Learned A Couple Things Today

[IDSS]

First, If you run your melt too cool, it'll freeze when it hits your sprue plate.
This happened to me after I got spooked that it was running too hot and I turned down the burner. It had me wondering, for a few minutes, why the world stopped working right. Cranked the heat back up and everything fell back into place.

Second, I found out that I did need a lubrisizer. I thought I didn't, but scored a Lyman 45 a while back because the price was right. Well, the .431 die came in today and I got 'er set up. Now that I've used one, I realize I needed one all along. Production rate probably quadrupled, and no beeswax and stuff on my fingers!

[dondiego]

If you were pan lubing, a lubrisizer is definitely a step up!

[runfiverun]

Pain lubing is an art form all it's own
A lube sizer is a step forward.

[dtknowles]

Pain lubing is an art form all it's own
A lube sizer is a step forward.

Did you say "Pain lubing" on purpose :-) I hate pan lubing, finger lubing and even tumble lubing but I think my sizer is screwing up my rifle bullets. Lyman 450 is sizing my bullets off center or my bullets are out of round to start with. It sizes them more on one side than the other. I need to do more testing and measuring but something is not right. The bullets shoot without leading but the accuracy is only mediocre.

Tim

[IDSS]

Most of my boolits had been finger lubed, then run through a Lee push-through. Aside from getting beeswax-based lube on everything, there were other problems with my system.

I found that .430 wasn't the best fit for either of my Ruger .44's and started studying ways to get a slightly larger sized diameter out of my Lee 2 cavity C430-310, on the cheap. The mold doesn't cast very round boolits to begin with, and the .430 sizer wasn't taking an even "bite" all the way around the boolit.

I lucked into a good deal on a Lyman 45 and found an RCBS .431 die on clearance at MidwayUSA for $19.00! I was in business!

I Beagled the mold with one layer of flue tape, on one side of the mold. It dropped slightly bigger boolits, but they still don't fill the die. They are slightly undersized at the parting line, but there's no daylight showing anymore around the smaller parts of the boolit when passing through the revolver throats. The .431 die sizes most of the circumference, with some areas near the parting lines untouched.
I did notice that there seems to be some opportunity for "chatter" as the boolit is barely big enough to fill the die. Using a flat top punch, I had to carefully guide some of the boolits into alignment as they entered the die. Otherwise, the sizing would be heavily biased towards the side of the boolit closest to the die wall. My thinking is that a boolit maybe .002 fatter would have no choice but to be sized all-over.

I'll add tape to the other side of the mold in an effort to get the entire diameter over .431 so the die will actually make them concentric; as a stop-gap. My endgame is at least two molds from Accurate that will actually cast round boolits in the size I need.

[Mk42gunner]

In my opinion, no matter how much tape you put on the mold; it won't increase the size at the parting line. Time to lap that mold if you really want a bigger boolit from it.

Robert

[IDSS]

In my opinion, no matter how much tape you put on the mold; it won't increase the size at the parting line. Time to lap that mold if you really want a bigger boolit from it.

Robert

I agree. That's why the plan for getting a couple of made to order molds. Not sure I want to put any more labor than taping into a $20 mold. Beagling seems like a stop gap, at best.