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Please help a rookie

Posted: 10 Feb 2022 13:41
by garyrapp55
I'm not a rookie to reloading, just pistol, 9mm to be clear. I have a Classic turret and 4 die set. I was told that the M die is beneficial. I stumbled upon the Noe expander plug. Will this expander plug work in the Lee powder through expanding die?

Re: Please help a rookie

Posted: 10 Feb 2022 16:02
by Macd
I don't see the need for another die as the Lee powder through expander die does the necessary case mouth flare as explained in the die set's accompanying documentation. Setting it up correctly is important. If you do not sort for case length you will get some variation in the amount the case mouth is flared. I have used the 4 die set to reload thousands of 9x19 over the years I competed in IPSC. I used, cast, jacketed and powder coated as well as plated bullets without any problems related to flare. The flare is taken out by the factory crimp die. I preferred the FCD to crimping with the bullet seater as case length doesn't matter. When you are loading 1000-1500 cases a week there isn't time to trim cases to a uniform length or to sort cases.

Re: Please help a rookie

Posted: 11 Feb 2022 05:21
by GasGuzzler
The NOE expander is not hollow so although it will work with the Lee dies, it will not dispense powder. It is only needed with long CAST bullets that are fairly over-sized for caliber. I have never needed an M die so I never researched it. I don't see how you need it either.

Re: Please help a rookie

Posted: 11 Feb 2022 06:24
by Ranch Dog
I agree with the others, no need for anything else other than the Lee PTE die that came in the die box.

Re: Please help a rookie

Posted: 11 Feb 2022 08:59
by garyrapp55
Thanks for the data.

Re: Please help a rookie

Posted: 11 Feb 2022 11:54
by mikld
I believe the NOE plug will work in the Lee die, but I reloaded about 35 years with just the Lee powder through die for flaring, no problems (none of my case lengths varied enough to make a measurable difference in flare). Can't remember why, but several years ago I got a Lyman M die for 9mm. It does make seating a bit easier, but being worth it is a personal decision. I have a new Hornady 357 die set and the flaring (expanding) die is similar to the M die. Yesterday I was seating some .358" 158 gr PCed SWC in some nickel plated brass that had been flared with a Lee die. I noticed a few that shaved the PC a bit even though the mouth of the case was flared enough to easily accept the bullet. I reflared with the Hornady die which expanded the case mouth ID a few thousandths and the remaining 45 bullets seated cleanly The original flare was enough for most cast and jacketed, but this combination of case, flare and bullet wasn't quite enough and an M type die fixed the problem...

If you wanna try a different (better?) flaring die go ahead, no real problems with either die, no new learning curve, in my experience.