Hornady Expander Die?

konamtbiker

I have been hand loading for my rifles 4 years now. I have moved onto the next step. I bought a Springfield Armory 45 ACP Champion. I also bought my reloading EQ for this cal. I bought the Hornady Custom Grade ND 3 Die set. Question is, Do i absolutely need to use the "Expander Die?" I loaded up 14 rounds tonight from once fired cases. All i did is camphor and deburr the rim of the case, and also FL size. Bullets seemed to seat just fine. Is this safe? Should i do it differently? thanks! [8D]

dfletcher

The 45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth and as such it should be nice & square & flat - I think what you did is a combo of bottleneck cartridge reloading mixed with straightwall pistol.

In addition to expanding the case mouth, the expander also sizes the inside of the case to match the bullet diameter. By sizing & not expanding you've left the case a bit thinner, with the bullet gripped just a bit tighter. Probably won't cause a problem with 95% of loads, but you never know when that extra tension could cause a problem.

Whatever bullets you used most likely have a pretty rounded base allowing them to slip into the chamfered case. Pretty slick, but I think over the long run the old fashioned way will work best.[:p]

perry shooter

Hello I would nor camfer the case mouth on the 45ACP you need the wall thickness of the case here. You will more then likely be forced to bell the case mouth if you ever try to load lead bullets which I highly recomend in the 45ACP. it will be cheaper and easy on the barrel. "PRAISE THE HARD-BALL GUN"

Old Fool

+1 Leave the case mouth alone, it is what headspaces the round, and more really is better in this case.

sandwarrior

D. All the above. Do not chamfer, use the expander die as the headspacing is diifferent than what you are used to with rifle reloading. You want a nice thick case mouth to headspace from. If the case mouth is too thin it could collapse a bit.