Sizing is Boring

[Danderdude]

I absolutely love casting. It's mentally engaging, dangerous and risky.

Lately I find myself putting off lubesizing on my LAM2, though. While casting can be repetitive, sizing is doubly so and I'm finding it harder and harder to sit still for a 2000 boolit session. The radio isn't cutting it, and my mind wanders to strange and exotic locales.

Am I the only one with this problem, and how do yall cope with it?

[Walter Laich]

Nope, it's the least favorite part of casting for me, too.

Every so often I put a bullet in upside down so I can break the monotony and have some lube to clean up :)

[Longwood]

Nope,,,

[Dennis Eugene]

Hated sizeing on my Lam II, got a star and it is much, much better much much faster. Not any where near as much as a chore as it once was. Dennis

[RobS]

It's not the most exciting for sure..........if you stick your finger on top of the boolit and then pull down on the handle it'll become more eye-opening. :mrgreen:

[jameslovesjammie]

I dread sizing...and I have a Star.

[theperfessor]

I've often thought that the one-armed bandits in gaming centers should be bullet sizers in disguise.

[btroj]

Beats the heck out of trimming cases?

[thegreatdane]

Put on some engaging talk or podcast on. Keeps your mind working.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[Rockchucker]

Hated sizeing on my Lam II, got a star and it is much, much better much much faster. Not any where near as much as a chore as it once was. Dennis

Ditto!

[Inkman]

I was thinking that if i bought a Star it would be less of a chore at a slightly higher cost over time. Then it comes to balancing out the cost of the Star and costs of lube compared to tumble lubing. I am still at the point where i want to keep things as low cost as possible. The Lee sizer and tumble lubing does that for now, but i still despise sizing boolits with the Lee sizer even though it works fine.

Al

[Horace]

I have a hard time sitting for 2000 of anything!

Moderation is the key word.......or maybe STAR sizer.

Horace

[mooman76]

I have a TV in my garage so I can have it going while working. More of a background thing going on than anything but it helps with those less favorable tasks.

[Char-Gar]

I have stood and sat for many, many hours lubingl and sizing bullets on first the Lyman 45 and now three 450s. It has just become a part of of what I do and I do not find it boring, uninteresting or whatever.

Just yesterday I was at the range shooting one of my 1911s (45 ACP) and one of our shooter came over to talk and the conversation turned to handloads for our 45 autos. She said she tubled lubed in Alox as she didn't have time to lube with a machine. I doubt she doesn't have the hours, but just doesn't want to use her time like I use mine. Different times and different generations.

[9.3X62AL]

I don't size boolits until I'm ready to load ammo. For ammo being processed on the single-stage Rockchucker, I lube/size the boolit just prior to propping the boolit on the charged case's mouth for seating. For ammo being processed on the Ponsness-Warren semi-progressive, I size/lube 100-200 boolits just before I start the loading process, and have them sitting beside the machine ready to go.

I began this practice some years back to minimize dust and grit contamination of loaded ammo, but the method has the added effect of "breaking up" the size/lube process (Lyman 450) to some degree. I don't find sizing/lubing onerous, esp. after seeing how much money the j-words cost these days. As a retiree, I have more of a surplus of time than of cash. And most of my castings shoot as well or better than their jacketed counterparts.

ETA--my loading style has also to do with my shooting hobby profile--lots of calibers, and small to moderate amounts of each caliber. Only 4-5 each of my rifle and pistol calibers number more than 300 count, and 1-2 of each reach the 1K count number.

[1bluehorse]

"Lubing bullets is boring" ...........yes it is. Exceeded only by trimming rifle brass and cleaning primer pockets...:coffee:

[HDS]

I hate sizing and am upgrading to a star now, hopefully it'll be much less of a chore in the future. I also didn't like my results using LLA, maybe I did it wrong but man those rounds leaded a lot.

[Bigslug]

. . .and how do yall cope with it?

Led Zeppelin. John Bonham's non-repetitive drum style is a nice counterpoint to repetitive crank-pulling.

I have yet to find anything that works equally well for the soul-sucking endeavor known as case-trimming. There is no good way to trim cases.[smilie=b:

[GOPHER SLAYER]

While I hate both lubesizing and trimming cases, they are like German chocolate cake compared to annealing cases. To me at least.

[RydForLyf]

I lube as I load as a means of breaking it up. Lube a couple of hundred, crank out a couple hundred. Repeat....

-RFL

[Mk42gunner]

I tried to talk my daughter into running the LAM for me. Sadly, it didn't work.

So I do a few right before loading, and try not to have several hundred to do at once.

Robert

[David2011]

"Lubing bullets is boring" ...........yes it is. Exceeded only by trimming rifle brass and cleaning primer pockets...:coffee:

Couldn't have said it better. A TV or music helps. A Star luberisizer helps a LOT and your fingers are close enough to the action to encourage you to pay attention.

I just ordered 3,000 militiary 5.56 cases. I have a lot of boredom in front of me.

David

[1bluehorse]

I hate sizing and am upgrading to a star now, hopefully it'll be much less of a chore in the future. I also didn't like my results using LLA, maybe I did it wrong but man those rounds leaded a lot.

Your results with LLA pretty much mirrors my own...I have had a Star for several years now and guess what???? Sizing bullets is boring.........:bootgive:

[geargnasher]

No, fellas, PAN LUBING is boring!

The lubesizer is a fantastic machine, and smells good with the right lube in it.

Gear

[EMC45]

I thought I was the only one who detested trimming brass. I don't terribly mind sizing bullets. A bit tough on the feet standing there, but it's got to be done.

[dragonrider]

Pan lubing can cause catatonia, is that a word??. However I find lubing with my Star to be completely fascinating. It never ceases to amaze me how well sized and perfectly lubed my boolits are. Add a gas check and it becomes almost orgasmic. Weird?? perhaps but I find sizing and lubing with my Star to be completely enjoyable. If I had to go back to a Lyman or RCBS I would give up casting.

[MBTcustom]

Tumble lube is awesome and worth the time to get it right because you save in the end. That said, lube-sizing is a no-brainer. You pays your money and takes your choice.

[canyon-ghost]

I do a little smaller batches, 500 or so, weighed out. I wouldn't want to size 2000 at a time.

[1bluehorse]

Pan lubing can cause catatonia, is that a word??. However I find lubing with my Star to be completely fascinating. It never ceases to amaze me how well sized and perfectly lubed my boolits are. Add a gas check and it becomes almost orgasmic. Weird?? perhaps but I find sizing and lubing with my Star to be completely enjoyable. If I had to go back to a Lyman or RCBS I would give up casting.

dragonrider, I think you need to get off the farm a little more often....;)

[dragonrider]

[smilie=l:

[6bg6ga]

Having owned a very old tiresome sizer I purchased a Magma a few years and and equipped it with all the bells and whistles. It made sizing fun for me and I actually enjoy doing it now. I have covered coffee cans full of sized and lubed bullets ready for the reloading task.

[Longwood]

None of it is as boring as honey do's.

[RoGrrr]

Danderdude
As my good friend, Carmine, (Car dealer in the movie - ANIMAL HOUSE) said to Dean Wormer, "if you want the use of my free Oldsmobiles, You have to PAY !"

Well, all _I_ have to say is this - "Suck it up Cupcake !"

If you want the use of your "shootin iron" You have to PAY...

I size several hundred at a time and allow them to accumulate.
Now that I have a Bullet Master, I'll need to find an auto sizer. Until then, I guess I'll have to






SUCK IT UP, CUPCAKE !

[Freischütz]

For me priming cases takes the most boring prize.

[HDS]

No, fellas, PAN LUBING is boring!

The lubesizer is a fantastic machine, and smells good with the right lube in it.

Gear

That is the view I am trying to take. My pan lubing efforts have been quite horrendeous since the first lube I made was glen fryxells 50/50 moly lube and that stuff is so viscous even when hot that it just wouldn't flow, so I had some real kitchen disasters.

Last night I was told my order was ready and I plonked down the cash for a star.

[DRNurse1]

Unlike 9.3 x62AL, I load a lot in a few calibers.
I try to batch each of the separate prep tasks and then manufacture 1000 or so cartridges at a sitting. The manufacture step is on a progressive press so I don's have to separate the steps there.
Some of the stuff I can do sitting in my chair watching TV with my better half (she does not read this so maybe I can tell you the truth: listening to the TV my better half is watching and doing whatever small task is at hand). I sort and check cases from the tumbler, weigh my match boolits, and clean & box my cartridges after assembly. So I keep LOTS of empty coffee cans with tight lids and 7.62 and 50 cal ammo boxes. The key here is careful labeling of what in in the container and when I made the contents.
Just my $.02.

[Advil]

Sizing on the Star is ok, even though I don't have it quite all working smoothly and quickly yet.

If you compare any casting or reloading task against say... trimming half a bucket of 223 brass? Then EVERYTHING else seems FUN.

[runfiverun]

trimming brass is faster than sizing [if you are puttting on gas checks]
y'all are doing it wrong.
i trimmed over 300 223 cases sunday [after i watched the race]. tumbeled them clean [while i annealed about 600 308 cases], swaged the primer pockets, and loaded them.
then little girl went and shot about 100 of them.
today all the 308's got trimmed washed and tumbeled clean and the case mouths are champhered.
tomorrow is lube day for all the boolits.
started at 1 and dinner was at 4:30

[Stephen Cohen]

I've often thought that the one-armed bandits in gaming centers should be bullet sizers in disguise.

My mum and dad were addicted to those one armed bandits, I was a grown man before I realised people ate daily. Now that you have made the above statement I will never feel the same about sizing. Just Jokeing.

[paul h]

"Lubing bullets is boring" ...........yes it is. Exceeded only by trimming rifle brass and cleaning primer pockets...:coffee:

Yup, well said.

But, there is equipment that can ease those tasks. There are 3 in one trimmers that cut and deburr inside and outside the case, I need to get one of those cutter heads and rig it to my lathe as I have 100's of 223 cases that need such attention.

As to sizing, you can reduce the boredom to a degree by applying money to the problem. I'm just about to the point that a star sizer with bullet feeder and pneumatic lube feeder will be replacing my 450.

[1bluehorse]

trimming brass is faster than sizing [if you are puttting on gas checks]
y'all are doing it wrong.
i trimmed over 300 223 cases sunday [after i watched the race]. tumbeled them clean [while i annealed about 600 308 cases], swaged the primer pockets, and loaded them.
then little girl went and shot about 100 of them.
today all the 308's got trimmed washed and tumbeled clean and the case mouths are champhered.
tomorrow is lube day for all the boolits.
started at 1 and dinner was at 4:30

Soda Springs must be a nice little town....:bigsmyl2:

[runfiverun]

it is,unless you are trying to pick up brass at the range.
so far this year it's been 1 9mm, 20 40's ,about 8 45 gap's,and some 223 cases.
we have about 2,000 residents.
i know at least 10 that cast [and 5 of them are members here not including my family]
we have 2 gun stores in town and at least 2 others that sell ammo.
tuesday is pistol shoots, wed is the rifle shoots,sat is either levergun silhouette or 22 long range silhouette shoots.
the church had a pistol shoot last week for the kids.
i leave my keys in my vehicles,and i don't even have a key to my house.
taxes are pretty low,property values are not out of sight,and people tend to mind thier own business.
the hunting/fishing is pretty fair too.

[casterofboolits]

Not boring at all. I still have my Magma Lube Master and it does 4,000/hr.

[MT Chambers]

Using a fully equipped Star can be boring to do 2000 bullets, but only for an hour or so and you're done. I do it different then others, once the star is adjusted and set up, I do all I have cast(usually 1000 or more), so I don't have to do that bullet for a long time, in fact, I will cast up lots of other bullet of the same diameter, and run them as well, with no die change out. Prolly saved alot of time over the years, time i spend out shooting/hunting.

[slim400]

Just finished lube and sized 5000 125gr 9mm it was all day
and i have a star with bullet feeder right sholder is stiff now
and made me tired

dave

[Mal Paso]

Am I the only one with a TV behind the Sizer?

[Sonnypie]

I don't mind it so much.
My goal is to have containers of bullets ready to load. So I tend to work towards that end. Steps, steps, steps....
If something begins to become a chore, then I switch up sometimes. Like go make gas checks, then come back to sizing.
I usually do several hundred of something, +/-. Not thousands and thousands.
That'd be like baking 35 pounds of cookies, then you have to eat them all in one sitting. Yuk!

The better you do each step, the better those results down range.
Think of it like sex. If it's boring, you are probably doing it wrong. :bigsmyl2:

[alamogunr]

I don't mind lubing. Having said that, I have to explain that for years all I did was tumble lube handgun boolets. Never got into casting for rifles until recently. All that time I had a mental block about the use of a sizer/luber. I finally got it out, filled with NRA lube, and started. With a few suggestions and answers here, I was soon sizing and lubing. I guess overcoming my previous reluctance made it less of a chore than it is for some others. The only disappointment is that beeswax/Alox lube doesn't give you the colorful boolet that red/green/blue/pink lubes do. Also, the grooves(groves) on rifle boolets are much smaller than most handgun boolets so colors wouldn't make much difference anyway.

[Texasflyboy]

Lately I find myself putting off lubesizing on my LAM2, though. While casting can be repetitive, sizing is doubly so and I'm finding it harder and harder to sit still for a 2000 boolit session. The radio isn't cutting it, and my mind wanders to strange and exotic locales.

Am I the only one with this problem, and how do yall cope with it?

I coped by adopting Lee Liquid Alox. I lubed about 3,000 wadcutters today in about 15 minutes. No sizing required.

Have you tried to shoot your cast bullets as cast?

For the moulds I have that cast slightly over size, I have a Lee Factory Crimp die in the last station which ensures that the round will fit the chamber.

I am using my Star sizers less and less these days. Shooting more...which is good.

[dromia]

Yep it is tedious. However the thought that the alternative could be that I'm out shopping with the wife and daughter makes the sizing process effortless and fun. ;-) :D

[engineer401]

Sure it's boring. It may be a bit mind numbing. With that I enjoy all aspects if reloading. Not only is it a great escape it provides me with the satisfaction if creating something. I have no complaints.

[rollmyown]

It may be, but brass prep is a chore!!!