In terms of "neck tension" an expander mandrel really doesn't offer much improvement with consistency. If you want improvement the consistency of your neck tension, you need to anneal your brass. Inconsistent neck tension is typically due to variation in the neck's hardness. But, using ann expander mandrel instead of the expander button does give you more control of the amount of neck tension you might want to play with.
Ok bro thanks for the info. And if I knew what was causing the issue I would have explained it obviously. It’s why I posted the post in the first place.
While you're right about the word "tension", I'm sure you know what he's referring to and you might try to help rather than confuse??? I doubt you're going to be able to change the way the reloading community uses that word, huh?
While you're right about the word "tension", I'm sure you know what he's referring to and you might try to help rather than confuse??? I doubt you're going to be able to change the way the reloading community uses that word, huh?
That's good, IMHO. Just be sure you're annealing process is actually getting the job done. Often, when one is annealing and still getting a lot of inconsistencies in the neck and shoulder bump, it's because the annealing isn't really happening. If you're annealing is working, your neck "tension" (as the word is commonly used) should be consistent.
That's a good point about the neck thickness. It's not unusual for Lapua to have a .001 variance in the thickness of the neck (how much can depend on the caliber). Using a sizing die with an expander ball tends to mitigate this issue a little. Certainly when using an expanding mandrel, one is moving the variations from the inside diameter to the outside diameter where it can show up prominently, where neck turning pretty much eliminates this issue.
I find that the most variation in neck tension I find is when I seat a bullet into an un-annealed case on the odd occasion.
That was strange, I actually replied to & quoted your previous post but your new post was the post copied.
This is what I do but I just brush the necks with a nylon brush.
How do you clean lube off after sizing? Are you cleaning at all before hand?
It would be easy to simply shorten the die body & the sleave however, the trouble is that the slits in the sleave are at or below the level which needs to be removed. I think I may be able to machine a groove in the sleeve & weld or silver solder a ring to create a new binding base. The other hassle is the length of the neck of the 6 BR as it protrudes through the top of the die when held in position.
AMP press provided a lot of things, except exact corelation to better target.
The thing that's really thrown me off as of late is Eric Cortina saying that he doesn't clean his brass because 1. He doesn't need to and 2. The carbon in the necks is a natural lube. (He claims it's more consistent than using a brush with graphite too)
