Lee Powder Thru and Expander Die

shocktokyo · Mar 10, 2012

I have a question regarding this die, which I am using to reload .223. As far as I understand the "expander" part is meant to expand the case mouth so that I can seat the bullet right? My question is how much of the case neck should be expanded. Like...the whole neck? Half of it? Just the tip? As of now it seems my die is set to where there is expansion of half the overall neck. Thanks.

ArchAngelCD · Mar 10, 2012

For the most part you really don't want to expand a rifle case mouth, and if you do you only want to bell the very top of the case because the bullet is held in place by neck tension. You do not want to expand the entire neck because that would undo the sizing you just did. You only want to expand the very top of the neck if you are loading lead bullets so you don't shave the bullet, it's not necessary with jacketed bullets.

shocktokyo · Mar 10, 2012

thanks a lot, i just loaded a round without using the expanding part and it loaded just fine.

dickttx · Mar 11, 2012

For jacketed bullets, just do a slight chamfer on the inside of the case neck and no flaring is necessary.

greyling22 · Mar 11, 2012

use the universal rifle charging die sold separately. I don't think a rifle die set even comes with a powder through expander die like pistols do.

gamestalker · Mar 11, 2012

There is abosolutely no reason to bell bottle neck case mouths. I've been reloading for over 30 yrs. and have never belled my mouths. Whats more, I've never even heard of anyone doing it to a bottle neck case. Just ream and chamfer after trimming, and you'll be good to go!

Scimmia · Mar 11, 2012

gamestalker said:
There is abosolutely no reason to bell bottle neck case mouths.

Just to clarify for anyone searching later, this refers to bottleneck rifle cases. Depending on your sizing die, you may need to bell bottleneck pistol cases.

GLOOB · Mar 12, 2012

You have to bell some larger caliber rifle cartridges, too.

Blue68f100 · Mar 12, 2012

Most FL dies have an expander ball on the depriming rod. Some neck sizing dies have this too. If too large you can normally turn them down using a drill and emory cloth, or fine sand paper. The neck sizers with bushings may or may not have this.

snuffy · Mar 12, 2012

Lee Powder Thru and Expander Die
I have a question regarding this die, which I am using to reload .223. As far as I understand the "expander" part is meant to expand the case mouth so that I can seat the bullet right? My question is how much of the case neck should be expanded. Like...the whole neck? Half of it? Just the tip? As of now it seems my die is set to where there is expansion of half the overall neck. Thanks.

There's no powder through expander die included in any lee die sets for .223. You have to buy a separate rifle powder die to be able to use the lee auto disk measure, if that's what you're using.

As said, you normally never need to bell the mouth of a .223. Then only IF you're loading cast lead bullets,( non-jacketed).

It sounds like you need to do some more study on terminology and uses of the dies you have. It almost sounds like you're referring to the full length sizer only sizing part of the neck???¿¿

StandingTall · Mar 12, 2012

snuffy said:
There's no powder through expander die included in any lee die sets for .223. You have to buy a separate rifle powder die to be able to use the lee auto disk measure, if that's what you're using.

As said, you normally never need to bell the mouth of a .223. Then only IF you're loading cast lead bullets,( non-jacketed).

It sounds like you need to do some more study on terminology and uses of the dies you have. It almost sounds like you're referring to the full length sizer only sizing part of the neck???¿¿

The OP confused me also. Lee doesn't make a powder thru expanding die for rifle cases. They have a rifle charging die for small capacity rifle cases that looks similar, but it doesn't expand the case mouth.

243winxb · Mar 12, 2012

Like said above.Confused, Me? :uhoh:

http://leeprecision.net/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/List/Index/13/product-support Rifle case expansion is normally done in the sizing die. The Rifle Charging Die which allows the Auto Disk and Pro Auto Disk powder measures to be used for charging rifle cases and it works in the same manner as the Powder Through Expander dies from our handgun die sets. The primary difference is that this die does not expand the case mouth.

RustyFN · Mar 12, 2012

The rifle charging die doesn't expand, it's a charging die only.

kingmt · Mar 12, 2012

I figured he had a universal expanding die & thought maybe he was using lead bullets. I was just waiting for more info before trying to answer a question.

The rifle charge die will roll the mouth of the case closed if turned down to far. Just FYI.

jim243 · Mar 12, 2012

I have a question regarding this die, which I am using to reload .223. As far as I understand the "expander" part is meant to expand the case mouth so that I can seat the bullet right? My question is how much of the case neck should be expanded

Listen to Rusty, there is no expansion in the Universal rifle powder through die, it just does not do it. There is a seperate expander die you can buy but you can not put powder through it. Are we talking about something else than Lee dies????

Jim

Lee Powder Thru and Expander Die

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