Top Punch interchangability chart?

[Shuz]

Folks--Is there such a thing as a top punch interchangability chart?
By this I mean which Lyman numbers will interchange with RCBS or Saeco.
I realize Lyman and RCBS will not fit a SAECO sizer and vice versa, I am merely refering to the inside top punch profile interchangability.

I am looking for a Lyman #311 that will fit the Lee 356-102 according to the Lyman 4th ed Cast Bullet Handbook. I have been offered an RCBS #311. Are they the same?

If they are not the same, what RCBS number, if any will fit the Lee 356-102 that has been modified by Erik Olsen to a Devastator type hollow point.

Also I have an RCBS #531 tp, and based on shaft measurement, looks like it's for a 7mm boolit. Which one?
Same thing with my .30 cal RCBS #540. What boolit(s) is it good for?

[BruceB]

Howdy, Shuz! Nice to see your handle . It shows that some of us 'older gentlemen' are still hangin' in there!


This is likely not what you want to hear, but.......


After 45 continuous years in this hobby, amassing tooling the whole time, I now have about 80 to 100 moulds. I don't have the time or desire to go count them!

At the same time, I'm reasonably sure that my top-punch count is under 30 designs, and maybe WELL under that number.

The top punches are all in a drawer in one of those "parts cabinets". When I start a run of sizing/lubing, I rummage through that drawer until I find a punch that's "close enough" and have at it. "Close enough" simply means that the punch is fairly close to the bullet shape involved, and if it leaves a minor mark on the nose I just don't worry about it.

The quality of my ammunition doesn't suffer, as proven by the accuracy (and satisfaction) that it yields.

There's really no need to be too picky about this factor. Noses are round, top punches are round, and we simply have to have a fairly-close fit....not the precise profile of the nose..... except in the cases of really-unique bullet shapes.

I've talked about this subject with a few other long-term casters, and find that most of us aredoing the same thing. Close enough is good enough.

[Shuz]

There's really no need to be too picky about this factor. Noses are round, top punches are round, and we simply have to have a fairly-close fit....not the precise profile of the nose..... except in the cases of really-unique bullet shapes.

I've talked about this subject with a few other long-term casters, and find that most of us aredoing the same thing. Close enough is good enough.[/QUOTE]

Hi Bruce,

Yup, I'm still a round....round like a donut!
I agree with your statement and use very few tp's myself. In fact for most of the mould designs I use, I utilize either a flat top punch John made for me several years ago, or the Lyman 303 which just about covers everything .44 caliber wise.
However, in this case, I have glombed onto a modified design that has a huge hollow point cavity that makes the Lee 356-102 RN look like a Lyman Devastator. This is for my .380 LCP and AMT Back-up mouse guns. I have been using just a flat punch on the previous Lee 102's that I cast, and I just know the flat punch will destroy the profile of this hollow point. I have no other tp's that come close to fitting the lee 102 profile, there fore the quest for sumthin that should fit.--Shuz

[Ziptar]

Its been my experience, at least with the punches I have purchased from each and the molds that I've used them on, that they are not only interchangeable but numbered exactly the same even. I own punches 190 and 424 from both Lyman and RCBS and they are identical.

You can make a comparison of the #311 here:
http://www.castpics.net/subsite/TopPunches/Lyman.html
RCBS:
http://www.castpics.net/subsite/TopPunches/rcbs.html

[BruceB]

I gotcha.

How about making a punch that would fit INSIDE the hollowpoint?

With a little care, one might be able to turn one out of aluminum or brass on a drill press, even. That way, the sides of the hollowpoint would be supported as they bear the pressure of being pushed into the die.

Just a thought...

[Shuz]

Ziptar--thanks for the chart info. Looks like a # 311
is a #311 whether it is a Lyman on an RCBS!

[Shuz]

Bruce, as last resort that was what I was gonna try. Now that I've located a #311 that is supposed to fit, I'm gonna try that.--Shuz