Sizing with Lee- Is this normal?

[WaywardSon]

Back into reloading after a long absence...I was digging through some "stuff" on my reloading bench and turned up a container of about 200 bullets that I had cast years ago. I determined that they were from Lyman's #452374 which is a 225 gr. RN design for .45 ACP...so, loaded up 50 & then realized they had not been sized. Oh well, that will happen when they go down the barrel, right?

Long story short, I decided to run the rest through my Lee bullet sizing die. Tumbled them in Lee's alox, dried on wax paper & started to size. Man...they were seriously hard to push through that die. Had to stand up to get more leverage/weight on the press handle (RockChucker). They were all shaving a ring of lead off of the bullet.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj68/WaywardSon01/Toys/IMG_3166.jpg

It has been many years since I did this & couldn't remember if that was even sort of normal. I was surprised how much of the bullet was getting sized...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj68/WaywardSon01/Toys/IMG_3168.jpg

Bullet as cast is of course on the left. The sizing process was also leaving a "flange" on the base of the bullet, which shows up better here...

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj68/WaywardSon01/Toys/IMG_3173.jpg

My question...is this sort of thing normal? I had no problem seating the unsized bullets & then running them through a Lee Factory Crimp die. They pass the plunk test in my Sig P220 barrel, but have not tried them in my GI issue 1911

The "plan" I think...is to take a knife and trim the bases of the sized bullets, relube with the Alox & load up a box. It will be interesting to see which ones shoot better.

So...comments up to and including "You are too dumb to be reloading" are welcome. What say ye?

Best.........John

[ShooterAZ]

Are you sure you're not trying to push them through a .430 sizer :) That is not normal...for me anyway.

[ku4hx]

No, I'd say this is not normal. I've sized thousands of boolits through my various Lee sizer dies and I've never seen anything like that. Looks like you had to put a ton of pressure on the base of the boolit and my first thought would be a serious mismatch between unsized boolit and die diameter.

"Seriously hard to push through that die" is a dead giveaway.

[mdi]

Sum ding wong! Removing way too much material from bullet. I'd measure the bullets before sizing and measure the sized bullets and doublecheck the sizing die (a .44 die?). My Lyman 225 RN drops bullets about .452" and my Lee die is .451". Quick zip through...

I'd melt and recast 'em.

[Larry Gibson]

Wrong sizer would be my guess......not that I've done anything like that or have personal experience.........;)

Larry Gibson

[runfiverun]

that boolit is tapered and quite often gives guy's trouble in thier lube sizers because of it.
[the lube tries to go up the tapered part]
you are sizing way up the tapered part.
measure them.
they look like about 448 now.
you might have a leaded sizer die.

[WaywardSon]

Are you sure you're not trying to push them through a .430 sizer :) That is not normal...for me anyway.

Well...you made me go look:-) I am embarrassed to admit it, but that is exactly what happened...429 die. I hate it when it takes the first guy all of 4 minutes to nail it.

That is the sort of thing that happens when you fall asleep at the computer, wake up & decide to size bullets at 1:30 a.m. I'm not sure if the die was in the wrong box or what...but no excuse for not paying attention at any step of the reloading process. When you know something isn't right, stop and find out what. But by dang, I got 'em through there!

Looks like I need to take these things and load up some Cowboy Action stuff for my .44:roll:

As I alluded to in my opening post, maybe I AM too dumb to be reloading[smilie=1: If I had any sense, I'd nuke this post before someone quotes it.

Thanks for the quick and accurate responses. I stand ready for the flogging to come.

Best......John

[gray wolf]

I have tried doing that on purpose, all that lead has to go someplace and what I found was that the bullets measured differently. You did nose first with the lee die.
I will bet the base is fatter than the nose by about a Thou.

[Bullet Caster]

Welcome to Castboolits, WaywardSon. It sounds like you've already discovered your mishap on the sizing die. All my Lee sizers have the big red plastic boolit catcher and I've written on each one with a black magic marker the size die it is. I only use one at a time so I ensure that the right size die goes back into the plastic holder. This keeps me on the straight and narrow. BC

[geargnasher]

I figured on the .430" die too when I saw it wiped out almost all of the lube groove! Man, you gotta measure things!

Gear

[WaywardSon]

I figured on the .430" die too when I saw it wiped out almost all of the lube groove! Man, you gotta measure things!

Gear

Well...I read your Rules for Precision & figured I was OK:oops:

[rintinglen]

Wrong sizer would be my guess......not that I've done anything like that or have personal experience.........;)

Larry Gibson

Larry took the words out of my mouth. I got a similar result when I managed to force a 38 boolit through a .323 sizer....Doh.

[wallenba]

Boolits can 'grow' over time...but, DANG! Did you store them next to steroids? Better check the die number.

[Hang Fire]

I concure it looks like wrong size die for the boolits, but? The 310 tool die for sizing boolits is specifically made to size them base first to prevent such as this happening sometimes with nose first sizing.

If you have a lubrisizer, try running them through base first there and see what the results are.

[dragonrider]

Don't beat youself up about it, we have all done something foolish now and then.

[runfiverun]

you ain't the only one.
i sized a couple of 324 boolits through a 310 sizer and kept wondering what mold they come from.
as i didn't have a boolit that long in 30 cal.
and they sure didn't look like the ones i was doing at the time.

[WaywardSon]

Don't beat youself up about it, we have all done something foolish now and then.

Yep...not my first rodeo...and not beating myself up at all. Trying to find the humor in it. It only bothers me because it was a mistake I should have caught. I know better than to work at the reloading bench when I am tired or impaired in any way...I went down there at 1:30 a.m. knowing it wasn't a good idea. Not a big deal in this case...just a bit of a lesson. Thanks for your comments!

BTW...I lived in Boston for several years and got around Mass. quite a bit....but where the heck is Linwood?

[captaint]

I'm sorry, that's still funny.... Wish I could have seen your face... enjoy Mike

[williamwaco]

Wrong sizer would be my guess......not that I've done anything like that or have personal experience.........;)

Larry Gibson

Never seen it but I am on board with this answer.


.

[WaywardSon]

I'm sorry, that's still funny.... Wish I could have seen your face... enjoy Mike

Well, I wasn't smiling when I was pushing down on that handle trying to force those suckers through there. Got 'er done though:redneck:

[ShooterAZ]

I will say this...be thankful that you used an RCBS RC press. Had you tried using a lesser press like a "C frame type "L" brand" you might have broke something or tweaked it really bad. This is a testament to the RC press, and the strength of your bench! I bought my RC in 1977 as soon as I moved out of my parent's house. They would not let me ride motorcycles or have guns...I read Field & Stream while in study hall all during High School. The first thing I did when I moved out?...you guessed it.

Shooter

[olafhardt]

It might help you feel better if you read the above thread "Idiots contest". I am the idiot that started it. On this sight one of our favorite things is "Quess what I did".

[Rangefinder]

Well, problem solved but I'm gonna chime in anyway--if it makes you feel better. ;) I squish--squeeze .323 down to .311 to patch back up when I'm building paper patch loads for my .32 Winchester. NOW, I'll give you three guesses HOW I came up with that particular formula for a paper patched boolit to use for patching... ;) Yup--you guessed it. Wrong sizer in the press. OOPS! It just so happens I accidentally stumbled onto the best PP combo that rifle had ever fired--but it was completely by that exact same mistake. So don't sweat it--MANY of us have done exactly that.

[WaywardSon]

I will say this...be thankful that you used an RCBS RC press. Had you tried using a lesser press like a "C frame type "L" brand" you might have broke something or tweaked it really bad. This is a testament to the RC press, and the strength of your bench! I bought my RC in 1977 as soon as I moved out of my parent's house. They would not let me ride motorcycles or have guns...I read Field & Stream while in study hall all during High School. The first thing I did when I moved out?...you guessed it.

Shooter

Yep...I've had the press for 20+ years & bought it mainly because of it's strength. My bench uses an old sewing machine cabinet for the base...the top is a little better than 2'X4' and is built of 2" thick solid oak...made it back in the '70's...pretty stout.

Tired of trying to figure out how to multi-quote, so:

Olafhardt- I did seriously consider posting this in the "Idiots" thread. Certainly qualifies:oops:

Rangefinder- I was pretty sure that I was not the first to accomplish this...got you beat though. I took mine down .023 I am still planning on loading the mistakes up in some .44 cases and running them through one of my Super Blackhawks. You never know, eh?

Best......John

[SlippShodd]

Well...I read your Rules for Precision & figured I was OK:oops:

Ooh, I LIKE this guy! :razz:

mike

[WaywardSon]

Ooh, I LIKE this guy! :razz:

mike

And here I was thinking nobody noticed:mrgreen:

[codeNshoot]

My Lee .309 sizer did something similar, though far less dramatic.

Boolits were around .310, after sizing they were around .307. After trying to seat a gas check on the first one, I knew I had to fix it.

I had a copper ring like you were getting with the lead. Gas check looked like I put it on with a sledge hammer in the dark.

Read Buckshot's article and opened it up to the marked diameter.

At least now you don't have to cast any .44 for a little while :smile:

[22lover]

Just promise not to weigh powder charges at 1:30am after falling asleep at the computer!

[WaywardSon]

Just promise not to weigh powder charges at 1:30am after falling asleep at the computer!

Yep...after figuring out what I had done with these bullets, the possibility of making that kind of mistake was the first thing to enter my mind. Could have been worse.

[casterofboolits]

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt! Forgot to switch out the 10mm pick up insert for the 45 insert for the transfer bar on my Magma Lube Master one day and had a few 225 Lymn RN's sized to 401 and a tube of lube with bullets in it spurt out the bottom! Made a heck of a thump when pushing the boolits thru. 20 minute clean up too!