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Thread: Help identify top punches?

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Help identify top punches?

    I recently purchased a group of top punches and included were several of these with the round top. The punch number is stamped on the perimeter of the "belt". At first I thought they might be older RCBS but the numbers do not appear to match up with RCBS and Lyman numbers. Any help would be appreciated.

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  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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    Vintage Ideal top punches is what you have.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    Bent Ramrod's Avatar
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    If the numbers don’t match with the current Lyman numbers, it’s not likely that they’re the earlier Ideal top punches, although they used to feature those rounded tops.

    If the top shank is longer than the normal Lyman/Ideal length, they could be for the pre-Redding SAECO lubrisizer. Mine will fit Lyman/Ideal top punches, although the holding screw only engages the very end of the shank.

    Later SAECO machines, and the Redding versions, used a different top punch that was threaded in.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    I was wondering if they might possibly be old Saeco punches but wasn't sure. The numbers definitely don't match up with Lyman.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy Littlewolf's Avatar
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    what are the numbers, because those are ideal punches and a lot were discontinued numbers by 1975 and wont be on a modern list (post #43 manual)

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    Maybe old Lachmiller. They used to mark top punches around the top "band"
    I HATE auto-correct

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  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Littlewolf View Post
    what are the numbers, because those are ideal punches and a lot were discontinued numbers by 1975 and wont be on a modern list (post #43 manual)
    I have #241, #420, #438, #464 and #469.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Walks View Post
    Maybe old Lachmiller. They used to mark top punches around the top "band"
    Ah, I didn't think about Lachmiller. These are indeed marked on the outside edge of the "band".

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    311241, 225438, 257420, 277464, 277469 off the top of my head. I don’t have the old Lyman #1 CB manual handy, but someone who does can check.
    I pulled out the old manual- the bullets they fit are 225438- 45gr RNGC, 257420 - 70gr FNGC, 257464 RNGC Loverin, 266469 140r RNGC Loverin, and 311241 125 or 150gr RNPB.
    Last edited by 26Charlie; 11-26-2019 at 12:05 PM. Reason: Correctness.
    "You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountains to ocean, and legions, now quiet, will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary; it puts us in the wrong; it is fatal." Robert Toombs, Democrat of Georgia, warning of the results of the imminent attack of the Confederacy upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, 1861

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check