dalek wrote:I have this set of Lee dies:
The rightmost one is the expanding one. As you can see, the "bolt" that adjust the height of the die is plastic and has no way to lock it in place. When I first tried it by screwing it all the way down, it created a bell-shaped lip (think trumpet or saxophone) on my .357 brass (I only used one). When I insert a bullet and try to seat it, let's just say the brass did not like that:
I did find out by backing it out just enough I would be able to flare it but not like a trumpet. But without being able to lock it in place I open myself to a lot of future disappointment. Any suggestions?
The die on the far left is the Powder Through Expander Die.
Are these new dies or did you buy them second hand? My bet is the latter as it sounds like you are not setting the die up according to the instructions which are rather easy. The base adjustment is straightforward, one turn off shell holder contact.
When setting the die up, use a freshly sized case each time you test any fine adjustments. Fine adjustments are just that, fine. I take a Sharpe and make five-star points on the mouth of the die and do not adjust the die any further than one point at a time. In that you are using jacketed bullets, you will not have any issues with the Powder Through Expander Die once it is set up properly.
As a note, I've been through aftermarket expander plug route and went back to the Lee expander plugs after I understood them better. I'm using them with cast bullets that are .005" over SAAMI bullet specs for the cartridge. I had a couple of case failures with cases that had been expanded with the longer plugs, catastrophic failures, so I went back to belling the case mouth with the Lee plugs.
The Bullet Seating Die is on the far right. It looks like that someone has replaced the bullet seating stem and adjusting screw with the plastic bolt. My guess is that some 3D printing guy thought he had a good idea. I looked at Lee's website and they have not replaced any of the parts that they have been using for decades. I would call Lee Precision (262-673-3075) and get the proper parts for the bullet seating die. Looks like GG beat me to the advice.
I seat and crimp my 38 Spls in a single pass through the bullet seating die. No problems with a cast bullet that is .003" SAMMI bullet specs. Jacketed bullets would be easypeezy.