Prefered Expander Mandrel Die?

[jlc204]

I need to purchase an expander die and mandrel to iron out new 6br case necks and I'm interested if anyone has a preference for brand. I see that Sinclair, K & M, and 21st Century all sell them at about the same price. Are any of them better than the others?
Thanks
Jason

 

[Shynloco]

Re: Preffered Expander Mandrel Die?

I need to purchase an expander die and mandrel to iron out new 6br case necks and I'm interested if anyone has a preference for brand. I see that Sinclair, K & M, and 21st Century all sell them at about the same price. Are any of them better than the others?
Thanks
Jason

Jason,
I can only speak for Sinclair since that is the brand that I have used in all my calibers that I reload for, including my 6mmbr. That is not to say that the other two brands you mentioned wouldn't provide good service. I''ve just always been impressed with the quality that Sinclair puts into their products. In most instances, they also have the price that you pay for that excellence.

 

[jbpmidas]

Re: Preffered Expander Mandrel Die?

I like the Sinclair as well! It is extremely easy to change mandrels!

Ful disclosure: I have only used the Sinclair as well.

 

[Bradsb]

Re: Preffered Expander Mandrel Die?

I started out by purchasing K & M because it seemed to be the standard. I never felt like it worked as well as I thought it should. It took a lot of force in my press to expand 6br to 7 and then to 30. I purchased 21st Century and couldn't be more pleased. Great company to work with and expander works flawlessly. I have purchased many other products from 21st since and they have all been top rate.

 

[mikecr]

Sinclair

 

[DJ111]

I prefer the Sinclair over the K & M.

 

[jkohler]

The 21st century work nice and is very easy to change mandrels as well

 

[jlc204]

Thanks for everyone's input. Seems like you can't go wrong with either the Sinclair or 21st Century.
Jason

 

[amlevin]

I recently bought a new mandrel for my Sinclair expander die and was disappointed with the finish. It was as rough as I might have expected from a company like Lee, not Sinclair. Wish they offered an oversized expander in Carbide with a mirror finish.

 

[mikecr]

I'd return it for another. You don't want if rough that's for sure.
I'm surprised. Was this a hardened turning mandrel?

I wish they offered carbide expansion mandrels also. I wear these things out

 

[lurcher]

I have the sinclair and the K&M, but my favourite is the pma tools mandrel in the sinclair holder. The pma is football shaped, more like an expander button so you can feel when it has passed through the neck and not smack the top of the case on the mandrel holder if that makes sense.

 

[Shynloco]

I recently bought a new mandrel for my Sinclair expander die and was disappointed with the finish. It was as rough as I might have expected from a company like Lee, not Sinclair. Wish they offered an oversized expander in Carbide with a mirror finish.

Call Sinclair and tell them. I feel certain they make good on a bad one no matter how old it is.

 

[mikecr]

The pma is football shaped, more like an expander button

Sounds like what we remove from our dies..
I prefer the entire neck expansion is held at the same line and amount, at once, and one time per stroke.

 

[delmartin]

if you are just "ironing Out" the brass why not just run them over a 6 mm expander in a FL die?
If you are going to NK turn them then you should get a mandrel from who ever made your turner. They will know what size you need.
Some times we way over complicate things.

 

[lurcher]

Sounds like what we remove from our dies..
I prefer the entire neck expansion is held at the same line and amount, at once, and one time per stroke.

PMA has a looong parallel section , so no worries about the whole neck being held at the expanded diameter at the same time

Also it has a generous amount of float in the sinclair holder to avoid dragging the necks out of line

 

[potatoe]

I have the sinclair die, but the mandrel from PMA. I'm going to slowly change everything I can/need to PMA till they disappoint (which I doubt), so far they have exceeded every purchase.