9mm Expander Die Usage

[armoredman]

With Lee dies, it is totally normal, nothing to worry about, been using Lee dies doing 9mm for going on 20 years, no issues.

 

[Tcruse]

My guess it that you are flaring the case too much and the mouth is scrapping the inside of the sizing die as it is pulled out. I used to run into that when I was trying to increase the flare to seat an oversized lead bullet. You most likely are flaring the case so much that the expander plug is pushing the mouth out against the inside of the die body.

Try starting with a new ly sized case and back your expander plug out about a turn. Then, slowly add flair until the bullet sit 1/32-1/16 into the case mouth. That's all you need and it shouldn't cause you to feel resistance on the down stroke.

Normal expander plugs work but they are not ideal. I would suggest looking at dies with a 2-step expander plug like that founf in Lyman M-type Expander dies, Redding, and Dillion. Instead of just belling the case mouth, they actula create a shelf for the bullet to sit in. It not only helps you seat the bullet straight but you don't have to worry about over-expanding the case mouth.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/lyman-m-expanding-die.3990627/

The Lyman M die works well. Especially when using coated bullets that need careful handling. My only problem is that after a few months, the sizing pin that screws into the die stripped out and will not stay usable. Ordered a replacement die, but first time I ever had a die fail. Probably just got a bad one.

 

[fxvr5]

With new or really clean brass they will often feel like they are 'stuck' on the expander when pulling them out of the die. Happens with my Dillon dies.