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MikeSSS
08-23-2009, 09:09 PM
I've been using a Lee .311" and a .309" sizing die to size and gas check bullets. Lube has been Imperial sizing die wax for the sizing and then Liquid Alox for the shooting.

The inside of these Lee dies have a lot of tool marks and the dies copper up quickly. The amount of handle force gets so high that I have to "hammer" the bullets through the sizing dies.

Today I cleaned out the copper with ammonia and polished the dies with emery cloth. Then I used one of the dies to do some sizing and it was better but still needed too much force, the tool marks remain.

Anybody have a similar problem with Lee sizing dies?

Anybody have Lee sizing dies that came smooth inside from the factory?

How much force do you have to use with Lee sizing dies when sizing gas check boolits?

Thanks.

outdoorfan
08-23-2009, 09:22 PM
Almost all of mine were very rough and had to be cleaned up with emery cloth.

odoh
08-24-2009, 12:41 AM
I've found using a case resizing lube/wax on the unsized slug such as hornadys, helps a bunch w/the Lees. One would think the Imperial you're using or even LLA would be enuff. FWIW, I'm experiencing the same issue w/my new Star just this evening ~ concerned about breaking something. The resizing lube trick didn't seem to help on it.

In summary:

1. Yes
2. No, not really
3. See comments above ^

Recluse
08-24-2009, 01:02 AM
I have both of those sizing dies, and I use them to seat gas checks before I move the boolits over to the lubrasizer to fill the lube-grooves.

Zero problems, and half the time I don't even need to bother pre-lubing the boolits before seating the gas checks. Smooth as they can be--and they came that way from Lee. Granted, I bought them well before the Muslim Messiah was resurrected and annointed. . .

What are your boolits mic-ing at size-wise?

:coffee:

snaggdit
08-24-2009, 02:05 AM
I, too have those two dies. Bought around January of this year. I never heard to lube before sizing until after I had done so and never had issues. Just lucky? Anyway now that I was edumacated on slugging my barrels I discovered I needed .3095 and .312 so I honed them out by pushing boolits with valve grinding compound through them and still get easy travel. Finish on the inside compared to several other lee sizing dies is about the same. Not mirror smooth, but not terribly rough. I do not have a lube sizer (any brand) so have nothing to compare to.

Nora
08-24-2009, 02:25 AM
I've also got several Lee push threw dies. I lube with LLA be for and after sizing.
How long are you waiting before sizing? If they are fresh cast it shouldn't take as much force as it will if they have aged.
The only end to be concerned about being smooth is the sizing end, none of mine show any major tooling on them. The top end is another story. It's over sized to allow the boolit to pass threw easily. On that end all of mine look like the insert needed to be replaced and the operator forgot to turn the coolant on.

Nora

D R Greysun
08-24-2009, 04:49 AM
Help me out here Guys, I thought with Lee sizer dies the boolit went 'nose' first. Seems like that wouldn't work so well for seating gas checks. I know Lee says it's the way to go but it seem contrary to me. Maybe it's asking a bit much to size from .311 to .309 AND seat the check. That 0.002 squish has to go some place, could it be forcing the cup open? Just a thought FTW.

D R

IllinoisCoyoteHunter
08-24-2009, 06:41 AM
DR Greysun, sizing from .002" is no big deal at all. Actually, a little resistance from the boolit going into the sizer die ensure a good, square seat on the gas check. The .002" squish will go somewhere, and generally it pushes slightly into the lube grooves...and in this case, it probably wouldn't even be noticeable. I have sized smaller boolits down .004 before and the lead flow into the lube groves was fairly noticable and actually minimized the amount of lube that could go into the groves (I size everthing on a lyman lubesizer). For the Lee sizer, it will not "force the cup (gas check?) open." It actually crimps it in place when forced thru the sizing die and may actually swage it slightly too. Welcome Aboard!

Mallard57
08-24-2009, 07:31 AM
Are your boolitts really hard or water quenched?
Jeff

D R Greysun
08-25-2009, 04:04 PM
DR Greysun, sizing from .002" is no big deal at all. Actually, a little resistance from the boolit going into the sizer die ensure a good, square seat on the gas check. The .002" squish will go somewhere, and generally it pushes slightly into the lube grooves...and in this case, it probably wouldn't even be noticeable. I have sized smaller boolits down .004 before and the lead flow into the lube groves was fairly noticable and actually minimized the amount of lube that could go into the groves (I size everthing on a lyman lubesizer). For the Lee sizer, it will not "force the cup (gas check?) open." It actually crimps it in place when forced thru the sizing die and may actually swage it slightly too. Welcome Aboard!

Thanx for the welcome BB, I too use the Lyman Lubsizer and have not experienced any of the above described problem. As we know, first to enter the die is the gas check. Thanx again.

D R