Lyman 45?

[30Carbine]

Ok so we were at the range today and an older gentle man came up and was looking at the few of the 30 carbine's (12) I took out today. then he freaked out because I was running cast through them. I broke the one down that I just ran and showed him look no leading, he was all freaked out about it. any way I showed him that I run cast in everything, so I told him yea I pan lube everything well he started talking about how he use to cast and stuff years ago realize I am 39 so I was thinking babbling old man (don't do that stop and listen you might learn some things) well he don't cast anymore but he had an old lube machine as he called it,
ears perk, at this time he might get rid of. I asked how much he said let me go get it i'll be right back. we waited he got back I almost C-----D my pants. here is what I got and it was free, he said it's nice to know young guys are still casting and it is not lost yet. he has more stuff in boxes that he is going to find and bring them to the house and let me have them also. btw he's 87. I had to ask. I got a whole new learning curve today I don't know anything about this I think it's a lyman 45? not sure. I got to give a plug to ben thanks for the red. he gave me a 429 top punch and a 452 die for the 1911 also with it.

[Mark Daiute]

that's the way things are supposed to work. Good for you. you will love it

[bhn22]

There were two different types of sizing dies from Ideal/Lyman. The later type is referred to as an H&I die, and it swages the bullet down to size and lubricates it. The other type of sizing die actually cut the bullet to size, and needs to be avoided at all cost. There are still some around, even though they should have all been tossed ages ago. Watch for them, hopefully any sizing dies he has are of the newer type.

[30Carbine]

bhn22 how do you tell the difference do you know?

[Duckiller]

30carbine it is definitely a Model 45. It is a good luber/sizer. Just don't abuse it. Newer Lyman luber/sizers are made a little heavier. Summer time you may not need to heat the lube. In winter the lube will need to be heated or use a lube that just doesn't get hard. Because of lube making a mess in heat I have gone to Carnuba Red. I heat everything up with the cheapest hair drier I could find at WalMart. Enjoy your new tool and 50 years from now you can pass it on to a new caster.

[cheese1566]

That won't take much cleaning at all! I was figuring we would need to do a tear down and rebuild to get it going. Any lube left in it?
When you bring it over, I'll show you how I made my heater blocks.

[30Carbine]

Cheese1566 I don't think there is any lube in it. and yea i'll get with in a week or so.

[jeepyj]

That is the exact sizer I use. My suggestion would be warm it up with a heat gun to drain out any old lube add a Lyman heater and refill with Carnuba Red as Duckiller mentioned. My opinion is you'll never look back. That is a very good old piece of equipment and should give you years of good service.
Jeepyj

[Mark Daiute]

one of the best days of my life was when I bought my first 45 at the local gunshop out of the bargain bin for 5 dollars. I just knew it had to be a lubrisizer but what kind I did not know. I posted photos right here on cast boolits and they let me know that it was a Lyman 45 and the rest, including thousands of bullets, is history.

[ascast]

NICE ! Be sure to get him a Christmas present, or 2. Avoid use in cold weather, like winter in SD outside or sizing 002-003 of hard alloy. The handles can break. Don't ask me how I know this, just take it as fact. Use heat for hard lubes. That's a early one, probly 60 yr s old now. Enjoy.

[Bent Ramrod]

The old style Ideal dies (they were called H and I dies because those were the part designators in the old woodcut illustration that came in the instruction sheet) have a shallow wide groove on the outside 1/8" or so from the top. Later ones have a narrow groove, closer to the top, with an "O" ring in it. The earliest H and I dies have serif numbers stamped on their tops as opposed to the plain numbers for diameter that are normally seen.

If you have what looks like one of these old style dies, take the I plunger out, wipe and look down the inside of the H cavity. If you see a slight step 1/2" or so down, you have one of the old style that shaves the boolit down. If you have this, it's about 15 minutes' careful work with a split stick, 320, 400 and 600 wet-or-dry paper, and close observation every few minutes, to get the step polished out to a smooth transition to the narrower portion of the die. It then works as well as the newer styles, although you may have to set your stop a little deeper to lube the top groove in your boolit.

I do mine in my lathe, but a hand drill with the die held in a vise works too. Just go slowly and carefully, stopping when you can no longer see the step, or (better still) feel it as you push a boolit in. Properly done, there is no leakage past the I plunger.

[30Carbine]

Thanks Bent I am not going to buy dies for it. it has one in it and a top punch other that that i'll make my own dies and punch's. I have a full machine shop at the house another one of my hobby's.