Pins bs expander ball

[dbaird]

Which would you prefer Whidden various size expanders in their dies or Porter pins to get desired neck tension?

 

[RegionRat]

I use them all, and like them all... including K&M, 21stCentury, Porter, Whidden, etc.

It is good to have flexibility and options in the tool box. YMMV

Happy New Year!!!

 

[wlaursen]

I like the pins, because you can get the pins in 1/2 thousands at MSC.
Happy 2022.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I like to turn the necks and use good bushing dies. Try not to plow anything back thru offsetting the perfect shoulder bump

 

[1shot]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This

 

[D-4297]

I've removed the expander balls from all of my Bushing Dies . Found the appropriate Bushing to move the neck a minimal amount of "close-down" , and use a Carbide expander mandrel . I think many use the wrong Bushing . Close the neck to far , causing over-work of the brass , and then over-stress the case and neck , causing mis-alignment of the neck when they use any pin or expander .

 

[RegionRat]

I've removed the expander balls from all of my Bushing Dies . Found the appropriate Bushing to move the neck a minimal amount of "close-down" , and use a Carbide expander mandrel . I think many use the wrong Bushing . Close the neck to far , causing over-work of the brass , and then over-stress the case and neck , causing mis-alignment of the neck when they use any pin or expander .

Agree. It is worth slowing down a little and getting the neck sized where you want it without sending it around the block a few times before you get it there...

 

[209jones]

I found out about expanders by way of seating cast bullets and a need for different dia necks than standard stuff offered, 10+ yrs ago or so, was using Lyman M dies with two step expanders. It hit me how much easier they were on the brass and how customizable they were towards general use across my stuff. Made seating soft cast bullets a lot simpler, as less neck tension made seating distortion drop way off. Pushing against the strength of the brass is far easier than pulling on the weak side as well. Add in a bushing die to minimize the overall working of the neck by way of customizing the resizing and it just made more sense to do it with the slightly undersize bushing and then expand with the mandrel. For me, it helped on runout, worked the cases less, and potentially fixed internal neck issues by pushing them out, SD's dropped a bit overall and it seems to have made things in general more consistent, for me anyway.