Which sizer

[L Erie Caster]

Which sizer/luber do you use?

And which one do you recommend for a new caster?

[Artful]

I have 3 sizers all told, the two stroke models (pull handle down then up to get bullet out)
are the Lyman 450 and RCBS LAM 1 original version.

Both those served me many years for normal use in rifle and pistol - Shillywet, PPC and Bullseye.

I'd rate the RCBS as little sturdier than the Lyman - only counted when bumping bullets.

When I went up to competition in pin shooting, IPSC / USPSA my consumption went up drastically
so recommend the push thru Star sizer if that's ever on your list.

[wallenba]

They all seem to have their niche. Pistol boolits in my Star, but it blunts the noses of my rifle boolits and dents the gas check. My 4500 can bend a long rifle boolit, so they go through a Lee, then maybe the 4500 depending on how I want them lubed.

[John Boy]

And which one do you recommend for a new caster?I have the Lyman H&I and the Lee Lube Sizer ... 99% of the time the Lee is used for one basic reason - it is a base push lube sizer. The Lyman is a nose push which will distort the axis of the bullet. The Lee doesn't

[462]

"The Lyman is a nose push which will distort the axis of the bullet."

To address that possibility, theperfessor came up with this: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=158620 His original thread has pictures of the various components.

The kit is very well made, installs in mere seconds, is easy and simple to use, and an exceptional value.

To address L Eric Caster's questions:
1. Lyman 45 and 4500
2. Whichever you can afford and deem to provide you with the best long-term usage.

[Love Life]

I have used the Lyman 45, 4500, and the star.

They all worked to well, but to answer your question will depend on budget.

Under $200.00= Lyman/RCBS

Over $300.00= Star

Under $25=Lee

[theperfessor]

I appreciate 462's comments. My nose first sizer sets would fit into the $30-$50 price range. A little more than the Lee at first but a little less to expand into new calibers. I've been told that the Lyman/RCBS dies have a longer and better sizing section than the Lee push through dies, but I don't have a Lee to check against.

My pushrods are long enough (1.775") to push the bullet all the way through a Lyman/RCBS die (1.625" or thereabouts) so there shouldn't be any reason for the nose of a bullet to dent the one ahead of it, which I see can be a problem with Stars. (I don't have one of them either.)

Personally, I use a beat up old 450 that I overhauled a while back for all my sizing, but if I see a good deal on a LAM I'd probably buy one.

[dragonrider]

A Star/Magma sizer lubricator The best reason to get Star first is that you will get one eventually. Pan lubing, tumble lubing, Lyman, RCBS are all just steps on the way to getting a Star, might as well spend the extra money and get now as it will not get cheaper.

[avogunner]

I've been casting since 1980-something and I've only used one lubrisizer, a Lyman 450. I've sized 1000's of boolits with it and it's never given me a bit of trouble - ever! That being said, if that well used sizer hadn't fallen into my lap all those years ago I would have been perfectly happy with an RCBS, Star, Pitzer, or.........???
For a new caster I would recommend they look for a good used one that fit's their budget. There are plenty around.
Semper Fi

[MtGun44]

I have a RCBS LAM, a Lyman 450, a Lyman 45 and two Stars.

The Stars are wonderful, but fussy to change boolit designs and/or sizes, best
applied to a large batch. The machines are quite expensive and dies are expensive.

The RCBS and Lym 450 are approximately equal, with a slight tip of the hat
towards the RCBS. These are easy to change boolits and dies are less expensive,
not fiddly blocking holes in the die by lead shot like the Stars.

Buy an RCBS LAM first choice, with a Lyman 45/450/4500 as second unless you plan
on casting and lubing batches of 1000 of exactly the same design a lot. You should
be able to find one of these for between $45 and $120 used, depending. . . .

Stars start at $200+ and go up fast.

Start with NRA 50-50 or one of the clones or LBT soft blue.

Bill

[paul edward]

First sizer was Lyman 310. Lubed with pan and homemade cookie cutters.

Eventually got Lyman 450.

[mongo]

Glad to hear that the 450 is so popular. I just got one on ebay for $63, Used a heater to clean all the old lube out, Just placed an order with LsStuff.

[Huntducks]

2-RCBS set up with diff. lubes, any lube sizer IMO is a PIA too change lubes.

I had a Lyman 45 and it was alot more flimisy it always felt like the handel was going to brake, the RCBS is a lot stronger IMO.

[bobthenailer]

It really depends on how much you will shoot and how much extra time & money you have.
Over the 40+ years of casting ive owned a Lyman 45 & 450 , Saecos twice and for the past 30 years only 2 Stars , since i shoot alot the Star was my best choice. after trying a friends i just had to buy one, and every one of my friends who were shooters who came to try out my Star , soon bought there own. Its like loading ammo on a Dillon 450 compaired to doing it on a single stage press.
In other words if you load on a single stage press the Lyman or RCBS L/S will be fine .

[cajun shooter]

I first started casting in 1969 while learning from the owner of the gun store that I worked at. He was my mentor and also started me shooting black powder.
He supplied me with 2 Lyman and two Saeco bottom pour pots and a bunch of H& G multi cavity moulds. I sold the bullets in the store for extra funds. I also was given two Stars to keep up with those H&G moulds.
I have always had a Star as my first lube/sizer and RCBS as a back up for small batches.
I have to disagree with MTGUN44 about the use of a Star as being hard to use and adjust wìth the dies being expensive.
Lathesmith has made my dies for several years now, they are not only better than the factory dies but more accurate and very fair priced.
If you have a Star and a pen and paper you can have very fast use when changing over to another caliber. You record the distance from the top punch to the top of the sizing die for each caliber you size and it's simple and fast to do.
If you have a Lyman or RCBS, they also require adjustment so what is the difference other than the STAR will produce much better bullets that are concentric and not out of round as that which happens with the Lyman and RCBS.
The Star will be handed down for another to use once your time here is gone. Later Fairshake

[Wayne Smith]

I have a Lyman 450 and an RCBS LAM1. Got both off eBay, thus used. No problems with either. I don't cast and lube enough to buy a Star or other. These work fine for me. Emmerts in one for pistol and BP loads, right now Speed Green in the other.

[Hogdaddy]

I'm CHEAP. I use Lee's in 357 & 358 ; )
H/D

[Cherokee]

I started with a Lyman 45, them got a 450, later got a 4500. They work fine. I got a Star between the 450 and 4500 and it is great for high volume pistol bullets. Also use Star for rifle bullets (all flat nose) as well as the 4500. Still have the 45 and 450 for different lubes.

[MtGun44]

Never said hard to use, never said hard to adjust. FIDDLY to adjust, easy to use. It
IS fiddly to adjust and if you refuse to admit it, doesn't make it easy to adjust. Blocking
or unblocking holes, setting the height exactly to align the holes with the boolit's lube
grooves. Making sure that the die even has the correct number of holes, and are
spaced properly for your boolit. . . . . FIDDLY.

If you only use single lube groove boolits, then it is not as difficult, but then change to
the same diam Loverin design with 4-7 lube grooves. . . . . Sounds like you only use
single lube groove designs and never have to pound lead shot into the holds or drill
it back out.

Fiddly. Great system, but not handy to change boolits that are different designs unless
you can afford do dedicate a die to only one boolit design. That will make it easy to
change boolits, but expensive if you shoot a lot of different designs like I do. I keep
my two Stars set up for a couple of different boolits only - the ones I cast in very large
quantities.

Dies cost about twice as much as RCBS or Lyman from commercial suppliers. Lathesmith does
much better on price and produces beautifully made dies.

I stand by what I said, and think it is a fair evaluation of the machines.

Bill

[ukrifleman]

I use Lee bullet sizing dies and Lee Liquid Alox lube for all of the 14 calibres I load.

They are effective, cheap and simple to use and tumble lubing bullets in Liquid Alox is quick; it takes me about 20 seconds to lube 50 or so bullets and I have minimal bore leading problems.

ukrifleman

[MT Chambers]

I have and use 7 diff. sizers/lubers, 3 of them are Stars, and if I could only have 1 way to lube and size it would def. be a Star. Life is too short for tumble lubing, pan lubing, or lubing and sizing in 2 diff. steps.

[500MAG]

Lyman 450 and Lee's.

[Inkman]

Which sizer/luber do you use?

And which one do you recommend for a new caster?

You didn't say what you are casting and shooting, unless i missed it.

I started out with and still use a Lee push thru sizer and 45/45/10 tumble lube. High volume casting and shooting of .45 200g LSWCs and soon .40s too. I would recommend that to any new caster unless money is not a constraint. Cheap, easy to do and if you get bored or tired of casting, you haven't dropped a bunch of coin on something you might not like doing.

With that being said, i will be getting a Ballisti-Cast push thru lubrisizer when the time is right (extra cashola to spend). Size and lube in one step, thousands at a time is what i want to do. I don't shoot a bunch of different boolits so set up once and go will be the norm for me.

Al

[rintinglen]

For the NEW caster, I recommend the Lee. I have several Lyman 450/4500's that get a lot of use these days, but the Lee push through set up still gets a lot of use by me.
I play with lots of molds and calibers, so for me the Star doesn't cut it. It is too time consuming to swap dies in and out and then get them set up to lube THIS particular boolit. For mass production, the Star lubrisizer is superior, but for the small, 50-300 boolit, lots I usually do, it just doesn't cut it. The Lymans work better for me.

That said, I could do just fine if I had nothing but Lee sizers. Tumble lubing and push through sizing makes for fast production. They are cheap, fast and easy to use. They make nice, round boolits. For a beginner, I think they are excellent.