Flare die could run better

[RGERBER]

[J-cat]

Do you have the expander die set to flare the case mouth minimally?

[sghart]

On my die sets I remove the flaring portion. It should slide right out. I then polish it. It seems to help. Also, I back it out a little.

[RGERBER]

It seems minimal to me but I will try backing out first and see what happens
Thanks

[RGERBER]

I tried backing it out and I polished it also but it was still very rough, I started thinking I didn’t have this problem before so what has changed, well the only thing that changed is I am using new brass this time. I ran some used and polished cases thru there with no problem.
So I guess the new brass is going to make the machine run a little rougher. i suppose polishing the new brass first would solve my problem all together.

Thanks for your help.

[Jasonaspears]

Mine will stick at times too. How much of a bell are you creating?

[sghart]

In my first response I forgot to mention that I also use RCBS spray on case lube on all of my brass. A few squirts on 357 or 9mm or 45 ACP and the difference is amazing.

[stilly]

STOP.

Get out the dremel and polish that bizzitch to a mirror finish. My Lee .45 ACP did that a LOT too. I came here JUST LIKE YOU and I *****ed about it asking if anyone knew if it was a problem or not. I was told to polish it up.

I polished it VERY nicely with a dremel and it was BUTTER SMOOTH afterwards.

Also, make sure that you are not over belling your case mouths. You want only a touch of flare, Do NOT go overboard with the flare like that one dude in Office Space...

[ar15barrels]

If you are using any of the wet cleaning methods that leave the brass completely clean, cases sticking to the expander funnel are more common as the cases are basically GALLING to the funnel.
Polishing it to a MIRROR shine will help for a while, but they will just keep galling again evetually.
Be careful when polishing not to reduce the diameter.
The ultimate fix is to use some dry lube inside those case necks so they don't stick to the expander funnel.

Tumbling in walnut or corn cob will leave some powder inside the case necks that helps to keep the cases from ever galling to the expander funnel.

[3006mv]

Polish it , but the die was made to jump a bit, it helps get powder drop from a hopper above it, that is why it is called a powder through expanding die.

[Jasonaspears]

Polish it , but the die was made to jump a bit, it helps get powder drop from a hopper above it, that is why it is called a powder through expanding die.

Really? It's supposed to stick and cause it to jolt?

[3006mv]

Yup read the lee site

[twotacocombo]

My 45s stick hard to the expander as well, while the 9s seems to come out without a fight. Even though the 9s don't stick, the action of the disc sliding back home to the closed position noticeably agitates and settles the powder in the hopper. When I have to muscle the 45s out, the powder jumps up in the hopper way more than it looks like it should. It's not helping compact it, probably doing the opposite. I'm wondering if it's just the difference between the smaller, tapered case, and the straight walled 45s with more surface area to grab on to the beller?

[at_liberty]

I use strips of fine emery cloth to polish the expanders.

I had this same problem with 9mm and now .45 Colt, again with new Starline brass. My problem was the sizer undersizing the cases. The expander was COWBOY at .001 oversized, and the sizer was standard .451. The set is at Hornady for troubleshooting and hopefully correction. My .38/357 COWBOY set was uniformly .001 oversized in results at each die station.

One thing you could consider is doing new brass with the cone shaped universal expander, which flares without all the case expansion (and sticking). The bullets will imprint through the case, but they're fine to shoot and will be better when reloaded.

I would avoid loading lead bullets (oversized) in a batch of new brass that is tight on the expander.

[ar15barrels]

I use strips of fine emery cloth to polish the expanders.



I had this same problem with 9mm and now .45 Colt, again with new Starline brass.

NEW brass needs some dry lube inside the case neck before you expand or seat bullets.