45 Colt expander for .454" bloolit

[cowboy]

Howdy-
I finally have a gun in 45 Colt for which the use of boolits fatter than the commercial standard .452" are required ( chamber throats are "old style", large ) Anyway; I find that the expander plugs in my die sets ( .45Colt RCBS, 45 Colt Lee, and an ancient but mint in box set of plain steel Pacific 45 Colt, as well as RCBS .454 Casull ) , are all suited to .451-.452" boolits. A proper .454" soft cast or swaged boolit is badly squeezed to undersize when pushed into the case after using such an expander. Of course, even current literature tells us to fit the bullet to the cylinder throats for best results. The question- is a properly dimensioned expander plug for such boolits and expensive, custom made item, or what? Have noted that in RCBS Cowboy Dies, there is a larger plug as a catalog item. does anyone here know if the plugs are compatible with their "regular" 45 Colt die sets? Thanks for any real help!

[RobS]

There are better avenues. Possibly try a NOE expander plug for the Lee universal expander die. You will need to pickup a Lee universal expander die and then place the NOE expander in it. Just about any size you could want over on the NOE site.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=89

[cowboy]

Thanks!

[str8wal]

I emailed RCBS custom service and they sent me a "cowboy" expander free of charge. I was willing to pay for it but the fellow didn't give me the chance.

[Char-Gar]

There are probably several ways around this but the expanding die for the Lyman 310 die in 45 Colt is .454 or least the older ones were. I use on with a thread adapter in my reloading press to load larger bullets.

[noisewaterphd]

There are better avenues. Possibly try a NOE expander plug for the Lee universal expander die. You will need to pickup a Lee universal expander die and then place the NOE expander in it. Just about any size you could want over on the NOE site.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=89

+1 on the Lee Universal and NOE plugs.

[RobS]

I emailed RCBS custom service and they sent me a "cowboy" expander free of charge. I was willing to pay for it but the fellow didn't give me the chance.

I believe the expander spud is at .452 for the RCBS cowboy dies. This may not be enough if you are seating swagged boolits but it would be better than a .450" expander spud which is what most are for regular die sets.