NOE expanders, my observations

[mousegunner]

I ordered 2 NOE expander plugs for 9mm (.357 x .353) and .45 acp (.454 x .450). I took the powder through expanders out of the Lee expander dies and inserted the new plugs but used the adjusting stem from some Lee seater dies. I raised the ram on my single stage and screwed the die down till it touched the shell holder, inserted a .45 case and ran it up.

I screwed the plug down until I got the right expansion to seat a .45 lead bullet to the first driving band. I can't go too much further if I wanted to because the plug is a quarter turn from bottoming out. I suppose the plug could be a little longer or the die a little shorter but for now this works. The bullet goes in snuggly but I'm wondering how a coated bullet would seat with this plug.

I noticed some slight brass shaving or fine slivers inside the case and from my internet search this is a thing. If I deburr the inside of the case slightly it helps. This isn't a problem to clear out any fine shaving with a tumbler run but I have a lot of primed brass so I'll need clean the shaving out (its not a lot I'm just being anal). In the future I'll run the expander, clean and then prime.

I wonder, would these shavings vaporize on firing and deposit in the barrel like copper?

The plug also tends to stick when you try to lower the ram but some lube inside the case helps.

The plugs are nicely done but there are some very slight machine marks which I think contribute to the shaving and sticking and to really polish those out would make these more costly. I have 2 plugs and with shipping it came out to $21.something. You can't get a Lyman M die for that much (if you can find any).

I'm gonna work up a load for these bullets and see how they shoot since they are now seated straighter with less run out as claimed.

Afterwards I'll try some 9mm jacketed bullets with the other plug and see how that goes.

Thanks for looking, sorry for being long winded on this.

 

[mousegunner]

Me again. I used the .45 and 9mm expander on a handful of cases and the plugs had a lot of brass build up even with lube inside the case. I chucked them in my drill press and used JB bore paste to polish them a bit, I didn't want anything more abrasive to remove material. The .45 seemed to come out a little better than the 9mm. The 9mm plug was a little rougher and you could run your fingernail down and still feel the machining marks, better after polishing but still there.

I did some more cases and there wasn't as much build up on the plugs, I used lube and lightly deburred the inside edge again so that also helped.

EDIT: I used RCBS case lube on a first batch of 50 and even with a polished plug there were still some brass particles in the case. The next 50 were dipped in dry neck lube and I think it went smoother and there were hardly any brass particles in the case and on the plug. If the brass wasn't already primed I would run it through my tumbler to clean out those specks of brass.

Since I used mixed 9mm brass the cases outside diameter varied but I was still able to seat a Zero 124gr jacketed bullet into the case about a 1/16 of an inch. Same as the .45 expander I was close to bottoming out the plug but I don't think going any deeper is needed. The bullets go in nice and straight. Maybe next week I'll get to the range, I need to see if my crimp is going to change with using these new plugs.

 

[68W40 Retired]

I use NOE expanders. I have the same experience but I leave the build up on the expander. They have all smoothened now the machine marks are filled with brass. I can't shoot well enough to tell if any of it matters so I just leave it be.

68W40

 

[divingin]

New brass? Wet tumbled brass? If they're spotless, you may have problems with galling on just about anything that drags across the case surface. Any brass that builds up on the surface will make the problem worse. A bit of lube in the die or giving the brass a quick trip in a dry tumbler (corn cob, walnut, or whatever you use) will help quite a bit.

FWIW, I have less problem with NOE expander than I do with a Hornady powder-thru expander, despite the NOE being rough, and the Hornady being well polished.