NOE has also offered these style expanders for many years. In a larger variety of sizes for both rifle and pistol. Ex. in .45 ACP, they offer 3 different sizes so you can pick your preference. They are not powder flow thru expanders as far as I can tell though. I would also prefer the new "M" style however the shipping cost from either Lee or NOE far exceeds my need to discontinue using the old style.
Hi Mike! I hope you are doing well. I tried both types of the NOE expanders and didn’t like them. Specifically the PTX inserts. With smaller diameter calibers they would collect and retain powder in the stem. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
Walter, with these expander plugs, are they really set up more for jacketed/plated boolits, ie "will they not expand enough for fatter lead boolits"? I'm using a pair of Dillons now and want to move my expanders over to m-style as I shoot mostly cast with my pistol loads(still keeping a couple thousand plated for the zombie apocalypse, teeheehee) so the NOE expanders with their stepped sizing seems to be a homebrew method I'm considering. I saw your reply to HobbiesHobo about powder sticking inside the die, so I'm wondering how I might go about making a "spacer plug" that will allow powder transfer through the plug, then down through the M-style expander. This is why I need a lathe, lol!!!
@@4570Govt I have been using them extensively (but not exclusively) for my cast bullets and find them far superior to Lee’s former bell expanders for those applications. That said, if your cast bullets are more than .001-.002 over jacketed diameter, you may not be perfectly happy with them. If you press the new expander in far enough though, you can get a bell formed that will accept most anything, but then so do the older style. If I were you, I’d get ONE new Lee expander and try it. Regarding the NOE expanders..give NOE a call. They may have rectified that issue by now. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
When measuring the length of those small steps you should use the pointed tips on your caliper for that, it's a lot easier and a lot more accurate. Great videos, Thanks
Thank you !!! I have worked around with putting an M - Die where you use it. I will probably get spare parts to get my shipping to work better or maybe the Auto Drum update parts.
Hi Chris. I was quite surprised at the number of views on that previous video. I thought I was just putting it out there for my ‘homies’, LoL. Thanks for stopping by! 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
@@williemoreno7801 just about through it Willie. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but the Doc gave me an antibiotic prescription and that seems to be knocking it out. I just finished that regimen today. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
The ones I ordered just shipped today.... your just too fast to keep up with! lol I ordered ones for 9mm,300 blk(30 carbine) and 45acp. I added them onto an order I was waiting to get paid to order.... 2 of the auto drum updates, and a ACP update(it turns the ACP press into the new Deluxe APP) a decapping pin and a shell holder adapter for the ACP. I got free shipping which made a big difference! The 38spl/357 mag that came in my new powder through die. works great!
Hi Papa. I’ll be interested in hearing how the 300 BO works. Today I loaded up 100 45 ACP rounds with some cast bullets using the new expander with the upgraded auto drum. It went great. The new expander is definitely an improvement. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
Is there any way to get the mouth progressively wider on these? The trumpet style would obviously get way flared out the more you screwed the die down. If you get lead shaving with these is there anything you can do? I’m also hoping lee didn’t make them way wider than they need to be just to ensure no lead shaving can EVER happen at the expense of case life.
Hi AMI. If you go back and watch the video, the new Lee die compares favorably to a genuine Lyman “M” die in all the respects you talk about. Lead shaving with traditionally lubed bullets is not as problematic as it is with PC. If a lead ring develops above the case mouth on a traditionally lubed round, you can just pick it off and re-adjust your die. Not so with PC, but this is not the venue to discuss those loading practices. Regarding progressively wider, the ‘step’ portion of the inserts I show here are of constant diameter and don’t get wider, but if you set the stem deeper and deeper, beyond the step, it will begin to trumpet. Thanks for stopping by. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
Ok I wasn’t too sure how the Lyman worked either that’s why I was wondering. It seems there is one issue this could greatly reduce: the lee auto powerful spring apply far too much belling pressure to the brass and overflaring cases. I basically had to stop using it for pistol calibers because the strength of the spring, not the depth of the die, was what was dictating the amount of flare.
@@Almost_Made_It yes. There can be issues with flaring with any similar expander die, particularly if cases are not close to being of uniform length. If one adjusts the die to produce a desirable flare using a short case, then the longer ones will be over-flared. This new die/insert won’t resolve all the problems. One still needs to spend a bit of time, and probably a couple of sacrificial cases, to get it set correctly. Been good talking with you! Don’t hesitate to ask questions. If I don’t have an answer, I’ll say so. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
M dies make a difference. I recently started using the Lyman M die for 30-30 with jacketed bullets. I resized once fired cases to SAMMI length without the expander ball, then ran them through the Lyman M die. Case length after resizing, but before the M die was about half needing trimming. After the M die none needed trimming. On average the cases were about .006" shorter after the M die. I can't explain why. I wasn't expecting that. Bullet seating was great. Tomorow I should getting a Lyman M die for 8x57. Reforming .30-'06 cases to 8x57 has a problem with the expander ball pulling the shoulder forward even if used in a separate step. I'm hoping the M die will solve this.
Hi Craig. Thanks so much for stopping by. While I do not use Lee dies to load rifle rounds, I feel good about this new stuff from Lee will work for you. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
Hi Tex. These are “powder-through” dies which means they can be used in conjunction with a powder measure. The case is expanded and charged at the same station at once. A stand-alone Lyman “M” die is just that..it only expands the case mouth and the case is charged on a second step. If you use a progressive press, or a Lee turret for example, the Lee powder-through die does 2 things at once, eliminating a step and thus increasing efficiency of handle pulling. Thanks for stopping by the bench.! 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
Do they make that much difference? Is it less of a trumpet to make seating easier? I know when I flare it too much it’s hard to enter the die. Thanks Walter
Hi Lenny. It’s definitely an improvement. No trumpet at all. This style expander creates a cylindrical mouth expansion that is wide enough to accept the bullet base. I loaded 100 rounds of cast bullets with it today and it worked well. There will be video of that next week. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
@@viejo2a BTW, just picked up my first S/A. a Ruger Vaquero (old model) hardly used, and reloaded about 100 rounds. Lots of fun. I only have 200 and 230 gn from my 45acp bullets now, what grain do you like for the 45 Colt ?
@@lens7859 wow! That’s great Len. 250-255 grains is kind of the ‘standard’ for 45 Colt, but I have cast from 160 to 270. Lee has a couple of good candidates: 452-252 SWC and the 452-255 RF. Do you already have loading and sizing dies for 45 Colt?
@@viejo2a thanks. As I said in your other thread on this new Lee product, NOE makes expanders that do fit the Lee expander die. They make them in many sizes for many calibers. NOE is a mold maker in case you didn't already know.
@@leonhart2452 thanks, Leon. I tried a couple of Noe’s units in the universal expander, as well as their inserts for the Lee PTX die body, but find caliber specific dies a better choice for me. I have nearly 250 molds, including a few from NOE. 🤛🏻🔫🇺🇸
Lee is now putting then in the popular pistol dies sets, but there is lots of old stock everywhere that must be sold thru. At Lee they would have the newest stock though. It may be very hit and miss for a while otherwise I would think. Also they are not marked on the packages so there is no way to know until you open a new set and check.
