New style Lee expander plug

[Jim Watson]

I bought one for the Dillon and the step is almost imperceptible. No help starting a bullet.
My real Lyman M will let a cast .30 start about the height of the gas check.

Wonder if I could get FLG to turn a Makarov “funnel” down to 9mm M.

 

[CQB45ACP]

You can make one up for the seating die.
View attachment 1173542

Yes I have two Redding. I was talking about expander.

 

[GW Staar]

@CQB45ACP: Best answer is LiveLife's post........Lee is still not announcing, but they are producing, and if they have one in stock they will sell it to you separating via "parts" Price? Don't remember if LiveLife posted that. Probably did......but you'll have to get his attention or go back looking thru his posts.......either way you'll have to call Lee and ask for a tech as LiveLife suggested....and get the price that way.

You will need the PTX expander die, which you said you have already.....or if not order one and specify the new "square seating" plugs for it.

New style Lee expander plug

These arrived in the mailbox today,new type stepped (M?) expander plugs. I got the 38sp,9mm and 45acp which I ordered after reading LiveLife's thread on said plugs. The people at Lee were very helpful in wading trough my vagueness and sending the right stuff. I will expand some cases tomorrow...

www.thehighroad.org

Or maybe JohnB-40 will post again and tell you what he paid.....

​

 

[LiveLife]

@CQB45ACPPrice? Don't remember if LiveLife posted that. Probably did

Post #23

9mm ... What’s the cost for the Lee insert?

$3.67 - https://leeprecision.com/pm-exp-plug-9mm

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I have NOE PTX expanders in 9mm & .45. I had to call NOE to get the correct dimensions before I ordered— actually got the owner on the phone! They work great but are not interchangeable with the Lee expanders. They work properly if installed in a Lee short charging die (not the pistol ptx die).
I have a non ptx .224 NOE expander for my Lee universal expanding die. It is perfect for expanding case necks for those tiny .224 bullets I use for .22TCM! It does fit and work properly in the universal expanding die.

If the Lee PTX stepped expanders had been available, I would have ordered them for a drop in fit in my pistol dies.

Check the NOE site. They have PTX expansion kits now for the Lee dies; including the die if you don’t already have one and don’t mind paying a little extra for it.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Lee is still not announcing, but they are producing, and if they have one in stock they will sell it to you separating via "parts" Price? Don't remember if LiveLife posted that. Probably did......but you'll have to get his attention or go back looking thru his posts.......either way you'll have to call Lee and ask for a tech as LiveLife suggested....and get the price that way.

I got mine, for .45ACP, (PM EXPAND PLG 45ACP; SE2411) when I was ordering the upgraded parts for my Pro 6k. I did have to talk to the Service Tech as CS had know idea what I was talking about. My mention of the "square starting" plug only drew silence, but he knew what I was talking about when I described it to him.

I didn't ask the price as I knew I wanted one...and it was Lee, after all...but my invoice showed $3.00.
There is a Payment Method Additional Fee and a Shipping charge...but I ordered 10 items and it came in two boxes

 

[9mmepiphany]

I installed the new Expander this afternoon along with the Soft Twist rod, when I put the upgraded parts on my Pro 6k. I cleaned it off with Hornady One Shot Cleaner/Lube and allowed the carrier to flash off

I was going to polish the Expander, but got lazy and figured I'd install it first and polish it it there were any issues...the hardest part was actually separating the Riser from the PTX die.

Dropped right and I ran a case though to find that it expanded the case mouth exactly how much I needed. I was able to place a bullet and invert the case without the bullet falling out. Didn't stick when the case was withdrawn either...the case hadn't been cleaned (I did mention I was lazy, right?)

I then ran the case over to the in-line bullet feeder and the polymer coated Brazos 200gr SWC dropped in, stayed straight between stations, and did not drop out when inverted

 

[CQB45ACP]

Check the NOE site. They have PTX expansion kits now for the Lee dies; including the die if you don’t already have one and don’t mind paying a little extra for it.

Interesting—to whom do I give my loyalty? Lee, since I have their die and it’s always held me in good stead? Or NOE since they first came up with the stepped expander for the Lee die? Never mind, it’s rhetorical—I have no loyalties.

But seriously, in the NOE kit there is an “over-travel ring” Any idea what that’s all about?

 

[stormshrike]

But seriously, in the NOE kit there is an “over-travel ring” Any idea what that’s all about?

There is some discussion of that on Cast Boolits in this thread.

The over-travel ring is not strictly necessary but, if you are using either of the Lee, case-activated, powder measures, it will prevent over travel adjustmet from harming the Lee Auto-Drum(which Lee cautions against) and possible incomplete powder drop from the Lee Auto-Disk measure.

 

[drband]

Interesting—to whom do I give my loyalty? Lee, since I have their die and it’s always held me in good stead? Or NOE since they first came up with the stepped expander for the Lee die? Never mind, it’s rhetorical—I have no loyalties.

But seriously, in the NOE kit there is an “over-travel ring” Any idea what that’s all about?

I think the ring is to insure that the PTX spacer does not hang up on the threaded bottom of the powder measure inside of the die. At least, that’s what it looks like in the diagram. I just installed mine as instructed and have had no problems.

Edit: I just looked again and I think it’s a way to keep from screwing the powder measure into the die far enough to cause the drum to overtravel, which will damage the cast body of the Lee AutoDrum, eventually causing failure. Maybe a way to “idiot-proof” the PTX die & measure setup?

 

[LV Gun]

I have been following this from the first time I heard of these from Lee , I have a set of two Noe PTX for 9mm now , before that I was using a Lee 38 S&W powder thru die to do the same thing for a lot less money . l got the Noe ones so I could see for myself which works better my only issue with the Noe ones is with larger flake powders (700X - Blue Dot- Unique) plugging the die and not dropping into the case for those powders I use the Lee 38 S&W powder thru die. I am not sure the Noe give you any better accuracy as I can’t see any real difference but you can set the bullet on the case straighter . I am looking forward to getting a set of the Lee ones when they hit the market place. I am glad LiveLife put this out there for all of us to see.

Edited Note: I have a friend of mine who is a machinist he is going to take a look at my Noe ones to see if he can make the powder thru hole bigger but not ruin the insert and the tip that goes into the case.

 

[TransAmConvert]

Well I ordered some seater plugs right off the Lee site after a quick email with cs to verify, and what was delivered were all stepped seaters. So far it's a nice little improvement and it would seem that they're in normal production now, at least for handgun cartridges.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I remember getting mine for .45ACP when I ordered all the upgrade parts for my Pro 6k. CS had no idea what I was talking about but Tech Support was very helpful about getting me the correct parts.

It installed and was almost perfectly adjusted as it came. I just load another 500 last Saturday for a match on Sunday and it is working very well

 

[vepr12]

Current list of Lee's new expanders.