So I was loading some 9 yesterday and I was having inconsistent expansion. I am am running on a load master withe the Lee powder through die. Every 5 cases or so I get one that is way over expanded. I am going to take it apart to see if I see anything. Has any one experienced this. It has worked perfectly up until now.
-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
Inconsistant expansion
- Thread starter Chet0729
- Start date
This.
Doesn't the Lee expander die have a restrictive "mouth" that un-expands the top of the case if it's over expanded?
pastera
NES Member
Lee powder through die measures 0.403 on a 38/357 die for a SAMMI maximum of 0.379 for the case diameter so there is plenty of room to seriously over expand a case before contact.
Its just very odd. I have loaded thousands of 9MM and never had this issue. I am going to take the die apart to see if some powder got into where it shouldn't be and is messing with the expander.
Yeah, that .379 is for the finished cartridge. SAAMI has no spec for the amount of in-process flare on the case mouth. By your measurements, the die cannot leave a case more flared than 0.012" around the bullet (0.403"-0.379"/2). That's not over expansion, that's normal. That case will fit into the seater die with no issues, and the crimp will easily remove the 0.012" of flare.
That is a thought. I wil have to pay attention to that if it happens again
I normally dont sort by head stamp. I use my ammo mostly for plinking
pastera
NES Member
I was under the impression that expanding 0.024 was very excessive.
Even if you are using over sized lead bullet at 0.360 you should only need to expand the OD to just over 0.380 to easily place the bullet (0.010 case wall)
Definitely defer to your knowledge - just don't understand why a case would be expanded to that level.
Sent from my C6530 using Tapatalk
