View Full Version : Top punch help
Hot Lead
12-04-2006, 08:04 PM
I purchased a Lee Mold C430-310-rf - 430 diameter - 310 grain round nose flat tip gas check mould. I also bought a top punch. The top punch does not fit and I need someone to tell me the exact top punch that will work on this 310 grain chunk of lead. I am resizing through a RCBS lubri-sizer. (The top punch I use now engraves a circular line in the lead before reaching the flat tip.) It does not quite reach the tip. Matters not whether it is an RCBS or a Lyman. Thanks for your help.
MT Gianni
12-04-2006, 08:29 PM
File a flat spot on a 1/4"x1" bolt. Turn the flats off it on a grinder and reduce the entire top to less than 0.429". It works great on those fat RF bulles. Lee makes that mold and says "don't use a lubrisizer just our liquid alox". THat means no specific factory top punch. Gianni.
44man
12-04-2006, 08:58 PM
Yes, a flat punch will work fine but I would use a larger size die and NOT size the boolit, just lube. I use Felix and Lar's carnauba Red only. If you are going to load for hunting, I would not use LLA.
That boolit is super accurate.
I'll tell you what I do to make my own "custom" bullet seaters" and top punches. On the bullet seaters, from Redding, I just fill the seater opening with epoxy, and while leaving it upside down from the way it's used, I take my bullet of choice and
place it in the epoxy (on jacketed bullets put a thin film of Imperial sizing wax or the like to prevent sticking) Lead does not seem to stick. Perfect fit foe eack specific bullet.
On the top punches, I just order the size bigger than I need off the lyman chart and do the same process. Works like a charm.
Hot Lead
12-05-2006, 06:07 PM
You shared with me that you would obtain a size larger top punch than the top punch specified. What would be the top punch number (size) you would order to prevent a top punch marking on the bullet? I am lazy. Making my own top punch could be quite fun, but my laziness supercedes that practice. I want the easiest way to correctly top punch this 310 gr bullet.
Flat tops are easy. Just grind the edges off the top punch and leave one big flat. It's the various round nose ogives that give problems.
Hot Lead
12-05-2006, 07:38 PM
That does sound easy. Thats what I will do. Grind the ogive off the one I have and it should work.
Thanks for the good advice.
yodar
12-14-2006, 06:16 PM
I'll tell you what I do to make my own "custom" bullet seaters" and top punches. On the bullet seaters, from Redding, I just fill the seater opening with epoxy, and while leaving it upside down from the way it's used, I take my bullet of choice and
place it in the epoxy (on jacketed bullets put a thin film of Imperial sizing wax or the like to prevent sticking) Lead does not seem to stick. Perfect fit foe eack specific bullet.
On the top punches, I just order the size bigger than I need off the lyman chart and do the same process. Works like a charm.
I RE-USE MY FLATTIES TO FIT TO OTHER POINTS BY USING HOT MELT GLUE instead of epoxy) re-do-able, less scary, quicker cure
yodar
HOT GLUE....great idea. I never thought of using mine for that. That's what makes the board such a wonderful place...ALWAYS new ideas.
Muskrat Mike
12-15-2006, 09:59 PM
Yes, a flat punch will work fine but I would use a larger size die and NOT size the boolit, just lube. I use Felix and Lar's carnauba Red only. If you are going to load for hunting, I would not use LLA.
That boolit is super accurate.
I'm only in my second year of casting and got a lot to learn so I got to ask, why would you not use LLA for a hunting load???
Mike
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