Taking a thousand off an expander plug.

[Mitty38]

Ok my .223 cast pc smooth side AR bullets shoot best at exactly .224. So I am right in the middle of the two sizes most others use for .223.

I ordered a .225 expander first. It was way to big, bullets fell into the case. Resold it on Ebay.
Could not find a .223 expander NOE only had a . 222 and a ..224.

So settled on a .228-.224 Well just now trying it out and my bullets move real easy in the case like a tensionless slide fit that just has enough to keep it from falling in the case unless bumped, or lightly pushed. It is like friction fit. Iwant some tension.

So unless I am wrong. ???? I need to take that expander down to .223 so I can get the right tension. It is stainless so no worries about removing case hardening by downsizing.
But...
How do I do this without loosing the concentricity on this fine NOE expander???

Also think I have using iit figured out. But, any advice on setting up and using these expanders is appreciated.

 

[popper]

.222 should give perfect neck tension. settled on a .228-.224 ??

 

[Mitty38]

My first rodeo.???? Figured I needed .223 because not using a gas check and my lee expander ball in the sizer measured .222 and the bullets were mashing .0007???

Thought I should run at .001 neck tension????

Any how figured I can take material off till I get where I need, when I ordered up.
I need to make it smaller. Do not want to wait another 3 months for one, then have the chance it could down size my bullets.

 

[Snakeoil]

Put it in your drill press if you don't have a lathe and using something like 400 grit paper, put the paper around a fine flat file or flat piece of steel barstock and polish off the 0.001 with the drill press running at high speed. When you start, color the expander with a magic marker so you know you are holding the paper/bar flat against the expander. Actually, a square block of hardwood will allow you to put the wood on the table to keep the sanding surface parallel to the expander surface.

I too am confused as Popper is at what you "settled on". I think it is just a typo and am assuming you got the 0.224 expander.

If polishing down to 0.223 does not work for you, easy enough to polish another mil off. I would not worry about damaging the concentricity. The metal should come off evenly.

 

[JWFilips]

You can spin it up in a drill press and use 400 grit metal sanding paper In a strip ( Like you were shoe shining!)
Go slow check often

 

[JWFilips]

Yes, backed by a file is better! Just go slow and measure often

 

[Glaciers]

Yeah I’ve gone .001 to .002 under desired diameter, for example as Popper says .222 which would give you a .222 x .226 plug. That should give you an easy transition for the bullet. There are 3 steps in his plugs, the final step is a hard stop.

 

[Brad]

Some oil on that paper makes it cut better, or longer at least.

I would go very slow, it is damn hard to put any metal back! I also have no idea what metal Al uses for those or how hard they are- those are big factors in how fast it polishes.

 

[Mitty38]

Put it in your drill press if you don't have a lathe and using something like 400 grit paper, put the paper around a fine flat file or flat piece of steel barstock and polish off the 0.001 with the drill press running at high speed. When you start, color the expander with a magic marker so you know you are holding the paper/bar flat against the expander. Actually, a square block of hardwood will allow you to put the wood on the table to keep the sanding surface parallel to the expander surface.

I too am confused as Popper is at what you "settled on". I think it is just a typo and am assuming you got the 0.224 expander.

If polishing down to 0.223 does not work for you, easy enough to polish another mil off. I would not worry about damaging the concentricity. The metal should come off evenly.

.228 is the flare part 224 is the expander.

Thank you just what I needed to know.

I think I will leave the flare - 228 flair step alone, or taper it down slightly. It will be able to be ironed out with the crimper anyhow, give me a bigger hole to aim for.

 

[fiver]

i'd do it with steel wool, or a cloth glove and some lapping compound.
shouldn't take more than 20-30 seconds.
.001 is not very much off of two sides of anything.

 

[Ian]

I disagree with using a file backing. Best way to ensure concentricity is wrap a strip of oiled Emery paper around it shoe-shine style and pull it slowly back and forth while the part is spinning. I have made quite a few expanders and it is incredibly easy to make them .001" out of round while trying to take off just a little.

 

[Mitty38]

No press but...
Have it chucked up in the large chuck drill clamped In a vice. Big old steel case Milwaukee variable speed, lockable trigger, with negligible run out.
I have some Emery around here somewhere just need to find it.

 

[Bret4207]

Go slow, it'll come off a lot faster than you think. As you and I are both members of "The International Brotherhood of Ham Handed Hobbyists" I thought the caution might be appropriate. I know what happens when I try to "take a little off" sometimes...

 

[Mitty38]

Well got it done. Tested it with the good Mike. That measures to .0001.
It is concentric. To .0001,
Right at 2231 to 2232 across the full expander section.with the flaring step having a slight taper on the flaring step going from 226 at the bottom to .228 at the top. Going to stop right there for now.
Tedious work.Polish, measure, polish, measure and so on.
Don't think I could do it that well if I tried again.

Well have a slight drag when loading the bullet now and enough tension I can't pull it out with my fingers. At least without a great amount of effort and twisting, wiggling.
I really like the flare part, the way I have it. Bigger hole at the top but kind of tapers to the neck dimension.

The loaded case fits into to my case guage like a glove just looked enough to plop and no more slop then that.

Adjusted the crimp die just enough it takes the flare straight. Then a16th of a revolution more. Going to load up 20 with this and see what happens. Of course it might be a week or so till I can get thru the snow and down to the range.