Help me out with expander mandrels

[Matt_3479]

So I don’t own any currently and would like to get some. Due to never owning them how do I go about getting the right ones.
For example my 25 creed. My loaded round diameter is .287”. My redding bushing is . 285. What mandrel should I be getting? And when do I use it in the loading stages?

id be looking to add a bunch. 20 tac, 223, 6 creed, 25 creed, 6 bra, 260 rem, 300 Norma

 

[Spoonbill]

I go through 21st Century. Call them and tell them what you are wanting to do. If they do t have it already they will turn them down to whatever you need

 

[NZ_Fclass]

or Wilson and Sinclair.

 

[nakneker]

I bought the 21 century mandrels. I bought four in every caliber, I just did whole sizes from the caliber diameter down. For example for .224 I bought .221, .222, .223 and .224 - for 7mm I did .281, .282, .283 and .284, I basically covered myself with four mandrels in every caliber between .224 and .338.

Spoonbill gave you good advice, give them a call and see what they say. 21st century is more expensive than most but they make nice products, are very helpful and have great customer service, their mandrels also come in half sizes which is nice if you need them. You can also buy Sinclair and few others cheaper, they do a the job too, or buy pin gages and bevel the edge. Lots of info here about mandrels, quite a bit on you tube too if your looking for a crash course. Hope that helps.

Here’s a good video by forum member F class John.

 

[PopCharlie]

I use a Porter pin die and pin gauges. You can get the pins in any size you want. Kenny Porter will bevel the end if you buy them from him. It's the best set up I've use.

PopCharlie

 

[ronemus]

I use a mandrel or expander ball that is full bullet diameter - that maximizes grip. Bullets make poor expanders because they are relatively soft and will deform during seating (ring around the nose). Case neck diameter after it recovers elastically from the mandrel is all that grips the bullet (usually 0.0015" to 0.002"); any more will only force the bullet to do the expander's job. This makes life simple because you only need one mandrel or expander per caliber, and it should be full bullet diameter.

 

[Matt_3479]

Okay thank you. Now in what order do I use them though.
Would it be, universal deprime, clean, full length size, prime, expander mandrel, powered and seat?

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

mandrels are 1 or 2 thousandth under bullet diameter. I use the -0.002 in most calibers. I want more on my AR reloads, yesterday I took an old RCBS 17 cal decapping/expander rod and chucked in the cordless and used an old piece of belt sander to reduce it to 0.167-.168. Used it to prep some 17 rem reformed 556 brass for prairie dog loads. I made the change because I recently purchased a Redding small decapping die and 17/20 rod for brass from my custom bolt guns which I run a 0.001 mandrel through for the 17 rem. I was working up some pd loads for a 223 using TNT's, BLC 2, and CCI 450's(had a bunch of this on hand) was using with the 0.002 under mandrel, but it really tightened up when I tried the brass -0.004 of bullet diameter.

 

[ronemus]

To prep new brass I lube (Imperial wax), size (Hornady New Dimension die with expander), neck turn, tumble in cob, trim/chamfer (Gracey Trimmer with Giraud blade), primer pocket uniform (Sinclair), deburr flash hole (RCBS), and select a 0.5 gr range of case weight for long range (the rest are used for short range).

With fired brass I tumble in walnut, lube, size, neck turn if a donut is developing, tumble in cob, uniform (to clean the pocket), and trim/chamfer. Since I use the Hornady elliptical expander when sizing, any donut will be moved to the outside. If a donut is visible or the necks have thickened from repeated sizing, I neck turn. Neck turning goes much smoother with the sizing lube left on the case; much less heat is generated and the cut is smoother. I lube the outside of the case with my fingers and inside the neck with a cotton swab.

I try to use power tools when possible and minimize handling to make processing go faster. For instance, I use a FL sizing die and decap at the same time, seeing no advantage in using 2 or 3 steps to accomplish the same thing. I find that the elliptical expander works as well as a mandrel, so I size and expand in one step. Similarly, the Gracey Trimmer does the inside and outside chamfers while trimming, so 2 steps are eliminated; the Dillon would actually be much slower since the chamfers would still have to be done.

I try to have ~4000 cases fully prepped at the start of the season so I can defer processing until Winter sets in. I tumble the fired brass in walnut when I get back from the range, then set it aside until free time is available; in the meantime, I spend as much time shooting as possible.

 

[ckaberna]

I bought the 21 century mandrels. I bought four in every caliber, I just did whole sizes from the caliber diameter down. For example for .224 I bought .221, .222, .223 and .224 - for 7mm I did .281, .282, .283 and .284, I basically covered myself with four mandrels in every caliber between .224 and .338.

Spoonbill gave you good advice, give them a call and see what they say. 21st century is more expensive than most but they make nice products, are very helpful and have great customer service, their mandrels also come in half sizes which is nice if you need them. You can also buy Sinclair and few others cheaper, they do a the job too, or buy pin gages and bevel the edge. Lots of info here about mandrels, quite a bit on you tube too if your looking for a crash course. Hope that helps.

Here’s a good video by forum member F class John.

First, thanks for the video.
I am trying to understand the difference with a separate mandrel vs an expander ball on typical FL dies?
I assume the mandrels allow the use of bushings to prevent excessive brass working as well as more precise size control?
What if the expander ball was custom sized to you specific needs, wouldn’t that with as well?

 

[jnyfeler]

I second Kenny Porter's Mandrel System.

 

[nakneker]

I am trying to understand the difference with a separate mandrel vs an expander ball on typical FL dies?
I assume the mandrels allow the use of bushings to prevent excessive brass working as well as more precise size control?
What if the expander ball was custom sized to you specific needs, wouldn’t that with as well?

Hopefully more guys will chime in who have more experience with mandrels than myself. I think any expander ball with affect the brass more than the mandrel just by the way it works, expander balls pull the brass as the are extracted, mandrels push the brass on the down stroke which cause less flowing of the brass. My neck concentricity with mandrels has greatly improved, before I used several types of bushing dies and quite a few non bushing sizing dies, I still do but for my rifles I’m paying more attention to concentricity.

As far as a custom expander ball goes I never tried it so I can’t answer that. The Kenny Porters gauge pins looks like a great system too, certainly lots of sizes available using that system.

I’ve been really happy with the 21st century mandrels though.