Lyman 450 Messy Bullets

[LubeckTech]

I have an old Lyman 450 and all new dies. Everything seems to work pretty well but my bullets end up with excess lube on the under side of the bullet and it accumulates in the bottom of the dies. Basically the bullets are messy enough to handle (shoot good) that I have to send the finished cartridges thru the tumbler for about 20 min them clean up. I think I am using too much pressure when I lube/size but if I use less pressure I have to run the bullets thru a couple of times and turn them to get the groves to fill out properly. I am using lube I have made and think maybe it is a little too stiff (causing me to use too much pressure)should I use a thinner lube? Is the situation I have normal for this lubrisizer??

[Duckiller]

Suggestions: 1) Heat the lube. use hair drier,heat gun , light bulb.shouldn't need too much just enough so it flows better. 2)Adjust the depth screw so boolits don't go as deep 3) Once lubed put boolits on paper towel then wipe. Heated lube will tend to reduce pressure also. I have to turn the pressure about every 2-3 boolits. give screw about 1/8 turn. It is a balance between too little pressure and theirf ore you have to run through 2 or3 times or too much pressure and lube all over. Good luck.

[9.3X62AL]

What DK said, and I'll add that it helps to maintain a bit of downward pressure on the boolit (via the operating handle) while it gets lubed.

I give each boolit a small "twist" with my fingers as I remove it from the paper towel it sits on after being lubed.

[RobS]

The balancing act of learning the tools of the trade is where you have landed. What brand of dies do you have? (RCBS/Lyman/custom) I've found that the flat top of the RCBS push rod does allow more lube to squeeze between if your technique is perfected where as Lyman's dish shaped push rod does provide a bit more flexibility in keeping the lube off the base of the boolit. I will note that heat does help, but only if you adjust the way your are turning the pressure screw; a small bit of heat is all it takes and results in less pressure needed to get the lube to run through the machine. Easy as she goes.

[LubeckTech]

I'm using lyman dies - how long should I all the bullet to stay in the die??

[n.h.schmidt]

Hi Lubecktech
The problems you are having are common. My NRA Book on cast bullets handled this problem. The push rod is removed from the die. A hole is drilled all the way through it .The size of the hole isn't important. Lets say a 3/16" drill will do for 30 cal on up. A smaller hole is best for smaller cal's. The top of the push rod can even be center drilled to make a funnel shape . You only need a small surface to contact the boolit heel. You get a better seal against the boolit and any lube that does leak past is forced down into the hole. Eventually the excess lube will come out the bottom,dosn't hurt a thing. I have done this on most of my Lyman dies and my homemade dies too. This is espically usefull if you are casting bevel base boolits as the lube will force it's way underneath and really slows things down.
You will need a lathe for this. A drill press isn't likely going to be good enough.
n.h.schmidt

[LubeckTech]

I sized about 350 220gr .452 bullits tonight and started to get better results. I warmed the sizer slightly with a hair dryer to soften the lube which seemed to help a little. The most effective thing I did was to keep consistant pressure on the screw. I have been using the rachet wench from one of those $5.99 socket sets to trun it and had been building a bunch of pressure and retightening about every 7 or 8 bullets but tonight for every bullet I pulled it back about 2 clicks and bumped it forward to about where it was to start with which worked really well - not perfect but much better. I still have qutie a bit of lube and I am going to add some lanolin to make it softer and smell better as I think it is slightly too stiff.

[RobS]

If you want to soften your lube vaseline will probably work better or adding in some lithium grease works very well too; I've used lithium grease in the past to soften hard lubes and it's my choice for this type of work.

[LubeckTech]

The lube is actually lithium grease (hi temp wheel bearing) based and adding more would soften it and vaseline would not only work better than lanolin but be much cheaper too. The reason I am considering lanolin is to make it smell better. Right now it smells like a burnt vaccum cleaner belt (I have another thread on the smell issue) when heated - even if I heat it outside my wife complains. I remember a scented vaseline for nursery use and I may try that.

[RobS]

Sounds like you cooked your lube at a little to high of a temp. Plain old lithium grease (not high temp/EP) works well and doesn't require as much heat to melt and mix in with the beeswax. I'm not saying that what you are using as your lubricant base isn't good however if you are going the high temp/EP route then try cooking in two seperate steps; the grease down into a liquid first and then add in the melted beeswax.

This is what I do to keep from burning or scorching the lube mix when using high temp grease. Heat the grease in a sauce pan until it is melted down and runny. Cover and then set it off to the side on a hot pad (not your wife's :) ) this helps keep the base hot. Then in another container melt down the beeswax and I use a glass beaker so I can measure out the beeswax by volume. After this I cover, set the beeswax aside on a hot pad and then put the pre-heated grease back on the burner and cook it some more until it becomes liquid again (doesn't take much 2nd time around). Next add in the already melted beeswax. Cook on high heat for a few minutes and then turn the heat down to medium/medium high and cook for however long until the two blend together. If I had a hot plate with two burners it would be a bit easier. My recent mix of EP grease (not lithium grease based) takes 20-30 minutes with the addition of some grated ivory soap to help bind the two and also the ivory soap brings final lube's melting point up which helps a softer lube from melting on hot summer days.