Top punches for Lyman RCBS

[Shakey Jakey]

I just picked up a Lyman 45 and an RCBS LAM I. Is it necessary to have a special top punch for every boolit you size or is there a shortcut thru the issue?

[Bret4207]

Well, yes and no. In a perfect world there would be perfect fitting TP's for every design. Alas and alon, our world is far from perfect. TP's often don't fit right, mar the boolit nose, don't fit at all. What many of us do is use a home made flat faced TP for anything with a flat or broad round nose. For pointier moulds many of us find an oversized TP and fit it to our particular boolits by putting some hot melt glue in the TP cavity and molding them to each other.

Beyond that it's up to you how much work you want to put into this issue. Myself, I make my own as much as use store bought.

[462]

Proper top punch fit is just one more in an extremely long list of ways that a caster/reloader learns to adapt. Fortunately, when it comes to top punches, the fix is easy, quick and reversible.

A method that is more durable than hot melt glue is J-B Weld or similar product.

[Shakey Jakey]

Can I buy some flat "generic" punches from any supplier?

[stubshaft]

Flat punches work well in large calibers with hard cast boolits. IIRC - BUCKSHOT was making a 3 punch set of "universal" top punches. These used 5 min epoxy to insure that the punch fit the boolit. If you decide later to use it for another boolit a short trip to the propane torch cleans it right out to use again.

[462]

With rudimentary machinist tools -- drill press, file and hacksaw -- you can make your own flat punch by rounding off the head of a 1/4" bolt and cutting the shank to fit.