Tried the cookie-cutter pan lube method...

[Deep Six]

I've been pan lubing my 44 and 45 cal SWC's by putting them in a 50 ct ammo tray nose first and then flipping them over into my silicone lube pan. I then would pour the lube in and when it cooled I could just pop the bullets back into the ammo tray. Then they went through the Lee sizing die. This was all well and good except that between pouring the lube in and the trip through the sizing die, I ended up with lube on the nose of virtually every bullet. This meant I had to individually clean each round. It took an hour just to load 100 like this.

I was reading on this forum the other day about the cookie-cutter method for 30 cal bullets. I decided to try this for my 44s. After trying several cases, it turns out that a fired (expanded) 7.62x54R steel case cut off right behind the shoulder measures about 0.434" ID. This was perfect! As it turns out, my Accurate mold drops the bullets right at 0.432", just tlike I ordered it (thanks Tom!!!!). Since my Redhawk measures .430 in the bore and 0.432 in the chambers, I decided to try some unsized, as-cast. I must say that the cutter method worked awesome! It was nearly as fast as what I was doing and now I don't have to mess with sizing or cleaning unwanted lube off the noses! This forum is a great place to learn!

[Jim..47]

Glad it works well for you. I'm still making a little bit of a mess, but I'm getting better. Like the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect" :grin:

[Joe504]

I shoot 7.62x54r, and would be happy to send a few steel cases to anyone who could use a few.

Why do I keep the steel cases? That's a good question :)

[Digital Dan]

6, dunno what type lube you use, but if it hardens enough when cool you should be able to put your bullets base down in a pie pan, fill to cover the grooves and invert when cold. Bullets should pop out of the lube clean and ready to go.

[mdi]

6, dunno what type lube you use, but if it hardens enough when cool you should be able to put your bullets base down in a pie pan, fill to cover the grooves and invert when cold. Bullets should pop out of the lube clean and ready to go.
Yep, but depends on the lube used. I have tried a few times with my favorite lubes (C-red and my home made Speed Green, among others), but mine don't punch out unless they are at the perfect temp. My lubing methods don't include a refrigerator and sometimes I won't remember to time the cooling or forget the pan altogether so I just cut all them out...

[Idz]

I speed things up by attaching a cutoff case to a piece of 1/2" conduit. Then instead of having to push the bullet back out of the cutter they just slip up into the conduit and I dump them when it gets filled up.

[MtGun44]

"Poor folks have poor ways" - I did a whole lot of boolits this way back when I
had no money. Now I can afford better tools, but I sure appreciate that lots of
folks cannot, and these methods work just fine, thank you very much.

Bill

[sirAIG]

I speed things up by attaching a cutoff case to a piece of 1/2" conduit. Then instead of having to push the bullet back out of the cutter they just slip up into the conduit and I dump them when it gets filled up.

Aye... much like what I have made on my lathe! Works perfectly!
http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx343/siraig/IMG_20130807_211450_743.jpg (http://s770.photobucket.com/user/siraig/media/IMG_20130807_211450_743.jpg.html)

[Jim..47]

Aye... much like what I have made on my lathe! Works perfectly!
http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx343/siraig/IMG_20130807_211450_743.jpg (http://s770.photobucket.com/user/siraig/media/IMG_20130807_211450_743.jpg.html)

What do all you guys use to make the cutter from? I've heard of golf clubs handles, do they work good?

[MtGun44]

I used cut off rifle cases of appropriate caliber, and when I got a few
bucks ahead - Lee had a kit they were selling in the old days for a
few dollars. This is still a very good way to get into the hobby
with a very low cost, and works fine. I did all mine this way for
about 5 years before I could afford my first lubrisizer.

Bill

[Reg]

You have to use a bit of guess work until you have it figured out , but I just put the pans containing the bullets with the poured lube in the freezer until I think they are just right, pop the whole thing ( like a great big cookie ) out of the pans then push the bullets backwards out of the solid block then run them trough the push through die. Works so fast and slick I finally sold my old Lyman 45 as this is so much faster and produces a much better, more concentric finished bullet.
Tried the cookie cutter concept with the Lyman "cake cutters", various cut off cases and a few others that had been suggested but none worked as well as just paying attention and using the above simple methods.
I use shallow , aluminum cake pans for the bullet pans. Get a quicker transfer of heat and cold..

[casterofboolits]

I used cut off rifle cases of appropriate caliber, and when I got a few
bucks ahead - Lee had a kit they were selling in the old days for a
few dollars. This is still a very good way to get into the hobby
with a very low cost, and works fine. I did all mine this way for
about 5 years before I could afford my first lubrisizer.

Bill

Yup! That's how I got started too. Lee pan lube kit with the beat thru boolit sizer. My oldest girl (6 years old at the time), thought beating the boolits thru the sizer was fun and was always ready to do that chore for me. Now there's a couple Stars, a Magma Lube Master and the single cavity Lee moulds replaced by Lyman four cavity, Saeco four and eight cavity and H&G four, six and eight cavity.

[Jim..47]

Thanks you Sirs. I will definitely try these and see which one works best for me. Sure is a great forum, but what makes a great forum is great people!

[gwpercle]

I believe the best ,most useful and labor saving piece of reloading equiptment I ever bought was my Lyman 450 lubri/sizer....after getting it I could lube, size and seat a gas check with one pump of the handle.... Talk about easy, clean and fast...no mess , I was in boolit making heaven. I still load with a single station C press but will never do without the lubri/sizer.

Once you use one you just don't want to go back to pan lubing , cookie cutting and then sizing in three steps....ruins you like a progressive loader does.

Gary

[Jim..47]

Aye... much like what I have made on my lathe! Works perfectly!
http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/xx343/siraig/IMG_20130807_211450_743.jpg (http://s770.photobucket.com/user/siraig/media/IMG_20130807_211450_743.jpg.html)

That is a mighty neat looking cutter, but the material looks like plastic? Is that what it is, and if so I'm guessing you made it on a wood lathe?

But if you had a round or even hexagon dowel, or something else resembling one, wouldn't you be able to just drill it out correctly with the two different bits required, one for the cutter and the other for the extended tube, wouldn't that also work?

I'm asking because I don't have a working wood lathe.

[Travisbishop]

I bought two of these Lee kits from my Ye Olde Gun Shoppe back in the day. I still use one to lube my muzzle-loader stuff. I use toilet gasket wax ring, having used up the stuff they included in the kit on some dark, fainy night...

[charlie b]

It is a nice way to get started. I started with pan lube just to see of cast bullets was something I wanted to do. Since then I've cut many thousands of bullets out of a cake of lube. Yes, sometimes you can just wait and pop them out. Over time you still get a little build up in the seating die to clean out.

The mess is what prompted me to try powder coating. A bit more labor intensive, but, much nicer to work with in the end.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Long ago, maybe long long ago, Lyman made a Kake Cutter, maybe Kake Kutter? in various calibers. Most found a fired case, with the head drilled out worked just as well and was cheaper.

[Baltimoreed]

When I started reloading i did the cookie cutter method. To speed up the process I would put the little round tray in the icebox for a bit to make it harden faster, cut them out, fill in the holes with new bullets and put it in my pie-pan with water and do another batch. PC is not as messy but still a lot of steps.

[gwpercle]

The little Lyman pans were way too small ... I kept spilling melted lube ...
Do you know how hard it is to get melted lube off the kitchen floor , counter top , ice box , pants and the dog ... The spilled Lube in the ice box really got me in hot water !
Everything kept falling over and making the biggest mess ... I had to find another way.
Gary

[BLAHUT]

PAN LUB FOR ONLY A FEW, OK, GOOD, NOT SO GOOD FOR 100ds OR 1000nds, LUB SIZER ONLY TO GO >>>

[country gent]

I make my cutters from brass tubing. Hobby stores have it and it can be bought on line at online metals by the foot. I by mine on the big side and size down as needed. I set the back in a file handle and drill the hole thru. I also use chamfer tool to sharpen from inside to outside putting the bevel inside, this helps push the lube into the groove when cutting. It also makes it easier to start over a bullet.

My pans are steel cake pans with 1 1/2' sides or so I can do a couple hundred 45s at a time.

When using a cutter leave the lube in the pan and just refill the old existing holes