neck expander/flare dies

[buyobuyo]

I'm getting setup to start casting/loading lead at the house. In the mean time, I've been doing a little casting at a friend's shop, so I can start developing loads.

I've been looking around at the various neck expander/flare dies, and was wondering what your experience with them has been if you've used them. So far, I've seen that Lyman, RCBS, and Hornady make such products. Hornady's is a PTX for the LNL.

I've used one of Lyman's M-dies for some .30-30 I loaded up for my dad, but $20 or so per die adds up quick, since I'll need 5 of them to cover all the cartridges I plan to cast for. From what I can tell, the RCBS setup is interchangable, so you can buy one full die at ~$20 and the other expander sizes needed for a cheaper setup overall.

Thanks.

[fredj338]

I've never loaded lead bullets in bottleneck rifle rounds, except for a daliance w/ lead bullts in my 404jeffery. Any of the M style expanding dies will work, buy the cheapest. FWIW, I used a 41mag expanding pistol die to flare the 404j case (0.423") it worked fine. You just need to keep the base from getting shaved.