I've been loading my .416 Rigby with .417"-diameter cast bullets for eight years now. I don't use an expander plug (except the "normal" one that comes in the dies) and have had excellent results. Mind you, my bullets are hard enough that if I pull one after seating it, the diameter is unchanged. The alloy is straight wheelweights, quenched in water straight from the mould.

It is necessary to bell or flare the case mouth to give that bullet's base a smooth, non-scraping entry into the neck. I've been using a .41 magnum expander die for this job, and it works just fine.

Of course, a Lyman "M" die only costs ten or twelve bucks, and if I hadn't had the .41 die on hand I may have bought the "M" expander. There are many ways of flaring a case mouth without resorting to special die, howver.

Hi Bruce, thanks for the expander plug tip. They're 9 bucks at RCBS (Lyman doesn't caary one for 416).

Anyway, how fast are you pushing your 416Rigby cast bullets.

I shoot 435 grain slugs from Custom Cast Bullets. Don't bell the cases either. Love shooting that load.

Bruce, just to be clear, the $9 expander plug does not include the die body, just the expander that attaches into the adjustment rod of any of your existing die (RCBS or Hornady).

I'm anxious to shoot cast bullets - which is as soon as I receive the Beartooth bullets and expander plug.

AAZWriter, it's good you can manage to seat the cast bullets without belling the case mouth. If I can do the same without scraping the bullets, I'd be great. The expander plug is for ... just in case.

Art, good evening.

No, my rifle doesn't have a brake...it's a Ruger #1 in the same configuration as when it left the factory.

I've never found a trace of dacron in any of my rifles, although I do see a few wisps floating in the air around the benchrest occasionally, if the wind is right.

Just last week, I cleaned my Garand after firing about eight hundred rounds of cast-bullet loads, ALL of which used dacron in varying amounts, and found not even a trace of the stuff in the gas system or anywhere else. There was no leading evident, either, just the normal expected level of carbon fouling on gas-affected parts. The rifle was still functioning perfectly, but I just decided to have a look at its guts out of curiosity.

BruceB, you mentioned Dacron filler. Do you have a muzzlebrake on your rifle? I notice some melted dacron on the muzzlebrake when I shoot my handloads with filler. Of course, when shooting without the muzzlebrake, there's no trace of dacron.