[deerhunter17]

Hi, I picked up a set of RCBS dies today for a 30-06. The gun that I am using is a Remington 7400. Do you have to expand the end of the case to get the bullet to go in? The brass is new and is Winchester. I tried to get the end of the case to expand but it would not go. Is there any other way I can do that? Thanks for the help! Ryan

[ocabj]

You only have to expand the case for lead/cast bullets. For jacketed bullets, you do not. But be sure to debur/chamfer the mouth of the case.

[Sharps Shooter]

What ocabj said - new brass isn't deburred or chamfered. There are several inexpensive deburring/chamfering handtools available. If that doesn't do it for you, you might have to check the diameter of the expander button in your sizing die. I can't recall right off just what it's diameter should be, but it should measure just slightly under .308 inch. I think most standard 30-caliber sizing dies come with a .307 inch expander button, but don't take that as gospel.

Also what ocabj said - you don't need to flair the mouth of the case unless you're shooting cast (not jacketed) bullets.

[Sunray]

"...For jacketed bullets, you do not..." Nonsense. Yes, you have to chamfer and deburr the case mouths on new brass. However, if you read your manual, you'll find that once your dies are set up correctly, you must expand the case mouth a wee bit even with jacketed bullets or you'll shave off a bit of jacket.
Relax. It sounds like you don't have the dies set up properly. For a semi-auto, you must full length resize for reliable feeding. If your sizing die doesn't have 'FL' stamped on it, not likely, but it could, take it back.
Do this. READ YOUR MANUAL!!!!
Put the shell holder in and screw in the resizing die so the shell holder just kisses the bottom of the die when the shell holder is fully up. Lock the die. Do the same thing with the seating die. Forget bullet seating for now. It's so much easier to do than it is to explain.
Lube the cases lightly. Lubing the inside of the case mouth by turning the case mouth, by hand, in the lube pad every 5 or so helps lube the expander button. Adjust the de-priming/expander so the depriming pin pokes out the old primer. Resize and deprime all your cases(One stage press?)
Then prime the cases. I use the RCBS auto-primer tube and do it as a separate step using my press. There are other ways. In any case, prime them all, then charge the cases with powder. How you do it is up to you, but if you want target quality ammo, you'll weigh every charge.
Check every case for a powder charge by eye anyway.
Now this is when reloading gets a bit daft. You're seating the bullet. The best accuracy in a rifle comes with a bullet that's just a few thou from the rifling. Has to do with OAL. Over All Length. To get started, use the max length in your manual. Seating the bullet is a trial and error thing whereby you put in a bullet and screw in the seating plug until you get the OAL you want. This is measured with a vernier calipre or other OAL guage. A digital vernier is easier to read.
No matter what else you do, read your manual and follow it religiously.
If you need any clarification shoot me an E-mail. toheir@hotmail.com

[ocabj]

"...For jacketed bullets, you do not..." Nonsense. Yes, you have to chamfer and deburr the case mouths on new brass. However, if you read your manual, you'll find that once your dies are set up correctly, you must expand the case mouth a wee bit even with jacketed bullets or you'll shave off a bit of jacket.
Relax. It sounds like you don't have the dies set up properly. For a semi-auto, you must full length resize for reliable feeding. If your sizing die doesn't have 'FL' stamped on it, not likely, but it could, take it back.
Do this. READ YOUR MANUAL!!!!

What kind of expander are you referring to?

I think you're mixing up the concept of the expander ball with 'expanding' or flairing the case mouth. The expander ball on all neck and full length dies is pretty much there to bring the neck back to spec if it's not concentric.

An 'expander' die such as the Lyman M die is used to expand the mouth for easier bullet seating. The only application I've seen anyone use these for is strictly for cast bullets.

Going back to the expander ball on a full length or neck sizing die, theoretically, you don't need that either. When you fire a cartridge, the neck is going to expand beyond the diameter of the bullet. When you resize, the neck will go back to a smaller diameter. In the case of bushing dies where you control the sizing of the neck, the expander ball becomes counterintuitive because you are controlling the size of the neck (based on the diameter of the neck with a seated bullet), yet you change that diameter on the upstroke with the expander ball on the stem runs through it. That's why with Redding S-Type dies or any other bushing based die, I will remove the decapping/expander stem.

But anyway, going back to the scope of the original question. Just run the brass through your resizing die appropriately and you're good to go if you are loading jacketed bullets. No need to flair the mouth. You'll notice that boat tailed bullets are very easy to seat because of the angle, whereas with flat based you have to hold the bullet until you get the ram part way up so the bulelt makes it into the seating die.

[Sharps Shooter]

Right. I said for jacketed bullets you don't need to FLAIR the case MOUTH. I didn't say you don't need to EXPAND the case neck after you have run the case up in a resizing die and resized the neck to where it's inside diameter is a lot smaller than the outside diameter of the bullet.
If you're talking about straight-walled cases, such as handgun cases, sure, you need to "flair" or "bell" the case mouth slightly in order to seat the bullets. That's what the 2nd die is for. But for bottleneck cartridges, such as a 30-06, the sizing die has an expander ball on the decapping stem. For jacketed bullets all you need besides that is a slight chamfer on the case mouth.

[Ol` Joe]

The term "expander" on a bottle neck die is a bit misleading. The sizer die acually sizes the neck down too much and the "expander" is used to bring it out to a uniform size that is BELOW bullet diameter, normally about -0.002" to insure proper tension on the bullet. For lead bullet a Lyman M die or some type belling is needed to start the bullet before seating and prevent shaving.

Proper chamfering helps prevent shaving jackets and the bullet should be set on the nech as straight as possible for the same reason, and to aid with keeping the bullet concentric. There are a couple of sizer dies in my possesion that for some reason knock the necks of my brass out of line when I use the deprime/expander that came with them. I deprime for these with a universal deprimer and then size with the expander stem removed. This leaves my cases more concentric then they are when I pull the expander back through them and I have no trouble seating bullets in the undersize necks.

[30Cal]

I size, trim and deburr and then stuff a jacketed bullet in. They go into the X-ring if the sights stay aligned on the target when I squeeze the trigger.

You don't need to chamfer unless you enjoy doing it.

[The Bushmaster]

.30cal, "deburring" is the same as "Chamfering". :D If you debur you will have chamfered too, whether you wanted to or not. The tool is the same for deburring and chamfering.

I agree with the rest of these fine gentlemen. If you load lead you must bell the case mouth. But if you load jacketed bullets, just debur and chamfer the mouth of the case.

[bogie]

None of my accurate dies (Harrel, Carstensen, Redding) expand the case mouth. I use sizing bushings to squeeze it to a set size. You can buy 'em from Redding, but the really cool ones are the carbide ones that are available from Skip's Machine in 0.0005" increments.

[deerhunter17]

Thanks for all the help! I got them to work with the champfer/deburring method. :)