I changed the original post to read “upward force” because the piston moves in the opposite direction the hand lever does.
But I still need a final jarring HARD push upward to remove the die from the case. I’ve heard of case lube for resizing (I’ve always avoided that with tungsten carbide dies) but lube for flaring the case mouth?
I have expanders from Redding, RCBS, and Lyman; none require this hard push upward to extract the die from the case.
This is for .38 Short Colt brass and Lee is the only choice for a complete die set. I can use 9mm dies as an alternative, so I ordered a Redding 9mm expander … but I shouldn’t have to.