One of you guys ought to know...

[Tom W.]

I have an old LEE bullet mold for my .357. The mold is C358-158 SWC

I want to get a sizing die and top punch for my RCBS LAMII. Does anyone know what top punch will work ? I'm thinking the #429, but I dunno for sure.

[gns4me]

THINK THINK THINK Why would want to size a bullet for your .357 to .429?????? What would your best possible guess be for the sizing die????? MAYBE .358 ??????

EDIT I'm sorry but I dint have any info on the RCBS LAMII. But to me it seems that you may get it off the RCBS web sight.

[Tom W.]

gns4me, I know it's late and I appreciate your answer, but I'm looking at the top punch, which has a number assigned to it, as opposed to the sizing die, which has a size...

[Dale53]

You can use a single flat nose punch for most of the flat nosed bullets you will have to size. This can actually work BETTER than a fitted punch (less likely to hold the bullet out of line when sizing). As a for instance, a flat nosed punch suitable for the .358" bullet can also be used for .44 and .45 bullets. Sure simplifies things...

Dale53

[Tom W.]

Thanks! I have several top punches for .44 and 45 boolets.... They're a bit big, but I suppose they can work. Can't get a new mold just yet.....

[sundog]

Either that or the # 495 which appears a tad bigger. What you will probably run into is the top punch will be cut flat and square and the the Lee boolit, I think, has about a 3 degree draft on the nose. Although you can line it up, and get it to work adequately, it will not be a perfect fit - but it will work. It will leave a work mark on the center of the nose of the boolit.

One thing I have done from time to time that does not seem to affect anything other than looks - slightly rounds off the nice sharp edge of the meplat - is use a round nose top punch. In this case a #311 (for the 358311) could work. I use that top punch alot for boolits that don't sorta fit anything else.

Now, if you get the one you're thinking of, and it is a tad tight, leaves a ring on the nose, whatever, chuck it into a drill and put a piece of fine grit paper over a boolit and spin the top punch on it to open it up.

About being a boolit caster - it brings out the tinkerer in us.... sundog

[454PB]

Most of the Lee designs have a grease groove close to the nose and need to be pushed into the die until the nose is nearly flush with the top of the die. Keep this in mind when picking a nose punch. Dale 53's idea is a good one.

[Tom W.]

Here's a picture of one of those Lee boolits, along with the RCBS 400 grain .480..