Thread: Fill length resizing not using expander button.

Originally Posted by Beavis

Hornady FL dies are aids. They resize and expand far to aggressively. I think I measured a 10 thou difference between shrinking and expanding the neck (something outrageous anyway) with my 308 FL die.

Yep, this - the only dies I've managed to jam a case in have been Hornady and I think it is purely due to the neck squeeze amount (the neck than has to get dragged back out over the expander ball so you hit a point where the neck is squashed into the die at the same time as it is hitting the expander ball). My experience with the Hornady dies are they produce ammo without much runout that is accurate but they work the brass a huge amount and end up costing a fair bit of effort at the other end in terms of annealing time etc etc. I'm currently using bushing neck size dies without the expander ball (just kissing the neck in enough to give sufficient neck tension) and depriming using a Lee universal depriming die.

well squashed a case last night...eg made a doughnut...2nd time ever... did a far bit of looking,measuring and experimenting and came to conclusion,the expander ball on LEE RGB dies is rather long..like as in inch long and I probably had it too far back up into die...so the neck was enguaging both ball and die at same time...looking online at replacement expander stems,the shape has been changed.... I have a solution in mind...will CAREFULLY (put the jandle down DannyB) use the bench grinder and slim down half of the inch long expandy bit...then smoth it out nicely with fine sandpaper and drill..this SHOULD allow the neck to shrink nicely then expand GENTLY..... funny I actually have one of them flash collet neck expandythingymewhatsits in my random gear box
I did remove expander ball and resize some cases,then slowly slipped it into sized cases by re fitting it into die....
you fellas got me thinking about the whole idea.....
there MUST be merit in slightly expanding the internal diameter of FLR dies..to whackamole dimensions,that diameter has to be considered the happy meduim... would be interesting experiment to neck turn some brass then resize with whackamole .

well squashed a case last night...eg made a doughnut...2nd time ever... did a far bit of looking,measuring and experimenting and came to conclusion,the expander ball on LEE RGB dies is rather long..like as in inch long and I probably had it too far back up into die...so the neck was enguaging both ball and die at same time...looking online at replacement expander stems,the shape has been changed.... I have a solution in mind...will CAREFULLY (put the jandle down DannyB) use the bench grinder and slim down half of the inch long expandy bit...then smoth it out nicely with fine sandpaper and drill..this SHOULD allow the neck to shrink nicely then expand GENTLY..... funny I actually have one of them flash collet neck expandythingymewhatsits in my random gear box
I did remove expander ball and resize some cases,then slowly slipped it into sized cases by re fitting it into die....
you fellas got me thinking about the whole idea.....
there MUST be merit in slightly expanding the internal diameter of FLR dies..to whackamole dimensions,that diameter has to be considered the happy meduim... would be interesting experiment to neck turn some brass then resize with whackamole .

Micky, we heard you the first time
Sorry, couldn’t resist…

delete option has gone now too...

That's OK. The 7th or 8th time me boy repeats himself - that's annoying. twice is fine!

So why doesnt a man just leave well enough alone?
Well you blokes got me thinkin as well. This custom thing of mine is really fussy in the chamber (bit like the old girl used to be), so I FL resized like I usually do in my RCBS die but removed the expander ball spindle. Then ran 2 case necks up into my 6.5 Hornady die, and then another 2 into my RCBS die, and 2 into an old Lee die, all with the expander ball back in.
Clean the inside of the neck and chamfer the mouth in and out. Seated the same projectiles and a noticeable difference in neck tension, with the old Lee expanded cases chambered beautifully. The RCBS and Hornady not so easy.
Will it kill the next animal deader than dead, probably not.

@Bos. So which die gave a noticeable difference in neck tension?

So FL size through the RCBS die just to shrink the case, then run the Lee expander ball through the case neck. Minimal neck tension on the Sierra projectiles but I suspect a different projectile would have a different result.
To be honest, I'm not convinced all the pissing around is worth it

I just full length, no expander at all.

Works great

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

I just full length, no expander at all.

Works great

OMG. Aint that the truth.

well I got the 6" bench grinder out...2 minutes later the long expandy bit is a much shorter expandy bit...then into power drill and onto some very fine sandpaper... slips in and out of a case now like...as me old mate Brian Mac used to say "like a well greased PR*** up a slack fann* LOL.

Is your expander doing anything at all now MD or is it just acting like a guide?

still expanding..maybe a fly shit less than before but wont be much less..... it surely is smoother which has to be a good thing.

I mate of mine wasted 2 sets of Hornady dies and fkd up 10 lapua magnum cases because it worked the necks too hard and no matter how much carbon lube he used on the inside of the necks. Expander ball just can’t pull out. I have had the same experience with most Lapua cases (hard to pull expander ball out) as they usually have thicker wall. So to accommodate all types brass makes, now I set up most of my resizing with redding bushing dies and expander mandrel. You can change the bushing to decide how much to work the brass and precision resize different thickness of brass to achieve desired neck tension. Bit more procedures. You don’t need to use the expander ball that comes with the die. You can use different size expander die and mandrel to open up the necks to difference sizes for your bullets to seat in with the neck tension you want. Again lots of fun (fk arnd).