My 4500 broke just now

[ChuckS1]

What a PIA. Was lubing some H&G 68s and heard a snap and the handle felt funny. Sure enough, the hex head bolt in the linkage snapped, right where the threading starts. Guess I'm off to Lowe's to find a Grade 8 replacement.

[Lefty SRH]

Buy a few, its a common problem and will happen again!

[blaser.306]

At least it was only the bolt ! The linkage on mine snapped and was plain to see that it had a flaw in the casting but still had to buy the replacement part . I have also almost broken the pivot bolts , now I just keep a supply of them on hand and change them out regularily.

[9.3X62AL]

The Grade 8 replacement bolts will out-last the OEM parts significantly. That has been the case in my late 1980's-vintage Lyman 450, anyway.

[cbrick]

The Grade 8 replacement bolts will out-last the OEM parts significantly. That has been the case in my late 1980's-vintage Lyman 450, anyway.

No kiddin. If you break a grade 8 bolt in a lubrisizer your doing something terribly wrong. :holysheep

Rick

[9.3X62AL]

No kiddin. If you break a grade 8 bolt in a lubrisizer your doing something terribly wrong. :holysheep

Rick

Oh, no doubt! I was just contrasting the good work of the G-8s over the OEM parts.

The Lyman tools don't take kindly to a lot of down-sizing at once of large-caliber boolits. When I size/lube my #462560s that fall free @ .462", I run them through a .461" die and apply lube, then give them a second sizing at .459" to fit the Ruger #1's throat. Lots less muscle needed.

[462]

After experiencing the same problem, I replaced all three bolts with Grade 8s.

[buyobuyo]

I read the thread title and figured the base had ripped out where the pressure screw goes through. Never heard of anyone breaking the bolts before.

[ChuckS1]

So back up and running with a new 2 1/2 inch Grade 8 bolt in the top linkage. Got to thinking about i t though, and realized that I've really had to lean on the handle on the upstroke(thus the stress and the resulting break, I suppose). So now I'm wondering if something else is going on with the 4500 and this was just the symptom of something else that's wrong. I'm using White Label 2500+ lube. Granted my reloading bench is in the basement and it has been chilly, but the basement doesn't get below 68 degrees. The first five bullets are really tough, meaning I really lean on the handle on the upstroke, but after a few more it gets easier. Maybe it's just time for some old fashioned preventive maintenance and a cleaning, or switch to a softer lube, like BAC or 50/50 Bee's Wax. Any thoughts?

[theperfessor]

I broke the bolts on my 450. Realize that the bolts will fail from fatigue even with a load that's below maximum for a one-time load. After a million cycles a steel part will fatigue to about 50% of its maximum strength but grow no weaker. Aluminum parts continue to weaken and never stop loosing strength. Thus the good advice to keep a few spares around.

Low strength bolts at least fail at low enough loads that they can act as a fuse and protect more expensive parts.

[Mal Paso]

Fascinating Professor.

ChuckS1 Keep your eye out for an 8" scrap of 2 1/2 x 1/4 steel so you can replace the casting at the base of the handle which should be the next thing. I ground clearance in the lube cap so I could have more steel around the bolts.

[beagle]

I've broken several on my sizers. Sat down and figured the length and shanks and replaces with milspec hardware including fiberlock nuts. Haven't had any more problems.

Yes, it's a fatigue thing./beagle

[ChuckS1]

Hmm, maybe a Star is in my future...

[Bradley]

What a PIA. Was lubing some H&G 68s and heard a snap and the handle felt funny. Sure enough, the hex head bolt in the linkage snapped, right where the threading starts. Guess I'm off to Lowe's to find a Grade 8 replacement.

I break at least four a year. Got so I buy the bolts by the dozen.

A friend suggested going to the local Catapillar tracter dealer. He claims that they have bolt of the right size that will never ever break.

[Bret4207]

So back up and running with a new 2 1/2 inch Grade 8 bolt in the top linkage. Got to thinking about i t though, and realized that I've really had to lean on the handle on the upstroke(thus the stress and the resulting break, I suppose). So now I'm wondering if something else is going on with the 4500 and this was just the symptom of something else that's wrong. I'm using White Label 2500+ lube. Granted my reloading bench is in the basement and it has been chilly, but the basement doesn't get below 68 degrees. The first five bullets are really tough, meaning I really lean on the handle on the upstroke, but after a few more it gets easier. Maybe it's just time for some old fashioned preventive maintenance and a cleaning, or switch to a softer lube, like BAC or 50/50 Bee's Wax. Any thoughts?

-You could just get a cheap or used blow dryer and set it up to warm the sizer a little. I do that and it works fine. My casting/loading room has no heat, so if it's -40 outside...well, you get the picture.

[ChuckS1]

Well, I did try my trusty heat gun Sunday morning. Worked well enough that I can't justify the cost of a separate heater. I'm down to my last tube of 2500+, so I guess it's time to reorder.

[catkiller45]

you guys must eat wheaties....Or you are very abusive to your stuff...mine aint broke in 4 years of use..Now watch the damn thing break,lol

[ChuckS1]

Gosh, anything but abusive. Like I said, cold temps and 2500 just made the conditions right for stiff lube and lots of effort on my part. Looking at that Lyman bolt head, though, I see it's a Grade 5. It snapped right where the thread started. But, seeing as how it was taking the stress and over about 3 years of many tens of thousands or bullets, I guess it can wear out. All things fail eventually, but never at a convenient time.

[MGySgt]

sometimes you have to polish the inside of your H die so the boolit moves easier. I had on Lyman sizer die that was rough as a cob on the inside - polihed it some and the hard upstoke went away.

used 400 grit wet/dry on a dowel.

[10mmShooter]

Same thing happened to my bolt...notice on my left hand sizer the gold bolt is not OEM. I bought spares...guess it would be good preventitive maint to go ahead and replace the others :mrgreen:


http://keithrussell.net/lyman4005s.jpg

[Dennis Eugene]

Dude your picture is hugh! Dennis

[10mmShooter]

oops resized to 1900x1280

[SlippShodd]

Jeez, I didn't know you could size cases in those things, too!
:kidding: