Rifle expander die for coated?

Sasquatch

Sasquatch

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I chatted with Toprudder a bit about this, but wanted to see other experiences.

I bought some coated rifle bullets. Unlike other rifle bullets I load, they are flat-base. They do not want to go into my rifle cases. As you guys know, straight-wall cases are belled to accept a flat-base pistol bullet.

In the case of my coated bullets, I can stabilize it as it goes into the seating die- but it scrapes the coating off. Which can't be good- not only accuracy, but leading the barrel.

One suggestion was a universal expander die (Lee). What do others do? A valid answer for me might be not to bother doing coated anymore if it ends up being too complicated.
 
Sas quatch said:
One suggestion was a universal expander die (Lee). What do others do? A valid answer for me might be not to bother doing coated anymore if it ends up being too complicated.
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The Lee die works pretty well, but I personally prefer the Lyman "M" dies. You only need one Lee universal expander, but you have to re-adjust it for every caliber, and the adjustments are sensitive to case length.

"M" dies are easier to use -- and I like their idea better -- but you need one for every caliber.

NOE makes per-caliber plugs similar to the "M" die insides, and which fit into the Lee universal die, so you don't have to buy the whole die again. But then you have to take things apart and put in the other plug(s), when changing calibers.

Either way, if you make the case mouth bigger in order to slide the bullet in, then you'll have to make sure it's not too big to chamber. I prefer either a taper crimp die or the Lee factory crimp die. And don't crimp too much, or then the crimp will strip off your coating. :(

If you have a case chamfer tool, you might try putting a little extra taper on the inside of your case mouth, just as a temporary thing. The other solutions are better, but this might get you by while you're deciding whether or not to keep using coated bullets.

No matter what you decide, it looks like coated bullets will take one or two extra steps.
 
Thanks all- fortunately the Lee dies are cheap. I guess had I thought about it, I would not have gotten coated bullets. I'm letting the tail wag the die... The savings I'm getting from buying coated bullets means I have to load and shoot a lot of them just to pay for the extra dies. Unfortunately, I don't get a lot of rifle time.

Based on advice above, I did order the Lee expander (thanks for the offer Toprudder). I do have factory crimp dies for the few calibers of rifle I load, so that'll mean some pulling to see if I'm breaking the coating.
 
I think if you carefully adjust the Lee FCD, you have it set so that it only removes the flare. This can be as simple as using a caliper to check the case mouth dimension to make sure it is no smaller than the case neck.
 
I've said it to a bunch of people in person, but here it is in print: I hate coated (rifle) bullets.

On a potential unrelated note- is TSA's gunsmith good/reasonable price?
 
Sas quatch said:
I've said it to a bunch of people in person, but here it is in print: I hate coated (rifle) bullets.
Click to expand...
You should price some .308 jacketed 220gr projectiles just to blast at steel then. Costs as much as loaded supersonic ammo.
 
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Ikarus1 said:
I am using the .30 carbine powder-thru expanding die for .300BLK. Works well ;)
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I've got a 30 carbine Lee die set. Never thought about using the expander for other .308 bullets, it might work for 30-30. Thanks!
 
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