Where can I find.....

Where can I find a .541 or .542 sizing die that will fit a single stage Lee press? Looks like the lee custom die service only goes up to .501.

Surely there are some folks out there machining some?

See if "Lathesmith" will make you one.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rockrat

See if "Lathesmith" will make you one.

---

That, or I'm told teh Lee dies are pretty easy to lap out to a bigger size, you could get a .501 die and do that. They're not expensive and though I've never done it, it seems like the bigger diameter ones would be easier to lap than the small ones.

.041 is a lot to lap r polish out of a die. plus going that much bigger you would want a new ram to fit it. a 7/8 14 allen head bolt would be plenty hard for one and could be drilled and bored out to the desired size. with the right drill and reamers it could be done in a drill press with some set up work to get it centered.

Most machine shops in your area would be capable of doing this easily bt the shop rate makes it expensive to do.

I would suggest this as the way in a lathe center up the bolt and center drill then pilot drill and drill out to .437 ( 7/16") then bore to .538 this straightens and makes the hole truly round and leaves .004 for polishing. then cut a 5* lead in to the bore. relieve the back portion with boring bar leaving 1/4" to 3/8" sizing band. only needs .005-.008 relief to keep bullet from dragging full length of die. then polish and blend to .540 and polish with very fine diamond or lapping compound.

Here in a production machine they drop from the bar probably 1 every couple mins. with a lathe and set up of each tool ts going to take an hour or more even starting with the bolt and not having to cut the threads. You will have .137 wall thickness on the die from bottom of thread to bore. which should be enough.

A really nice touch is to turn the head down for a piece of tubing to fit on then the run it to container and just let the bullets slide thru the tubing into container saves handling them once.

I would be willing to do this when the weather warms up to where I can be out in the shop strictly at cost for the bolt and material for the ram. 1 7/8 14 allen head bolt 1 1/2" long and a piece of 1" round stock 2-3" long. We have a couple months of cold weather here probably.

I got a sizer for my 54. I will see if I can find the maker.

It was Tennessee Mountain Molds. The website is not loading.
swamp

Thank you all! This helps.

Have you checked with NOE? I don't know how large they make there sizers. Thier sizers use a body and inserts. You buy one body kit then add the inserts for the size you want.
Leo

A quick look at NOE ... bushing for sizer tool seems to go up to .517 ...

I may have missed the NOE .541-.542 sizer , but an E-mail to Al would get you a answer . A request may even get you the size you need . The Noe sizer is the neatest tool on the market. Different sized bushings is all you need .
Gary

I may be wrong but I thought I saw on some Lee paperwork that they will custom size die's and sizers for a very reasonable fee, it's worth a call.

Try S&S firearms in NY the probably have them in stock.