Rem mag, or 6.5 X 55 unless you had a machinist make the neck expander unit like you see in the 30 M-1 photo above and specifically custom fit it to your rifle cartridge.

Thanks,

Ben

[edsmith]

that is brillant.

[edsmith]

this needs to be a sticky/

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Ben,

Excellent idea, thank you for posting it. I already have the M1 Carbine expander in my .30 carbine Lee die set! And the Pro Auto Disk measures I have should work perfectly with the WC844 and WC846 I have.

I'm betting Buckshot could make those easily for calibers like .270, 7.62 X 54R. This would make it much easier to load those calibers in certain bullets. Or, one could duplicate the contour of the Lyman expander dies with overall dimensions of the Lee expander. Perfect for cast boolits!

[bmanis]

Great post Ben, and even greater ingenuity.

Brandon

[JesterGrin_1]

So if I wished to do this with say the 358 Winchester or 35 Whelen I would need to get the Lee Rifle charging die? As I have the 38/357 Die set now. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Ben]

You're correct.
Pull out the expander unit out of the Lee 38/357 expander die, put it in the Lee Rifle Charge Die
and you can flare the mouth of a 35 Whelen ( or 358 Win. ) and throw the powder charge all at the same time.

[JesterGrin_1]

Darn another thing to order lol. Thank You Ben for the information.

[miestro_jerry]

I use the powder measures on my Dillon equipment, they work for me. When I am doing a special run of some calibers, I use my Lee M die and my powder funnel, but in that case I am measuring each powder load on my scales.

Jerry

[geargnasher]

Ben, you're a freakin' genius!!!

I was studying that setup when I got my first rifle charging die, figured I'd have someone make a custom 311" expander spud to mimic the Lyman 31 "M" die spud for the charging die that was also shorter in the body section so I could charge the longer .'06 cases without having to short-stroke the ram like I do with the "universal" insert that comes with the die. I never thought to use the .30 Carbine expander, and it's exactly what is needed to accomplish this if the necks are already correctly sized by the sizer/decapping die.

The thoughts I had about an expanding/flaring charging die insert was before I started using either the Collet sizer die for sizing/decapping fireformed brass or my honed-out sizers with .303 British EZ-Expander stems in them for 1f or new brass, which leaves the neck the correct size for .311" boolits either way, but still not flared. I've been using a Lee Universal Expander (flare) die for all my turrets instead of the appropriate Lyman "M" die like I used to before customizing my sizer dies to make the neck right to begin with, but it still burns a station in the turret. All a person really needs, like you point out, is a flare with the charging (provided proper neck sizing/expansion is already done with the sizer die), then a person could seat and crimp in two operations, in which I prefer to use a Lee collet-type Factory Crimp Die, especially for .30-30. You just solved my problems, THANK YOU!

Gear

[Ben]

Gear,

I'm glad that you and all the other great guys here on the forum can get some benefit from this idea. It has served me well and is a real time saver. Many of the powders that I throw for the 06 and 308 Win. ( like 2400 or Unique ) run well through a Lee Powder measure.

Ben

[30CAL-TEXAN]

Very interesting!

Currently I load 30-06 on my Lee 4 hole by pre-procesing the brass (de-cap, clean, FL size, trim) then running it through the turrent with an M-die, Rifle Charge die, seater, FCD. I have been looking at the RCBS X-Die and wondering if it would be possilbe to speed this up to about the same way I do Pistol loads (sizing in the turret opperation without having to trim) but then that would leave out the M-die. This may be just the ticket!

I load quite a few 30-06 "fun" loads for feeding my Mil-Surp collection so I may just have to give it a try.

Thanks Ben.

[Ben]

Fun Loads is where this system excels ! !

BTW.....all of you be certain that the internals of the die and the expander unit are 101% oil free.

When Lee ships them, they look like they have been dipped in motor oil.

You can imagine just how well powder would slide down something like this.

I like to clean mine with aerosol brake cleaner. Then dust the internal parts with powdered graphite and take an oil free rag and rub the graphite into every little nook and crany.
They run very smooth then.

Ben

[30CAL-TEXAN]

Ben,

Do you ever run Red Dot in that Auto-Disk measure?

One of my favorite fun loads for my bolt guns is the 13gr Red Dot and if I do try the X-die setup I might get one of those auto-disk measures to go with it.

[UNIQUEDOT]

Ben, I recall reading on another forum where a fellow used this die as a dead length pistol bullet seater on his progressive press by removing the funnel and actuator (drop tube) and putting a Lee bullet seating stem appropriate to the caliber in the die and replacing the funnel with a standard Lee bullet seat adjustment screw. It is in contact with the shellplate hence dead length and allows every round off the press to share the same OAL down to the last round.

[geargnasher]

Red Dot meters about like poker chips in some measures, but I've had pretty decent luck with it in the Pro Autodisk. The key is always keep the measure half-full or more, and get in the habit of tapping the reservoir one time for each recharge just to be sure it fills.

+1 on a full-degrease and the powdered graphite lube on the internals. I also use it to lube the plunger inside the measure. Graphite is the only think I can think of that is long-term and does not affect powder. The measure and die will eventually get lubed with graphite residue from some powders anyway.

Gear

[JesterGrin_1]

Where would you look for powdered Graphite?

[geargnasher]

Lock cylinder lubricant, available at any hardware store, chinamart, etc. Comes in a small cylinder with a needle applicator on one end. When you squeeze the tube, the powder puffs out the end of the needle, usually a lot more than you want, so be gentle.

Gear