Sinclair mandrels

[just_jon]

Be careful if you plan to mix and match as not all mandrels fit all dies. Recently picked up a number of 21st Century mandrels only to find they were too large for my Sinclair die body. I ended up removing .0015" from the die body make them work.

Agree the carbide mandrels are not necessary. I own a couple and cannot tell the difference between steel and carbide when using dry neck lube.

 

[COPrecisionRifle]

Be careful if you plan to mix and match as not all mandrels fit all dies. Recently picked up a number of 21st Century mandrels only to find they were too large for my Sinclair die body. I ended up removing .0015" from the die body make them work.

Agree the carbide mandrels are not necessary. I own a couple and cannot tell the difference between steel and carbide when using dry neck lube.

I think you are right but it is so easy to get an inconsistent amount of lube in the neck if it even makes it in there. I feel like the carbide running without lube is just the easiest way to go. You know that you are not going to get inconsistent neck tension and it takes a step out of the process.

 

[SealT5]

I have literally reloaded thousands of rounds with steel mandrels. Dry vs lubed isn't going to affect neck tension with a proper procedure. Depending on which way the wind is blowing that day I usually pause on the up stroke or sometimes run the mandrel through twice. Fwiw I use imperial dry lube and wax. Not because it's the best I've found but because the crap last forever and suits my needs.


Carbide has "benefits" but I would say it's more of a financial decision than anything in regards to neck tension.

 

[LRNut]

I have moved to mandrels as well. One instant observation is far less case stretch; I trim my LR loads every time I load, but the amount I need to trim is often non-existent with mandrel dies.

 

[Mikecr]

I use Sinclair expander mandrels for pre-seating.
This leaves neck interference at ~1.5thou under cal.
My tension is adjusted with length of neck sizing using bushing dies.

I'm still with Sinclair because a best system began with them (from folks currently at PMA), and it's been good for me.
I'm also the first reloader on forums to suggest mandrel pre-seating instead of using die buttons (~30yrs ago).

Eventually I'll purchase hardened or nitrided mandrels for my Sinclair expander die -right at cal. (not undersized).
They'll likely come from PMA. With that, my necks will no longer be upsized with actual bullet seating. I'll be able to further reduce wasted energies.

 

[6pakzak]

Will PMA mandrels fit in Sinclair dies and are they good?

 

[CanisLupus]

I use Wilson seating dies and a K&M arbor press with force dial indicator.

I use the same dies, press, etc. and it's been working great so far.

And as far as needing to choosing a mandrel size. Simply starting with 001" less than bullet diameter will be a great place to start. I've played with mandrels quite a bit. I've owned the K&M turning kit with mandrels in .0005 increments and found it to be unjustifiable for my needs.

As far as carbide I've only used them on my turning mandrels. Expanders I just use plain ol' steel with imperial media

I run a similar setup here too.

To the OP, @6pakzak, I'll echo starting with a mandrel 0.001" less than bullet diameter. When I first started reloading 6.5CM, I used a mandrel 0.002" less than bullet diameter. Ultimately, I moved towards a mandrel 0.001" less than bullet diameter. I found a little less neck tension (or interference fit) to be more consistent when seating bullets across all my cases and still found that bullets did not seat further down, or pull out, during transport or during competitions when I feed from magazines. I run a bolt rifle, btw. I know some guys running gas guns that prefer a little more neck tension. YMMV

Something to think about: necks can exhibit springback (shrink down a little after expanding). To what degree this matters...well, you decide. Springback will not be the same for all necks as it's dependent on many variables...neck thickness...neck hardness (ex: if you anneal after each firing or not can effect this)...brass alloy (Lapua's alloy vs Hornady's vs Company C's...are not the same, and can perform differently)...etc. Again, you decide to what degree all this matters. All this to say, consider getting a couple different sizes initially to play around with your process to see what works best with your brass prep method, equipment, brass/bullet combo...and ultimately what produces the results downrange to meet your goals.

 

[SealT5]

Will PMA mandrels fit in Sinclair dies and are they good?

Yes sir. PMA and Sinclair are interchangeable. You won't be disappointed with either brand! PMA makes excellent products.

Reloading stuff is a lot like great bbq. There is no best. Just different

 

[Kmccord]

I use 21 Century, they have mandrels at .0005, you have more options to fine tune your loads.

 

[6pakzak]

To be clear PMA does not have mandrels at .0005 increments? So at a starting point for my 223 loads I would get a .222 mandrel and a .2225 if I wanted less neck tension, would that be correct?

 

[SealT5]

Bullet diameter of your 223 is actually .224. Your 6.5 creedmoor is .264. So if you want to start by using mandrels .001" smaller than your bullet diameter you need to buy a .223 mandrel and a .263 mandrel. Start there and see how it goes.

 

[Londerko]

To use an expanding mandrel in conjunction with a Redding Tyle S FL bushing die what size bushing would you use? Still use .001" under outside neck diameter of the loaded ammo? Or would you need to go to .002-.003" under?

 

[CanisLupus]

To use an expanding mandrel in conjunction with a Redding Tyle S FL bushing die what size bushing would you use? Still use .001" under outside neck diameter of the loaded ammo? Or would you need to go to .002-.003" under?

I use a bushing that's 0.002"-0.003" under the outside diameter of the neck for a loaded round. For example, my 6.5CM neck O.D. is 0.291" when a bullet is seated, so I use a 0.288 bushing when I FL size. This gives the expander mandrel (0.263") a couple thousands to actually expand back out.

Obviously the bushing size that you use will also depend on how thick your necks are. Measure a loaded round and work it backwards from there. Make sense?

 

[Londerko]

I use a bushing that's 0.002"-0.003" under the outside diameter of the neck for a loaded round. For example, my 6.5CM neck O.D. is 0.291" when a bullet is seated, so I use a 0.288 bushing when I FL size. This gives the expander mandrel (0.263") a couple thousands to actually expand back out.

Obviously the bushing size that you use will also depend on how thick your necks are. Measure a loaded round and work it backwards from there. Make sense?

Makes perfect sense! Thank you so much