Lyman 405 help.

[cd132]

So here's my first post on this forum. Hopefully someone might be able to point me in the right direction. I'm a machinist so I know how alot of stuff works and how to make stuff. Sometimes I do get stumped. If not I would not have posted my problem. The sizer I made is centered and each end is square to the bore. The middle punch is also squared to the diameter.
I made a sizer for the Lyman. Now the problem is it seems when I'm sizing it takes more from one side of the bullet than the other. I tried moving the die to different places. The low spot always apears at 2 oclock. So no matter where you put the die, the low spot is always in the same place. I also tried moving the top punch around as well. Make sense??? I wonder if the press could be bent somehow. Any ideas guys. I've worked on this all afternoon and can't figure it out.
Only other sizer I have is for pistol and that is hard to see if it does the same thing.
Thanks
JR

[Echo]

Sounds to me as if the Lyman is off center, that is, the die hole is not concentric with the punch hole. And if so, would be an exercise to correct.
Or.
The two holes are not aligned. One would think the Lyman folks would do their machining with one setup, to insure concentricity, but one never knows...

[HeavyMetal]

Sounds like an alignment problem between the top ram, where the top punch mounts, and the base where the die goes.

To see if this is the issue Make a custom top punch. It should fit tightly into the hole in the top portion of the sizer. Then make it long enough to reach 3/4 of the way into a sizing die. Make the base of the punch the same diameter as the sizing die is marked or .001 under.

Put this custom punch in the sizer and see if it goes down into the die cleanly, odds are you going to hit the die at that 2 o'clock position your having trouble with.

Saw an article in one of the Handloader Mag's a long time ago in which a fella deduced he had this issue and turned the whole thing on it's head and made some top punch's with J.B. Weld after he got the alignment corrected.

Good luck.

[RayinNH]

Try making a top punch with an undersized shank. Use boolit lube to hold it in place instead of the lock screw. It should center itself...Ray

[cd132]

Sounds like I got some machine work to do. Guess I'll try the long top punch just to verify the problem. Now I just thought about where the bottom of the die fits. I never cleaned that off when I got the press. I'm wondering if a piece of crud is stuck where the bottom of the die hits the press. Just a thought. This press is over 40 years old. Anyway you guys are giving me things to look at and think about. Thanks for the help. I'll let you know what I come up with.
Thanks
JR

[billyb]

check out Buckshot's fix for the 450. He drilled and tapped three holes into the out side of the band that hold's the ram. Used set screws with a small piece of brass and tightens the set screws to align the ram. Bill

[cd132]

Well I tried the undersized shank and it did not work. Finally made a top punch filled with epoxy. Works fine and straightened the bullets up. Anyway, turns out the top hole for the ram and the ram are both worn. As I pull the ram down I get about 8 thousands movement in the ram. So anyway, thanks for the help guys.
JR