Lee expander dies ... SUCK!

Status
Not open for further replies.
jski

jski

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
2,292
Location
Florida
All my Lee expander dies require a LARGE downward upward force when removing the die from the case. My wife can hear it from clear across the house! Why would Lee design such a boneheaded die? Also, I have to believe this ain’t good for my Redding T-7 turret press.
 
Last edited:
That has not been my experience. I regularly resize 30-06 with a lee hand press, which is mostly aluminum.

I haven't noticed a great deal of difference with RCBS vs Lee except for the X dies. Oh, and if a case gets stuck I hope it is in the Lee.

If you have not tried Imperial sizing lube, try it. A little in the neck of a case every so often should help your issue.
 
jski said:
All my Lee expander dies require a LARGE downward force when removing the die from the case. My wife can hear it from clear across the house! Why would Lee design such a boneheaded die? Also, I have to believe this ain’t good for my Redding T-7 turret press.
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the pistol Powder-Through Expansion Dies or the rifle Full-Length Resizing/Neck-Expansion Dies?
 
  • Like
Reactions: mdi
New and wet tumbled brass that is as clean as new will cause the expander die to stick in the case, Dillon even has a note about it in the 550 manual on page 12.

“Be aware that new brass will often “stick” on the powder funnel or cause resistance on the upstroke.”
 
I changed the original post to read “upward force” because the piston moves in the opposite direction the hand lever does.

But I still need a final jarring HARD push upward to remove the die from the case. I’ve heard of case lube for resizing (I’ve always avoided that with tungsten carbide dies) but lube for flaring the case mouth?

I have expanders from Redding, RCBS, and Lyman; none require this hard push upward to extract the die from the case.

This is for .38 Short Colt brass and Lee is the only choice for a complete die set. I can use 9mm dies as an alternative, so I ordered a Redding 9mm expander … but I shouldn’t have to.
 
Last edited:
One of these wet tumblers. Water, soap, and very small stainless steel pins go in with the cases and it tumbles. Some put citric acid in with their solution.
The pins impacting the cases will clean them up to look like new but also strips off the protective oxidized coating that is on the brass and it loses what natural properties it has that keeps tarnished brass running through carbide die without any lube.
Then it sticks in the dies and causes problems.
Some use wash and wax car wash for soap to get some lube back on the brass while they are being cleaned to ease the problem. Some of us use some kind of spray lube like Hornady One Shot on them before we try to resize them.
 
jski said:
I changed the original post to read “upward force” because the piston moves in the opposite direction the hand lever does.

But I still need a final HARD push to remove the die from the case. I’ve heard of case lube for resizing (I’ve always avoided that with tungsten carbide dies) but lube for flaring the case mouth?

I have expanders from Redding, RCBS, and Lyman; none require this hard pull upward to extract the die from the case.
Click to expand...
What caliber? Squeaky clean?
Take out expander and polish it with Flitz then tell us results.

IMG_4303.jpeg
 
One other thing: since this is true for my 2 other Lee expander dies, I have to assume this is a “feature” and not a one-off.
 
CQB45ACP said:
What caliber? Squeaky clean?
Take out expander and polish it with Flitz then tell us results.

View attachment 1164824
Click to expand...
Yep this here.
I had the same problem once. I took the expander plug out of the die and chucked it up in a drill and polished it with fine sandpaper. I used something like 300 grit if I remember correctly. I never had another problem with sticking after that.
 
CQB45ACP said:
What caliber? Squeaky clean?
Take out expander and polish it with Flitz then tell us results.

View attachment 1164824
Click to expand...
This is for .38 Short Colt brass and Lee is the only choice for a complete die set. I can use 9mm dies as an alternative, so I ordered a Redding 9mm expander … but I shouldn’t have had to.
 
Last edited:
jski said:
I changed the original post to read “upward force” because the piston moves in the opposite direction the hand lever does.

But I still need a final jarring HARD push upward to remove the die from the case. I’ve heard of case lube for resizing (I’ve always avoided that with tungsten carbide dies) but lube for flaring the case mouth?

I have expanders from Redding, RCBS, and Lyman; none require this hard push upward to extract the die from the case.

This is for .38 Short Colt brass and Lee is the only choice for a complete die set. I can use 9mm dies as an alternative, so I ordered a Redding 9mm expander … but I shouldn’t have to.
Click to expand...
Is this brass new or wet tumbled?
 
You didn’t need to buy another brand die…but could’ve disclosed that factoid before we tried to help with old one:)

I use a Lee for 9mm and always have and expand squeaky clean cases. When I sense there is a required increase in force or other anomaly I know it’s time to clean/polish the expander.

I use a Redding for 45acp and the same holds true…periodically clean/polish.

I periodically maintain most every mechanical thing in my life or pay someone else to.
 
I had the same problem with my RCBS PTX with some squeaky clean once fired brass that had been wet tumbled. I then tumbled it myself in crushed walnut with some NuFinish added and the problem went away. One reason I’ve never been interested in wet tumbling. ymmv

PS: I also polished the PTX because the squeaky clean brass had galled and left streaks of brass on the expander that also made it sticky.
 
higgite said:
I had the same problem with my RCBS PTX with some squeaky clean once fired brass that had been wet tumbled. I then tumbled it myself in crushed walnut with some NuFinish added and the problem went away. One reason I’ve never been interested in wet tumbling. ymymmv
Click to expand...
How is that any different than using a wax inclusive soap while wet tumbling? This problem has been identified and the process adjusted to overcome problems....
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Crazy Horse
  • Locked
Lee Expander die vs Cop die on Hornady LnL AP
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
greyling22
greyling22
C
  • Locked
Expander Die for 9mm?
Replies
9
Views
6K
rcmodel
R
B
  • Locked
Lee Die Question
2
Replies
46
Views
2K
The Bushmaster
The Bushmaster
S
  • Locked
Lee Powder Through Expander Die Question
Replies
10
Views
2K
Sledgehammer
S
larry7293
  • Locked
Lee 357 mag expanding and powder die_
Replies
16
Views
721
murf
murf
Back
Top