Expander mandrel

[Flintlock shooter]

Anything you get from 21st Century Shooting is going to be top shelf!

 

[Old Infantry Guy]

I have the Sinclair die and Sinclair mandrels expanding and turning Mandel for two different calibers and recently ordered some mandrels from 21st-century and they work in the Sinclair die

K&M! I credit my K&M expand mandrels in conjunction with my Redding dies for my sub one thousandth run-out on my 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC ammunition.

 

[antelopedundee]

Hello everyone!
I need help selecting a good mandrel to be used as a final step before seating the bullet.
In my mind a mandrel has to have very low tolerances less then 1/1000 thou and be honed to have a very smooth surface.
I see the most popular is the Sinclair one but people are complaining about the quality. The carbide one seem to be good but can you polish carbide smooth the surface?
LE Wilson makes one and I just love it from pictures. It looks like it is polished like he is trying to make a mirror out if it. The downside's only half a thou under. Is that enough for a 300 PRC for hunting?
21st century has a good selection for each calibre in half a thou increments, but their website is atrocious can't tell from the pictures if I'm buying apples or mandrels.
What else is out there that if very good quality?

Since brass can be springy why worry about a "half a thou" over or under? If you are concerned with shininess/polish you can always chuck the mandrel into an electric drill and polish it with the finest steel wool that you can find. Some do that after turning their case necks to get rid of that washboard/corrugated appearance.

If people are complaining about Sinclair quality it may be because Fred isn't running the show anymore. Most likely the current purveyor of Sinclair products outsources to the lowest cost supplier/bidder, but who knows.

 

[antelopedundee]

if you're using a bushing die , use a bigger bushing so you're not down sizing the necks so much .

No, just the standard FL die that came with the set sans the expander button. Awhile back Midway had a bushing die in my caliber for a ridiculously low price and maybe I should have bought it then.

 

[antelopedundee]

If the inside of the neck is very clean or powder fouled and the sizing mandrel doesn't have anything on it YES. carbide is very dense and highly polished so it has the highest amount of surface contact and can apply more force than the shoulder can stand in some cases. different cases are effected by the size of the shoulder. (I used to shoot handgun silhouette and used a 7 TCU, A 223 case necked up to 7 mm) and it had very little shoulder And I learned to lube the expander ball to prevent crushing the shoulder. The sizing mandrel is a good place to occasionally use the sizing wax. It will aid the sizing and prevent crushing the shoulders from to much force.

A little bit will go a long way. Be sure to clean the cases before loading.

J E CUSTOM

I was looking to turn necks on some twice-fired 6.5-06AI cases so I expanded with a .263 mandrel. I used twice-fired cases to make sure the neck was fully formed. In retrospect since I didn't have a 40 degree cutter it probably wasn't a big deal to have waited until the second firing to turn the necks. During the turning process [50 Nosler cases] I had to actually re-expand the necks on a few of the cases..

 

[AKPilot]

Hello everyone!
I need help selecting a good mandrel to be used as a final step before seating the bullet.
In my mind a mandrel has to have very low tolerances less then 1/1000 thou and be honed to have a very smooth surface.
I see the most popular is the Sinclair one but people are complaining about the quality. The carbide one seem to be good but can you polish carbide smooth the surface?
LE Wilson makes one and I just love it from pictures. It looks like it is polished like he is trying to make a mirror out if it. The downside's only half a thou under. Is that enough for a 300 PRC for hunting?
21st century has a good selection for each calibre in half a thou increments, but their website is atrocious can't tell from the pictures if I'm buying apples or mandrels.
What else is out there that if very good quality?

Sinclair Carbide.

 

[JScanga]

I'll second this....John or Pete will get ya fixed up.

I use 21 Century as well

 

[bullet man]

Hell, you can do the same thing with the lee universal expanding tool and it only cost 25.00.

 

[MOOSE39465]

I went with L.E. Wilson set. Just wish the had one for 270

 

[sturner]

21 century

 

[257X50]

Hello everyone!
I need help selecting a good mandrel to be used as a final step before seating the bullet.
In my mind a mandrel has to have very low tolerances less then 1/1000 thou and be honed to have a very smooth surface.
I see the most popular is the Sinclair one but people are complaining about the quality. The carbide one seem to be good but can you polish carbide smooth the surface?
LE Wilson makes one and I just love it from pictures. It looks like it is polished like he is trying to make a mirror out if it. The downside's only half a thou under. Is that enough for a 300 PRC for hunting?
21st century has a good selection for each calibre in half a thou increments, but their website is atrocious can't tell from the pictures if I'm buying apples or mandrels.
What else is out there that if very good quality?

We used to put a number 2 finish on carbide. Think mirror.
carbide can be polished

 

[SCSCHNUR]

Hello everyone!
I need help selecting a good mandrel to be used as a final step before seating the bullet.
In my mind a mandrel has to have very low tolerances less then 1/1000 thou and be honed to have a very smooth surface.
I see the most popular is the Sinclair one but people are complaining about the quality. The carbide one seem to be good but can you polish carbide smooth the surface?
LE Wilson makes one and I just love it from pictures. It looks like it is polished like he is trying to make a mirror out if it. The downside's only half a thou under. Is that enough for a 300 PRC for hunting?
21st century has a good selection for each calibre in half a thou increments, but their website is atrocious can't tell from the pictures if I'm buying apples or mandrels.
What else is out there that if very good quality?

I use the new LE Wilson Expander Manderels these are great use same die change mandrel they have 22,6mm,6.5mm,7mm,30 cal. CHECK THESE OUT! YOU WILL LOVE THEM TOO.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=48LgAvSrOmA

 

[MAD10]

I have had good luck with Sinclair mandrels

 

[Jo Miller]

Hello everyone!
I need help selecting a good mandrel to be used as a final step before seating the bullet.
In my mind a mandrel has to have very low tolerances less then 1/1000 thou and be honed to have a very smooth surface.
I see the most popular is the Sinclair one but people are complaining about the quality. The carbide one seem to be good but can you polish carbide smooth the surface?
LE Wilson makes one and I just love it from pictures. It looks like it is polished like he is trying to make a mirror out if it. The downside's only half a thou under. Is that enough for a 300 PRC for hunting?
21st century has a good selection for each calibre in half a thou increments, but their website is atrocious can't tell from the pictures if I'm buying apples or mandrels.
What else is out there that if very good quality?

Hello everyone!
I need help selecting a good mandrel to be used as a final step before seating the bullet.
In my mind a mandrel has to have very low tolerances less then 1/1000 thou and be honed to have a very smooth surface.
I see the most popular is the Sinclair one but people are complaining about the quality. The carbide one seem to be good but can you polish carbide smooth the surface?
LE Wilson makes one and I just love it from pictures. It looks like it is polished like he is trying to make a mirror out if it. The downside's only half a thou under. Is that enough for a 300 PRC for hunting?
21st century has a good selection for each calibre in half a thou increments, but their website is atrocious can't tell from the pictures if I'm buying apples or mandrels.
What else is out there that if very good quality?