Lee moulds and top punches

I inherited some Lee boolit moulds from my Dad and have now managed to actually cast my very first boolits. The mould is a 9mm 125gr. .356 (Lee 90309, 356-125-2R) which I cast using an unknown alloy, probably with a fair amount of linotype (or maybe monotype). I also inherited a Lyman 450 sizer/luber with a .356 die and 311 top punch. When I tried to size and lube these boolits, it was really hard to force them through the sizing die and the top punch left some prominent indentations on the boolit. My questions: am I using the right top punch for this mould? Is there a more appropriate top punch for this mould? Should I have to lube with LLA before sizing? Wrong alloy? Or what? Any advice greatly appreciated from all you experts!

Hi there, and first off, welcome to the forum. Best bunch of folks you'll ever meet hang out here. Sticking around here is like getting a post-doctorate in reloading, casting and shooting.

Now, for one answer to one of your questions, check out this link to Castpics regarding Lee moulds and corresponding top punches.

http://www.castpics.net/

Go to the left-hand menu and check out Top Punches. In that sub menu is a destination for Lee moulds/top punches.

Regarding how hard it was getting your 9mm in and out of the Lyman 450, could be several things or a combination of them. One, your alloy could be too hard, two your lubesizer could have some old gunked up/semi-hardened lube in it making it hard to get the boolit out, three, your boolits could be coming out the mould oversized.

I like keeping calipers handy and measuring the diameter of my boolits from time to time before I size them and then afterwards. Only time I use any lino/monotype in my boolits is if they are absolutely destined for hot magnum loads, or hot/high-velocity long gun loads. Other than that, I've found that regular wheel weights with a touch of tin (for proper fillout), water quenched right from the mould, then sized/lubed one to three days later is more than enough.

As far as the proper top punch. . . For the few round nose boolits I cast and shoot that aren't tumble-lube, a trick I picked up here is to take a somewhat larger top punch, fill it with a quick-hardening epoxy, put some lube or oil on the boolit, then put the boolit in the lubesizer, pull the handle and let the epoxy set up with the boolit in it.

After it dries and hardens, you have a perfect, custom-tailored top punch for that particular boolit/boolit mould.

:coffee:

Thanks so much for the sage advice, Recluse. I believe you may have hit the nail on the head. The boolits out of the mould are .358 (!) and I suspect the alloy is quite hard but without a hardness tester, I can't really tell. On the next casting run, I'll add a bit of pure lead to soften it up a bit. Great idea about making a custom top punch with epoxy; I'll try that. I wonder if just buying and using a Lee sizer and tumble lubing these might work. Instead of multiple little grooves, this boolit just has one lube groove. Do you think this might work? There is more reloading stuff that I have yet to sort through and perhaps I may discover additional top punches, moulds, sizer dies and who know what else in the pile. Anywho, so begins the fast and exciting world of boolit making...

Yo, 9mm4545, welcome to the fine madness!

You mention adding a bit of pure lead for your next casting session - how about 50/50 pure/alloy? The .45 is forgiving for hardness, and so is the 9mm, but less so. Still, significantly softening the final alloy really can't hurt, and I would try it.

And the epoxy trick is a good one - I have used it, and it works.

Again - WELCOME!

I got out my calipers and really, really checked the boolit diameter. Along the parting line: .356 but 90 degrees off the parting line: .361 (!). Yikes! These are seriously out of round booits and I don't know exactly what to do. Is this mould *****'d? It makes purty boolits but this can't be good for accuracy. No wonder they want to resist sizing. Should I send the mould back to Lee for fixin' or just buy another or can it be repaired at home? Just wondering... I will try to achieve a softer lead mix but I can't imagine that would make the boolits more concentric--or would it?