30yrcaster
11-26-2011, 05:43 PM
Hello,
Got the wrong Lee sizing die but it was before I found out 9mm barrels need .358 not .356 and slugging my barrel to confirm it. I've been trying to hone out the die a couple of thousands and it's a real chore to say the least. I read Buckshots "How to hone a size die" and he doesn't mention how long it takes to accomplish such a task. I started on the fine size, 600 grit and soon went to 220 where I did most of it. The die started out undersize @ .3553. After 2.5hrs I'm only up to .3569. I even tried using some scotch brite with valve lapping compound on it. Even wrapped a piece of scotch brite around a wooden dowel and put lapping compound on it and ran it in & out with a drill. Didn't seem to speed things up at all so I went back to the 220 with 3in1 oil rolling it on my leg.
Am I doing something wrong as I would have thought I'd open it up too much and trash the die? Has Lee made these much harder since Buckshot wrote his piece? I'm about to "bite the bullet" and just pay another $15 + shipping for another one.
BTW, I tried to open up a Lyman 450 size die years ago with lapping compound in my drill press and after 1/2 hour didn't change the size at all. Lyman's dies are even harder than the Lee.
Thanks
Got the wrong Lee sizing die but it was before I found out 9mm barrels need .358 not .356 and slugging my barrel to confirm it. I've been trying to hone out the die a couple of thousands and it's a real chore to say the least. I read Buckshots "How to hone a size die" and he doesn't mention how long it takes to accomplish such a task. I started on the fine size, 600 grit and soon went to 220 where I did most of it. The die started out undersize @ .3553. After 2.5hrs I'm only up to .3569. I even tried using some scotch brite with valve lapping compound on it. Even wrapped a piece of scotch brite around a wooden dowel and put lapping compound on it and ran it in & out with a drill. Didn't seem to speed things up at all so I went back to the 220 with 3in1 oil rolling it on my leg.
Am I doing something wrong as I would have thought I'd open it up too much and trash the die? Has Lee made these much harder since Buckshot wrote his piece? I'm about to "bite the bullet" and just pay another $15 + shipping for another one.
BTW, I tried to open up a Lyman 450 size die years ago with lapping compound in my drill press and after 1/2 hour didn't change the size at all. Lyman's dies are even harder than the Lee.
Thanks