Question about Lyman 450

[msinc]

I just got a used 450. I took it all apart and degreased it to bare metal. I put it back together and got the dies I need. I have Alox lube in it and when I size/lube bullets I am getting a build up of lube on the bottom punch. Any ideas??? Or is this normal??? Thanks in advance for any info. It appears to be sizing and lubing the bullets O.K. but the bottoms of them have more lube than the groove.

[cabezaverde]

Plug the unused holes in your sizing die by peening a piece of lead shot into the holes. Then pay careful attention to the depth you are running the bullet down to.

Also, watch the pressure you are using. It is easy to crank too hard when you are learning.

[msinc]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to guess and say the "unused" holes will be the lowest ones on the die??? I did in fact try different pressures and was just turning it enough to fill the groove. Sometimes I would have to press the bullet again because the grooves were not filled completely.

[cabezaverde]

Yes the lower ones is correct.

[ColColt]

Sounds to me like a minor adjustment on the nut that pushes the plunger up. I'd adjust that first to push the bullet up further. If you have a size die with 2-3 holes it seems you have the bullet adjusted to go down too far...just my 2 cents as I've been there myself. I have a 450 as well.

[msinc]

Thanks again for the info/replies...I in fact did adjust the nut at the bottom and for one particular bullet it worked well. That one was going down too far and I adjusted it up until it just did not get grease in the crimping groove. But when I switched to a different type bullet up or down didnt matter. First bullets were Keith style 44's with one grease groove. Second was a Lee SWC 44 with a gas check and two grooves.

[ColColt]

Are you still getting lube on the bottom with the Lee bullet or is one groove not getting the lube? If the latter, adjustment will correct that. Since you moved the plunger up for the first one you'll have to adjust back down for the Lee as you want both grooves filled with lube. I'm not sure what you mean by "...it didn't matter".

[msinc]

Yes, I did in fact have to move it back down for the Lee bullet. After that I tried it both directions...that is what I meant by "it didn' matter." It didn't matter which way I moved it with the Lee bullet, when I got it set to grease all the groves I had lube on the top of the bottom punch again. I will try plugged lower holes as soon as I get a chance and let you guys know what happens. Thanks again for the replies.

[finattic]

i had this problem with a .45 acp boolit in a lee mould and it turned out the boolit was not large enough, it came out of the mould at .450 to .451 die size was a .452, after reading on here about the lee menting process and i decided to go for broke and work on the mould. Now the boolits are .454 out of the mould and size to .452 with grease going only where it is supposed too. Just something you might want to check before you go plugging holes in your sizing die

Finattic

[NoDakJak]

I have fought through the above problem before I discovered this site. I can't disagree with any of the above information. The problem that you are having should be fairly easy to fix. #1 is to mike your boolits. They should be slightly larger than than the the hole in the die. Many boolits are slightly out of round so measure it in several places. Lube can and will flow around any undersized areas.
#2 Once the above criteria is met you should experiment with the depth that you push the boolit into the die. Try pushing the boolit in a little deeper before applying lube pressure.
That should cure your problem. If it doesn't then it is probable that you are applying to much pressure to the lube. Simply back off on the amount that you crank on the ratchet. If you are using a lube heater then reducing the amount of heat might be beneficial. An excessive amount of heat can cause many lubes to flow like water and this can cause problems. This should cure you problem. If you still have problems then don't hesitate to contact the forum. I am sure that there are many more people on here that are more qualified to help than my basic answers. Hope this helps. Neil

[dromia]

As well as trying the adjustment suggestions above I find the a circle of styrene foam cur from a food packaging tray, I use the mouth of a fired case for the boolit I am sizing for to cut the disk, inserted into the size die for the boolit to rest on when sizing usually cures the problem.

[msinc]

I did notice one thing...the Lee bullets were only about a half thousandths {.0005"+/-} larger than the die. The first bullets were about .003" larger and I was able to correct the problem with the larger diameter bullets. I am not using a heater and remember thinking that if I was the lube would have been dripping off my elbow towards the end!! Still haven't had a chance to get back on this just yet, just have too much stuff to do but I hope to try it again tomorrow evening. Seems like I might be fighting more than one issue. Thanks again for the replys, I will try all advice.

[MtGun44]

Don't try to fill holes in a Lyman die, it won't work and is not necessary. Star dies have
a stepped hole and MUST be blocked if not used. Lyman and RCBS units have straight
holes so nothing to hold the lead in place, and they block the holes with the ejector pin.
Too much leakage is too much heat if you have a heater ( I never use one) or too soft a
lube if you don't use a heater, or an undersized pin.

Bill

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Don't try to fill holes in a Lyman die, it won't work and is not necessary. Star dies have
a stepped hole and MUST be blocked if not used. Lyman and RCBS units have straight holes so nothing to hold the lead in place, and they block the holes with the ejector pin. Too much leakage is too much heat if you have a heater ( I never use one) or too soft a lube if you don't use a heater, or an undersized pin. Bill

Bill,
yes not necessary, but sometimes it helps a problem boolit.
I don't "fill" the holes, I use heavy foil tape with marginal success to block the holes. the dies vary in outer diameter, the ones that are a little
smaller, this technique works well. the larger ones,
the foil tape gets partially scrapped off when inserting the die.
Jon