Sizing coated boolits

[oconeedan]

I have lurked here from time to time, and finally signed up.
I am about to try powder coating. I have spent hours reading about it on this forum.
But one thing I missed...if I use my Lyman 450 to size and check at the same time, do I need to clean out the lube from the sizing die, and back off the pressure to keep the sizing die clean of lube?
Or do I need to buy Lee push through sizers and keep it clean?
I would like to cast, powder coat, then size / check.
Thanks, Dan

[David2011]

Dan,

Welcome to Castboolits!

As long as you don't pressure up the lube you will get some lube on the first few you size. If you want to remove that lube charcoal lighter fluid does a great job. It won't hurt anything other than maybe getting on your fingers and smoking a little when you choot 'em.

The Lee push through will probably be faster.

What caliber are you working with? Alloy? Expected velocity? You may not need gas checks.

[GeesCreek]

I’m like Dan. I have read and read. I have a Lyman 45 sizer that was passed down. It’s my understanding the new (450/4500) Lyman sizing dies do not interchange with the model 45.

I’m still not convinced I won’t buy a newer lubrisizer. At this time the Lyman 4500 with the heater attachment appears to be the most attractive to me. Looks like the Carnauba Red from White Label would be my choice of lubes.

I plan to powder coat as well. Im leaning towards PBTP in Glass Clear as I’d like to preserve the hand cast look.

My intentions are to cast .460” dia 405-420 gr bullets for a 45/70 with a gas check. Brass moulds from either NOE or Mi-Hec. I like the convertibility of the different nose pins to allow for multiple options.

[Rcmaveric]

The Lyman dies do inchange with all their models and the RCBS models. I have the 45 and the 4500. Only ones that wont interchange are the Saeco and Star sizer dies.

As others have said, either sizing way will work. Just back the lube reservoir pressure off. I think the Lee sizer will be more efficient though.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[454PB]

You wiil find that a tiny bit of lube actually aids in sizing PC'd boolits. Don't worry about the small amount of lube that may be deposited, as long as the pressure stem is not used, it will soon disappear. Be aware that powder coating adds around .002" to the as cast diameter, which can increase the force needed for sizing.

[cwlongshot]

WELCOME!

I started PC'ing bullets summer of 2017. I pretty quickly found that the inexpensive Lee push thru sizers are the cats *** for PC bullet sizing! I still use the sizers for GC install and some not so common calibers. But by and large the lee sizer works great. Just be sure to check its size as what it says, aint always what ya get.

CW

[PJEagle]

I started with the Lee sizing dies and found that some of them were smaller than advertised. I have since switched to NOE. Their bushings are always the size they advertise.

[popper]

Lee sizers are easy to enlarge. Final boolit dia. will depend on the alloy, soft is smaller.

[oconeedan]

Thanks to all!
I am just going to play with it and see how the pc works for many different calibers.
Mainly rcbs 30-165 gc sil, 7-145gc sil, for silhouettes. Velocity around 1600-1700.
Lee 405gr for 45-70 (PB), will keep it fairly slow
Also 44 mag, 9mm, and 10mm, obviously below gas check velocities. Oh yes, Lee 430- 310gr , gc, for use in 44 mag and 444 Marlin for hunting. I may push the 444 for the fun of it, for hunting.

[RogerDat]

Tip Lee push through sizer run the bullet through base first for seating gas checks. Won't work so well with spire pointed bullets but for other shapes it works better. The Lee case lube is very water soluble so I find a tiny amount of that can help get bullets through Lee sizer smoothly when not PC or lubed and it washes off easily with some hot water to clean for PC. Don't want lube to interfere with adhesion so I use something easy to clean.

I should mention I seat gas check and size before I PC then in many cases run the PC coated bullet through again for a final size. I find it works better to get the gas check on the un-coated bullet. Inspection during seating of the gas check gives me a chance to avoid hiding defects under PC. I use an outside chamfer tool from NOE to trim any PC flashing off the base of the bullet after PC coating when I run it through for a final size. Final size insures the PC coating doesn't impact the bullet final size. There are some bullets for plinking ammo that just gets PC then sized. Lee 38 tumble lube semi-wad cutter is one I can think of right off. Or the 45 RNFP for another. No gas check on those bullets.

[fredj338]

I find the pass thru Lee sizers the fastest, easiest way to size any bullet, especially coated. They are cheap enough, beats the extra handling of a Lyman type.

[ghh3rd]

I have one of Lee’s cheapest bare bones press , mounted upside down, to size boolits with. I have found that mounting it upside down seems to make sizing easier and faster. There are several posts about doing so .

[oconeedan]

All very good information, thank you!

[Taterhead]

With gas checks, I set them by running through an NOE sizer. Then PC and size again. Since PC adds diameter, I've had trouble placing checks on after powder coating.

Like Fred says, press mounted sizers are quick. I was 0/2 with Lee sizers getting the diameter that was printed on the box. That is why I have an NOE bullet sizing die, and all of the boolit sizing bushings have been right on.

I've never used an in-and-out sizer, but can't imagine that they would be a better experience.

[pastera]

Use your 450: I have an old 45 - To size coated bullets, I back off the pressure, remove the pushout pin and the die pin. The sizer is then setup for push through - you might need to tape a piece of cardboard to make a ramp so that the bullets don't stackup (I made a 3D printed bullet guide). A quick shot of lanolin case lube drops the pressure to size way down and reduces the chance of nose damage from pushing out the previous bullet.

This speeds up the sizing process dramatically for the 5 minutes of setup time it takes to pull the die and remove the pushout pin/die pin.

[mattw]

One annoying thing with PC... I find that I must gas check before the PC process, this requires 2 passes thru the sizer. If I did not like the results, the added time would not be worth it.

[oconeedan]

Thanks, and great information Pastera!

[RP]

I use my 4500 to size my PC bullets with a few mods to speed things up. First thing is I already own one with several dies so buying the lee dies was just spending money for something I all ready have on hand.
I remove the center of the sizing die and removed the stop on the 4500 this allows me to push the bullet out the bottom of the press, I also use some EMT pipe with a bracket welded to it that mounts where the stop was at that catches the falling bullet and directs it to a catch pan.
The other mod I made was the top punch I turned a few out on my lathe for different dia bullets to push them deeper in the die, Now I drop my bullets in nose first and lower the handle then another nose first and repeat. The second bullet pushes the first one out and down the tube;
I can restore the 4500 back without any issues and use it as it was intended nothing has been done that can not be undone.
Another tip if your sizing 30 cal they will fall threw the hole where the stop was located or you can put anything to deflect the larger bullets to the side so you will not get a jam.