Lee Loader

Since ammo is either unavailable right now or very expensive I decided to get a Lee Loader. I used these as a kid many years ago and they seemed to work. I have some new Starline brass and Cast Performance Bullets 0.458 Diameter 405 Grain Lead Flat Nose Gas Check

I've tried chamfering the inside of the brass and lubricating. I looks like the die is trying to crimp the brass before the bullet is fully seated.

Any thoughts?

Try jacketed. You can make it work but it's not designed for cast bullets.

GasGuzzler wrote:Try jacketed. You can make it work but it's not designed for cast bullets.

What GG said. Lee offered custom expanders up through several years ago. You could order them through their website, but they are not offered anymore. They probably were a money-losing endeavor.

You could probably use an NOE Expander Plug like these at NOE

You would probably need the one that is sold out, the .460 X .456. The second number represents the diameter of the plug at the first bump and the first the greatest diameter. These are made to be used in an expanding die so you need that final diameter, at least .001" over your bullet diameter. In that you will be tapping them in, the final diameter is what you need as you will not be able to control an intermediate stopping position. They might be tough to pull out as well. I would use mica or graphite on the inside of the case necks.

Thank you all for replying.

I would have bought jacketed bullets if I could find them but these days we sometimes take what we can get.

I'll look into the expander idea. I have a home machine shop with lathes and heat treating oven so I can probably make one if I can get all the dimensions right. I have made similar tools to expand tubing for slip joints and know it can take a couple iterations to get the result you want.

I can get the bullets started in the cases so I am also thinking of seating the bullet to the correct depth before running it though the die to crimp it.

All you need is a tapered punch to bell the case mouth slightly.. You have to get the bullet base started into the case mouth to support the neck before the die starts squeezing it. Your new Starline cases probably have thicker brass in their necks than other brands,, so your Lee Loader is having extra problems due to this factor. If you can find some brass that has been fired through a Gatling Gun, it will have probably expanded enough you won’t have this problem… just a suggestion.

Froggie

I managed to get what I have to work. I am inserting the bullet to the required depth before running the case all the way into the die to crimp it. It takes an extra step but so it goes. To do this I had to make a base with a recess that allows me to seat the bullet before the case goes all the way into the die.

Back in the day when using the "whack a mole" Lee loader and using cast bullets from a friends Dad, I resorted to using my Dad's taper punch to bell the case mouth to accept the cast bullets. At my younger brother's suggestion, I progressively ground the length of that taper punch to bottom out on the base of the "whack a mole" to where I had a consistent bell on the case mouth. By brother was always more thoughtful than I was. BUT, I was the more adventurous of the two of us.

I went shooting yesterday and my loading efforts appear to be successful. The rounds fed through the gun (Chiappa 1886 Ridge Runner) and they all went off. I have little idea about accuracy since the road to my shooting area is still snowed in and I had to walk in and kneel in the snow to shoot.

Thanks again for the help.

I agree with the suggestion below. Get a Lee powder through expander die to flare the cases before seating the bullet. Then you can invert the die to remove the bell and crimp the case.