Why is lubing and sizing so hard?

[bazzer485]

I'm casting some fairly nice bullets. I bought a Lee resizer and a Lyman 45. I purchased a new .401 die for the Lyman45 along with the latest compression nut and top cap. I can resize with the Lee setup, but only if the cast bullet is a similar size to the to the resizing die. Getting a .403 through it is a pig! I have the same issue with the Lyman. I'm getting to think maybe my alloy is too hard. I have two molds, a .401 Lee and a .401 NOE.
Next is the issue I'm on this forum about. I'm heating the Lyman 45 with some lube marked Blue Angel, it's has 200f on the package, but I either don't get enough on the boolit, or too much oozing all over the place. Also using the .401 casts and the .401 die, it's easy to get the boolit into the die, but it sticks on the up stroke trying to get it out.
I'm beginning to see why people might choose to PC, but this method of lubing and resizing has been around for a while so it must work.
Barry


Interests include Fly Fishing, Archery, Shooting and many more. British Military Veteran.

[randyrat]

Nauw, you don't want to PC it is leaning toward the dark side, learn to use lube then powder coat for certain situations if needed.

Hang in there your almost there. I've never used Blue Angle before, but I think it is real hard, 200F is the melt temp. Use your heat a touch more wisely or ease into it a bit..It could be that your Alloy is real hard along with hard lube is causing the strain.

If you want to use a real hard alloy, you must cast and size the same day or close to each other, before your alloy hardens. Choose a different lube, choose a lube that is not so hard. I use TAC 1 and rarely use more than a hair dryer to just warm things up to lube.
Hard lubes are for extreme heat and Hollywood. Even if it is hot out, do you expose your ammo, it ain't good on powder or primers either.

[Sasquatch-1]

Have you tried running the lube without the heater? Also, I have found that if using a bevel base bullet I will have lube infiltrate to the bottom of the bullet.

[high standard 40]

Many years ago I tried Blue Angel lube in a Lyman 450. In my experience it will not flow without a lot of heat. I stopped using it in short order and went to a softer lube. I now use only Felix lube. As far as sticking in the die, I have seen this issue as well with some new H&I dies. I always clean new dies and check for burrs and polish if needed. A thin coat of lubricating oil will help the first bullets through the die, after that it should self lubricate from the bullet lube.
Exactly what alloy are you using?

[dragon813gt]

.403 to .401 is not a lot of sizing. You should not be having any issues. What's your alloy? I've sized down an 18bhn alloy by .004 w/ no issues in a RCBS LAM1.

W/ a lube that hard the temp has to be high enough. If it's coming out all over it sounds like you have to much pressure on the reservoir. W/ lubes that need heat the temp and pressure need to be right. Otherwise you end up w/ no lube on the grooves or lube all over.

[fred2892]

The hotter your sizing die, the harder it becomes to size. I use lars carnuba red and if I allow it to get too warm the die just wants to lock those boolits in there. I size down anything up to .005 so your couple of thou should be fine.

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[Bent Ramrod]

You might try wiping or spraying a small amount of case lube (much less than you use for cases) on the boolits before you run them through the 45. Some dies seem to be sticky at first, especially if the boolits sized are of the Lino/wheelweight variety. Eventually you should get enough grease distributed along the inside of your sizing die so this step will be unnecessary.

You might also check the diameters of the boolits you are sizing. I find a not inconsiderable proportion of Lyman boolit dies to be "there or thereabouts" in relation to the number stamped on top. If yours is on the small side, that might contribute to the sizing difficulty.

I don't use exotic lubes in my 45s; they're a little on the light side for me. The RCBS is better for such things; you can crank on the pressure nut and lean on the handle and squeeze about anything through the machine without doing it any damage.

[bazzer485]

Hi Guys, thanks for all the replies. First of all I found that I had the temperature wrong on the lube I am using , it should have been 125F , not 200F so on regulating it down, i'm using a small iron on a aluminum plate, its working much better now. I'm still getting a little lube on the base of the boolite, but since it's a hard lube I'm hoping it will not have to much of an ill effect. I'm going to deal with the .403 Noe mold a little later. It's for a gas check bullet, not that I need it.
Thanks again
Barry

[Don Fischer]

Have you tried running the lube without the heater? Also, I have found that if using a bevel base bullet I will have lube infiltrate to the bottom of the bullet.

I don't run my 450 with the heater on. Make's a mess every time.

[gwpercle]

The 45 and 450 were pre hard lube and heater days...I have always used a soft lube in my 450 and have never had any problems.
Figuring out how to properly adjust the depth setting for a boolit and how little pressure is required is also a big help in ease of operation.

[facetious]

Polish your dies. The last Lee push through die I got was so ruff inside the first boolit I try'ed push through it got so stuck I had to pound it out with a punch an a big hammer. And that was with some lube on it. Now I can go from .313 to .3015 in one pass, I do give them a shot of dri-lube first and thy zip right through and come out so smooth and slippery that I can't hardly pick them up.

[MT Chambers]

Lee leaves them like that intentionally, kinda acts like teeth to reduce bullet size.