Lee sizer....lube after sizing?

[carbon_15]

I have been tumble lubing my bullets w/ alox, letting them dry overnight and then sizing them on a lee sizer, I'm having good results, but was wondering if I could size first then lube to avoid some of the mess?
Thanks

[leadhead 500]

Yes,you can size first and then lube them.Done thousands that way

[copdills]

I use breakfree and size then lube works great

[snuffy]

Yes, BUT, you should have some form of lube on the bare boolit. Otherwise you run the risk of leading the sizer die. Especially with the lee push-through sizers, since they do not have lube ports like a lyman, which would provide SOME lubrication from residual lube left in the die. I've heard of a 50/50 solution of dish soap to ease the passage of the boolit, a rinse and a dry after sizing would get them ready for tumble lubing.

[Freightman]

Put some dish soap 2 or 3 drops in a spray bottle, fill with water and spritz, you will have no problem, then lube. They will dry fast as you do not need much.

[yondering]

I've never found lube to be necessary with the Lee dies, BUT I always polish the inside of my new sizer dies a little, as they can be pretty rough as shipped from Lee. Pretty much all the Lee sizing dies I've bought are undersized anyway, so that leaves a little room for polishing the die out to the right size. This makes them size easier, and leaves the sized areas of the boolit mirror smooth.

It's easy to do with a cordless drill and some emery cloth on a wood or metal dowel. I use a 1/4" steel rod with a hacksaw slit in the end to hold the emery cloth, but you can use a piece of tape as well. Just roll the emery cloth strip around the dowel until it's a tight fit in the die, and run it back and forth in the die, spinning at low speed. If the die is close to the right size, I just go until the emery cloth gets worn and the abrasive breaks down, this will create a smooth polish. If you need to take more material off, I put a little cutting fluid on the abrasive, to keep it cutting longer.

[jdgabbard]

I've never found lube to be necessary with the Lee dies, BUT I always polish the inside of my new sizer dies a little, as they can be pretty rough as shipped from Lee. Pretty much all the Lee sizing dies I've bought are undersized anyway, so that leaves a little room for polishing the die out to the right size. This makes them size easier, and leaves the sized areas of the boolit mirror smooth.

It's easy to do with a cordless drill and some emery cloth on a wood or metal dowel. I use a 1/4" steel rod with a hacksaw slit in the end to hold the emery cloth, but you can use a piece of tape as well. Just roll the emery cloth strip around the dowel until it's a tight fit in the die, and run it back and forth in the die, spinning at low speed. If the die is close to the right size, I just go until the emery cloth gets worn and the abrasive breaks down, this will create a smooth polish. If you need to take more material off, I put a little cutting fluid on the abrasive, to keep it cutting longer.

Actually I just mic'd some cast boolits I've already run through my Lee .358 size die, the TL variety I had mic'd at .360 - Grabbed another mic, checked again. .360 I guess mine showed up oversized. Boolits shoot fine though:twisted:

[wmitty]

cast;size & gascheck in Lee die, heat treat, lubricate. never had a problem with lead building up in a push thru die.

[yondering]

Actually I just mic'd some cast boolits I've already run through my Lee .358 size die, the TL variety I had mic'd at .360 - Grabbed another mic, checked again. .360 I guess mine showed up oversized. Boolits shoot fine though:twisted:

That's the thing with Lee stuff - the tolerances are a lot looser than some other brands. My .358 Lee sizer sized ww boolits to .356". It took a little polishing to get it to .359 where I want it.

[Shiloh]

Polish the die to a mirror finish with fine emory paper and Flitz. Run them through and then lube.
I never have a trace of leading. I would suppose it would depend on how far down you are taking them.

Shiloh