Favorite lubing/sizing tools and setup for BP bullets?

Little Dalton · January 01, 2018, 12:35:50 PM

Ordered my 5-cavity Accurate 43-215C mold this morning. Trying to decide whether to spiff up/rebuild the Lyman 450 luber/sizer I already have, or buy something else. Not opposed to pan lubing. What are y'all's favorite systems for lubing and sizing?

Coal Creek Griff · January 01, 2018, 12:44:41 PM

I personally pan-lube and use a Lee push-through sizing die, if needed. I'll admit to mostly loading smokeless, but the process is the same. It can get kind of tedious, but I believe that you're familiar with pan lubing. Lubing is actually the only part of the entire loading process that I don't enjoy.

CC Griff

kwilliams1876 · January 01, 2018, 01:18:46 PM

stay with the lyman 450.....can not go wrong here! make or alter top punch for a perfect fit...good to go!
best
kw

Yeso Bill · January 01, 2018, 01:40:11 PM

Capnball:
In referral to KWilliams's post: I use Accurate Molds flat top punches. The complete set of 3 is $5.00. http://www.accuratemolds.com/topPunch.php or http://www.accuratemolds.com/order.php

My RCBS Lubamatic is not perfectly lined up and these fixed the problem.

Billy

Sagebrush Burns · January 01, 2018, 10:26:51 PM

You will want to check out the Star lubrisizer from Magma Engineering in Queen Creek, AZ. It is a BMW compared to everyone else's smart car. The speed and ease of operation is like comparing a Dillon to a single stage press.

OD#3 · January 01, 2018, 10:57:17 PM

Quote from: Yeso Bill on January 01, 2018, 01:40:11 PM
Capnball:
In referral to KWilliams's post: I use Accurate Molds flat top punches. The complete set of 3 is $5.00. http://www.accuratemolds.com/topPunch.php or http://www.accuratemolds.com/order.php

My RCBS Lubamatic is not perfectly lined up and these fixed the problem.

Billy

Funny. I made one when I couldn't find the right top punch, and what I was using was leaving marks on the ogive. I figured that I probably couldn't make it any worse, so I chucked the top punch into the drill press and spun it against a file until it was flat and square. Then I spun it some more while polishing it with a Dremel and felt wheels. It worked just fine, but I didn't know I was actually making any improvements--just salvaging what wasn't already working. Anyway, it wasn't hard to do, so it is an idea for anyone else to try if they also have alignment issues. At Accurate molds' price point, it won't really save you much money, but you won't have to wait for shipping.

You WILL end up with a slightly shorter punch, but I haven't encountered any difficulties with inadequate depth except once very recently. I was reloading .44-40 for the first time and had no top punch. So on went my fab flat-bottomed punch, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why only the bottom lube groove was filling. I kept adjusting the seating stem depth, but it was having no effect, and I was eventually embarrassed when I realized that the .45 cal. top punch was never going to push a .429 bullet deeply enough into the sizer, because the punch kept bottoming out on the mouth of the die. Back to the drill press for a quick diameter adjustment, and I was back in business with a punch that will now work with both .45 and .44 bullets.

Back to the OP's question, I don't like pan lubing; I always had trouble with the lube wanting to pull back out of the grooves when I was trying to separate the bullets from the pan. My RCBS lube-a-matic 2 was affordable and works well enough with my 50/50 beeswax and olive oil. +1 on the Star lubrisizer, but it is just too rich for my blood right now.

Abilene · January 01, 2018, 11:29:18 PM

I don't like pan lubing either. I got my old Lyman 45 about 15 years ago. I got a bushing kit or something like that to fix the leak around the piston. It still leaks at the bottom of the reservoir but not enough to keep it from working. It came with a single flat top punch which has worked fine for the .32, .38, and .44 cowboy bullets I put through it.

Little Dalton · January 02, 2018, 07:05:40 AM

The price on the Star lube sizer tho!

One day, I hope to have a volume need for that, but for now, I went ahead and ordered the die and O-ring set for the Lyman 450. I will also try gasketting it down to a board like I've heard many talk about. I never had trouble with pan lubing my PRS-250 boolits with my beeswax/olive oil lube, but if I could lube and size in one motion, that has got to be a time saver.

Thanks again for the input, guys, and feel free to keep it coming.

Ranch 13 · January 02, 2018, 08:08:30 AM

Quote from: Capnball on January 02, 2018, 07:05:40 AM
The price on the Star lube sizer tho! One day, I hope to have a volume need for that, but for now, I went ahead and ordered the die and O-ring set for the Lyman 450. I will also try gasketting it down to a board like I've heard many talk about. I never had trouble with pan lubing my PRS-250 boolits with my beeswax/olive oil lube, but if I could lube and size in one motion, that has got to be a time saver.

Thanks again for the input, guys, and feel free to keep it coming.

If you use one of the lubrisizers from Lyman,Saeco or RCBS , with a proper fitting nose punch it is a bunch quicker and not so messy as pan lubing and then using a push thru. The one thing to be mindful of when using a lubrisizer is if the bullet is dropping from the mould at the perfect diameter, then use a size die .001 over that diameter so you aren't sizing the bullet down and giving yourself leading problems.

Little Dalton · January 02, 2018, 08:59:23 AM

Ranch,

Absolutely. My barrel on my current revolver slugs at .429, and I ordered the mold to throw a minimum diameter of .432 in pure lead. hopefully, that will be big enough to size down for any future .44-40 guns. I ordered a .430 sizing die for the Lyman. Hopefully I can get those to chamber.

Ranch 13 · January 02, 2018, 09:58:10 AM

My Winchester 73 an my Colt 44 wcf both get along just fine with .430 bullets.

Little Dalton · January 02, 2018, 03:06:44 PM

Quote from: Ranch 13 on January 02, 2018, 09:58:10 AM
My Winchester 73 an my Colt 44 wcf both get along just fine with .430 bullets.

Sweet. What make are they? I have heard so many horror stories of Uberti .44-40 chambers being too tight. My revolver's chambers seem a little tight, but I will take what I have learned from others and try to be careful in my crimping not to get bulges. See if that helps. I use all Starline brass. In your experience, how do like your expander plug sized in relation to bullet diameter?

Ranch 13 · January 02, 2018, 05:04:07 PM

The 73 is a new Winchester and the Colt is an early 3rd generation model P.
The bullets are cast from 16-1 from a Lyman mould.

LongWalker · January 02, 2018, 10:49:17 PM

Quote from: Sagebrush Burns on January 01, 2018, 10:26:51 PM
You will want to check out the Star lubrisizer from Magma Engineering in Queen Creek, AZ. It is a BMW compared to everyone else's smart car. The speed and ease of operation is like comparing a Dillon to a single stage press.

The Star is a dandy piece of kit for volume production, but a royal pain to switch when doing small quantities of multiple different bullets. Back when I did production bullet casting, the Star was a wonder for quantities, but I kept my RCBS and a couple of Lymans for doing small quantities (<1000 of a particular bullet) or for when I didn't have the correct diameter sizing die.

If all a guy shot was (for instance) the Ideal 42798 sized to .430", it would be perfect! (I was never so lucky.)

David Battersby · January 04, 2018, 10:21:11 AM

Quote from: Capnball on January 02, 2018, 08:59:23 AM
. I ordered a .430 sizing die for the Lyman. Hopefully I can get those to chamber.

Measure the diameter of of your first couple of sized bullets. I got a Lyman. 430 size die that spit out. 429 bullets. I then got a Lyman. 431 size die that spits out. 4305 bullets. The. 4305 bullets chamber and shoot very well. This is all with a 30-1 alloy.