Has anyone bought the carbide expander button conversion for redding dies? I just bought one and am waiting for a new decapping rod to come in for I use it. I just dont think it is gonna be worth the $17 bucks I paid for it. Let me know what you think if you use it.

Got one for my 300 WSM for when I have to FL resize. Eliminates the need to inside lube the necks. Guess it depends on what the lube hassle means to you. Personally, I like to stay away from inside lubing necks then cleaning it out to provide consistent bullet tension. I suppose you could also go to bushing type dies and do away with the button altogether.

I just bought three of the carbide buttons from Sinclair, and used the first one yesterday. I like the idea of not having to lube the case necks inside. The one I used worked ok, so I'm a believer. For some of the rifle cartridges I load for, I'd like to have complete carbide dies, like the carbide pistol dies.
Try the new button you bought and see how you like it.
Don

I use the carbide button in the .25-06 neck sizer and my cartridges will load consistently with improved accuracy.

Russ: I purchased one of these for a 7mm-08 die and frankly was disappointed with it - the friction going through the neck of the brass is still excessive, in my opinion, so I end up lubing the neck anyway. The free-floating button probably does provide some advantage, but I haven't purchased any more of them and don't intend to.

I agree with pagris. I have had carbide buttons for a number of RCBS dies for a long time and the necks really need to be lubricated. If you don't lube the necks then fine be my guest.

As of late I have moved the buttons around that hold the decapping pins so as to use a smaller button that does not touch the inside of the neck.

Thus no lube is required. The loads seem to be just as accurate and there is a lot less trimming. One wants a VLD type 14 degree chamfering tool for this.

FWIW, I think they greatly reduce the drag / strtching on the case necks during sizing.

One thing that most people don't add to the equation when trying to lessen the dragging on the expander ball is that the factory die is set to size the neck far enough so that any thickness of case neck will be reduced. They then bring the inside of the case neck back up to proper dimensions by using an expander ball.
You could instead use a Redding full length sizing die that uses bushings for the neck portion of the case. You could then chose a neck sizing bushing that reduces the neck diameter only the amount needed to give you proper neck tension on the loaded bullet. You would then eliminate the expander ball completely.

Yes OEH and so does RCBS now make bushing dies and they have air vent holes. That's what I intend to buy in the future.

Used the carbide's for years and loved them, now prefer the bushing dies and no expander. Less is more in this case, or is it that case? Pardon the pun.