Custom Lee Sizing Stem Needed

[dudel]

Yea but what does Buckshot charge vs Lee? He probably puts a little more effort into things. I just use the Lee stems from the push thru sizers I already had with the NOE sizer. Just had to make one for 40 cal, the 9mm one I had worked but you could see where it wasn't right on the base of the bullets.

Buckshot's fee for the entire custom sizer and push through was comparable to Lee. Didn't get a bottle of Alox; but that was almost a bonus! Buckshot's delivery time was in days; Lee wasn't even taking more orders, but when they were, delivery was weeks or months. Buckshot also included a sized boolit to verify that the sizer was spot on.

[newton]

I've thought about turning down a Lee .243 sizer stem. I do understand their tolerance, and the whole press thing. I don't know if its from press alignment, but I have worn every one of my Lee stems. Normally it does not effect anything though. I do not think it was from alignment though because I have used their dies on several different presses, all do the same thing.

One thing that happens when too much tolerance is available is that the stem can move to much. I am not a machinist, but I dare say that tighter tolerances are better than looser ones.

Seeing how they are sending me another die, I took this one and honed it out to the point the gouge was gone. I used steel wool and red rouge. I crimped some gas checks on last night and the same thing is happening. In fact, since the boolits drop from the mold at .225" on the dot, the sizer does not even touch them now. It is slick as a baby's but inside now also. But the stem inevitably moves to one side or the other when sizing leaving at least .005" of one part on the gas check unsupported.

So I am back to thinking its either just a matter of the combination between aluminum gas checks and the size of the boolit plus the size of the stem, or the gas checks themselves are way to soft. I have not had this problem with any other calibers and aluminum checks.

I also do not think the gas checks are too soft. I recovered some from shooting my steel plate and they look great. If they were too soft then I would think there would be more deforming of them.

I did manage to get a small piece of brass rod squared enough to use, but have to push it with the lee stem. Big pain in the rear. However, it does help a lot even though its only .223" in diameter(I went a touch too long with the sand paper).

I think I will go the NOE route next time I need to buy a sizer. The way I see it, once you have the main body the cost of each caliber is the same as Lee dies. You don't get the alox, but I don't use that anyways.

[ipijohn]

The sizing stem I got with my .225" die measures at .220" This leaves too much of the base unsupported and causes a crescent shape in my gas checks. I contacted Lee about it, but they said its supposed to have a .0025" clearance on all sides. I don't understand, but it is what it is.

Anyone here do custom seating stems? I would like to see if a .224" would do the trick. I made a stem of sorts by taking a piece of brass and sanding it down to .224", but it is incredibly hard to get the end of it absolute perpendicular to the rest. Without that the checks seat crooked. I am about to the point where I am going to buy myself a lathe and be done with it all.

Have you tried pushing the boolit through the die base first to seat the check? Works for me. I have a machine shop in my basement to make my own sizing dies and pushers, tolerance and fit of the pusher to the die is not your problem. Something is causing excessive force to be needed when pushing your boolit through the sizing die..... Try sizing, then put on GC and size again, base first.

[Jon]

Are you lubricating your bullets before resizing them? Most shouldn't require that much force to push through. I'm planning on making a longer stem once I get my lathe up and running. Having to pull the handle all the way down make more work when all you need is a few inches of handle travel.

[newton]

I have tried base first. Also tried sizing, then gas check a second pass. I don't lube them first, but have tried powder coating then sizing then gas check installation.

Im getting better results since I took out that bad part by honing. Only problem is it opened up to .226" and my gun doesn't like it. But even still, the bullets just about glide through.

Lube is not the issue, aluminum checks might be, but I'll know for sure once I try copper. A longer stem would be nice, but I still think a larger diameter one would work best. I just have a hard time paying for one as much as I paid for the sizer kit itself.

Ill limp till I either get a lathe myself or find someone local who has one.

[gwpercle]

Custom fit the punch with a small ball of epoxy putty, it's easy and the putty doesn't run and drip like epoxy glue. Makes a perfect fit and can be removed .

[newton]

Custom fit the punch with a small ball of epoxy putty, it's easy and the putty doesn't run and drip like epoxy glue. Makes a perfect fit and can be removed .

I've thought of this and am probably going to go down this road. I found the micro lathe I'm gonna get, just have to raise the funds, then I'll be able to do a lot of these kinds of projects myself.

If I would have known how far down this casting/reloading rabbit hole I have gone before - I would have bought one to begin with and might have just about had it paid for itself.

[btroj]

So you are going to buy a lathe to save money?

[newton]

So you are going to buy a lathe to save money?

lol. Uh, no. In the long run? Yes, it would save money. But that's relative. Heck, if someone wanted to save money they would just not spend any - period. There are a lot of little things that I have always wanted to tweak and manufacture. They might cost $15-$25 a piece to have someone else do which is not much. But you start adding all them up and it gets up there. If I can get a micro lathe, which is plenty to do small projects on, then after ~20 of said projects it will have paid for itself.

Am I getting a lathe to just turn a new sizing stem? No - but it would not be to far off what a lot of us have done when buying a new mold and deciding we need a gun that will go with it.........


All that said, I received some copper gas checks from a member to try. The sizing stem I currently have did not deform the bottom of them like it was doing the aluminum ones. You can still see where it supports one side of the base more than the other, but I assume because the copper is thicker/stronger it does not indent and holds together through its trip in the sizer.

[btroj]

Once you get micro lathe and realize what you can make you will want a bigger lathe. That means more expense. You also realize you need more tooling, more expense.

Start down this road and you soon understand why people say the lathe is the cheap part! I could easily spend a grand on stuff I want/need and still not even get started on the list.

Buying a lathe to save money is like starting to cast to save money. You soon understand that it is a false economy.

I wouldn't be without my lathe after just a year with it but I will never call it a money saver.

[newton]

Once you get micro lathe and realize what you can make you will want a bigger lathe. That means more expense. You also realize you need more tooling, more expense.

Start down this road and you soon understand why people say the lathe is the cheap part! I could easily spend a grand on stuff I want/need and still not even get started on the list.

Buying a lathe to save money is like starting to cast to save money. You soon understand that it is a false economy.

I wouldn't be without my lathe after just a year with it but I will never call it a money saver.

I can see that. However, I HAVE to call it a money saver if I am ever going to be able to get it. In fact, I might have to even call it a money maker if I can think of a new tool that will help us re-loaders.


Honestly though, I understand what your saying. But that's what I am saying also. Anything we spend money on other than food and shelter is a "waste" of money. But we are going to spend it anyways. That's what we do.

I remember when I first started hand loading. I figured up the cost, and started with Lee Loaders. I do not remember the figures, but I know that it was going to pay for itself by shooting X amount of boxes, which I had wanted to do anyways. In fact, it was right around the time I bought my nephew his .243 and that gun has never seen a store bought round. I bought the BARE essentials mind you.

Then you dang boolit casters, one of you, convinced me to try lead boolits. Thankfully, I was given enough stuff to start with. But once hooked, it was all down hill. Having the ability to load even cheaper now meant i could save money.....ya right! It meant i could do EXACTLY what everyone said would happen....i could shoot more.

Well, its a slow process to load with lee loaders. So I needed more equipment to ramp up my production. Then, you need even more to make things easier..... Oh, the snowball mountain!

Anyways, in the grand scheme of things, the lathe would actually save money if you are savvy enough to use one. Why? Because, I know that my reloading/casting addiction is going to lead me to buy more things. I hold off as long as I can most of the time till a moment of weakness hits and I buy what I have been wanting. There are a lot of things that can be useful, that eventually I will buy, that can be made with a lathe. A micro lathe at that.

I have held off with the whole lathe thing all this time, for the most part, because I had no idea you could purchase a micro lathe. I thought the mini lathe is all they had and I do not have a whole lot of room in my shop area. A micro lathe would be a perfect fit however.

So, yes, when I buy it I will call it a money saver. And when I get around to putting some ideas to the test I might eventually call it a money maker.

[Retumbo]

Among other things, buying a lathe has been one of the best things I have ever done...use it weekly and have used it to make most of my reloading equipment.

[newton]

Among other things, buying a lathe has been one of the best things I have ever done...use it weekly and have used it to make most of my reloading equipment.

tried your hand at a mold yet? It's one of those things I've wanted to try.

[Retumbo]

I'm not that good

tried your hand at a mold yet? It's one of those things I've wanted to try.