Lubesizers?

[Jeff82]

Just curious. For those who use lubesizers, what convinced you to make the investment as compared to pan lubing or roll lubing liquid Alox? Has it been worth it?

[Lefty SRH]

TIME TIME TIME, yes its been worth every penny! Especially if you can find a used one in decent shape. I didn't enjoy pan lubing, messy and time consuming.

[GRUMPA]

I started out with a lube sizer from almost day 1. I have done the LLA and didn't care for it 1 bit, and I have done the pan lube bit but always liked using the Lube sizer. Although I do size them and then lube them afterwards, takes just a bit more time but I like the way they turn out after I'm all done with them.

[NoZombies]

For me it was the time savings over pan-lubing, and the cleanliness compared to tumble lubing.

I have more than one push-through sizer, and several of the old push-pull types. I do still occasionally tumble lube, but now exclusively with recluse-lube, and only for my TL only bullets.

[ReloaderFred]

When I started casting bullets there weren't any tumble lubes. You either pan lubed and made your own cookie cutter, or used a Lyman sizer. I chose the Lyman, but now own Saeco, RCBS and Star machines, in addition to the original Lyman. They're just cleaner and faster for me, especially the Star machines.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[dragon813gt]

One came up for a good price here so I bought it. I really don't need it as TL works fine for me. Also haven't used it since it just arrived yesterday. I bought it to see what all the fuss is about :)


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[dragonrider]

With my Star there is no mess. And it is so much easier that using a Lyman or RCBS.

[1874Sharps]

What the guys above said is right! The lubrisizer is so much handier and if you are doing any volume work, it is indispensible. I really hate getting lube all over my fingers as happens in pan lubing.

GRUMPA: That is quite the avatar you have. I have heard of leap frog but never "leap sheep"!

[PS Paul]

Cleanliness, convenience, enhanced accuracy in my pistols and rifles(!) and CONTROL over what i create and shoot to eliminate variables would be the reasons for me. Especially after tumble-lubing, pan lubing, cake-cutting, loading grooves with my fingers, JPW with my fingers, dipping loaded cartridges into oil/vaseline/JPW at the range just before shooting (greasy, to be sure) and so on. Now I control variables and don't find lube on my clothes or in the kitchen. NOR do I find my wife screamin' at me any more becasue I used one of her good pans AGAIN OR the horrible smell AGAIN permeating the house. I could go on, but you get the picture, I believe!!
PS Paul

[plainsman456]

I never pan lubed before i started casting.
I traded for a bunch of molds and 2 lube/sizers one a RCBS and the other a star.
I use the RCBS for rifle and the star for pistol.
When you need volume the star seems the best.
I have heaters for both but just use a bench light when starting.

[rainy191]

i also started with a rcbs and now just have a star. my reason behind this is its too time consuming to do any other way for me.
just because i made the decision of faster, dosent mean its better. just my preferance and less messy as i dont have a garage

[MT Chambers]

My fav. is the Star, where you lube, size and seat the gas check with one pull of the handle, after trying this I can't imagine anyone going back to pan lubing or tumble lubing, or the Lee push through idea. I make up alot of bullets and shoot most everyday, the idea of going through that messy 3 step procedure, with melting the lube, then spilling it or tumbling bullets that will look like **** and having to wait 24 hrs. to use them, not gonna happen!!!

[94Doug]

I bought a lubsizer before I had any idea what I was getting into. I have read interesting aricles on the 'net with minimal cost projects like a surplus rifle, with a lee mould and campstove, push through sizer and tumble lube....and I think that is a great approach. It's just that I like the whole science aspect too, with the sizer, I can have 4 sizers in each caliber, and try to find the one that is going to work for MY rifle.

Doug

[odis]

I have 2 RCBS lube sizers, one for BAC and the other for Red. I like them for my handgun boolits. Using them for my rifle Boolits has turned out to be less then satisfactory, one molds boolit even comes out bent so I ordered the Perfessors push through kit that I can use with my dies and have excellent boolits now and will be pan lubing them as soon as the lube arrives in the mail. Never done it before should be interesting.

[.30/30 Guy]

When I started I tried pan lubing ONCE. I quickly got a Lyman 45 and was happy with it.

Then I saw a Star in operation. Exit the Lyman and enter the Star. Once you use a Star it is difficult considering using anything else.

[Shiloh]

Got mine dirt cheap years before I started casting. I knew that one day I would cast just about everything I shoot. My vision came true.

Shiloh

[40Super]

I started pan lubing, figuring its a cheap way of lubing and the end result would be the same as with a lubrisizer. A month after starting I was looking for a lubrisizer. Pan lubing got irritating very,very quick. Messy, lube all over the bullet(mostly the base) that I had to wipe off,every single bullet. As long as I buy only PB molds, the Lyman 450 I found used, is working grest. Someday I hope to get a Star or, if time permits, I have my own luder/sizer design in my Auto Cad that I want to make using my old Partner SS press.

[Jeff82]

Since my Lee Liquid Alox solutions is not working, I've decided to get a lubrsizer, any suggestions?

It's coming down to an RCBS with heater or Lyman 4500 with heater, $50 difference.

[94Doug]

Don't rule out a used 45 ideal/lyman. Good starting unit. Does most anything asked within reason.

Doug

[PS Paul]

I got a very nice Lyman 450 from a forum member here- $90.00 shipped with .452 sizing die, 3 different top punches and several sticks of different lubes. A bargain, in my estimation, and a chance to get to know a member here. I would bet if you posted "WTB- Lubrisizer" you would get one of the members who is sitting on the fence over a star sizer to finally take the plunge and sell his off? I would just about guarantee there ae at least a dozen folks on this forum who are in that position right now.

[Bent Ramrod]

I never could get pan lubing to work like it does in the books. The cake would break as easily as it would let the boolits be pressed out, some of the grooves would shed part of their lube in the pressing process, and about halfway through any reasonable bunch of boolits my nose or my scalp would start to itch. A lot of things got lubricated in those sessions but none of them very well.

A Lachmiller Lube-A-Matic was on the closeout shelf at Jensen's Custom Ammunition for $20 around 1976 or so. One of the most cost-effective purchases I've ever made.

I still have to tumble lube some tapered boolits and heeled boolits. It isn't as bad as pan lubing, but still not something I look forward to.

[Wayne Smith]

Pan lubing worked fine when I was casting for one caliber and it was a long boolit. When I got up to five calibers it's not so much fun anymore - especially with .38 wadcutters. I now have a eBay sourced Lyman 450 with a modified Emmerts in it and a RCBS with speed green in it. Got that off eBay, too.

[40Super]

If you find a used non-heated lubrisizer,like mine was. I took a 1inch aluminum block and drill a .375(I think thats the size) down the center and mounted it between the base and workbench. I bought the heater from Lyman and it goes into the hole, I now have a heated unit.

[Awsar]

was given a lyman 45 ideal so its all i know works well and it was free :)

[largom]

No tumble lubing when I started casting. I pan lubed for a while then acquired a Lyman lube/sizer. I now have 6, just can't pass up a deal when they go cheap. Bought a Lyman/Ideal #45 a couple weeks ago for $1.00 at an estate auction.

Larry

[TXGunNut]

A Lyman 4500 was part of my initial kit. It works for some boolits, LLA works for others. Haven't even ventured into hard lubes and heaters yet but I have the hardware.

[gbrown]

A long time ago, I started lubing and sizing using a Star. I got out of casting for about 15 years and then got back in. I learned about pan lubing and tumble lubing from this forum. Have done both. Have no problem with either, but with pan lubing, there is a volume issue. With a Star, which I have, I can really go through a bunch of boolits, quickly. Have no problem with any of it. Enjoy it all. It all depends on the mindset of the person involved. In a hurry, or not?

[canyon-ghost]

A friend introduced me to silhouette shooters, they showed me their reloading set ups, the first one I used was a Lyman Turret and #55 measure. I got the Lyman book and Master Casting Kit. I didn't even know there was any other way except for the way Lyman showed. Now I have two of the Kit and turn out more than I can shoot.

The same guys started me into casting as started my entire reloading experience. We had some really great conversations in the afternoon sunshine about it. This forum taught me what pan lube and tumble lube is about. I don't plan to start either one. It's enough work to run a bunch of presses to get ammunition, never mind a simpler approach than that.

Good Luck,
Ron

Sorry, as to your question, yes, it's been worth it. I like my Lyman 4500 with heat and Carnuba Red, it all works in whatever caliber I need. I enjoy what I have immensely and load 100 rounds at a time in 22 hornet, 32-20, 32 mag, 9mm, 41 mag, and 44 Special.

[MtGun44]

If you do small quantities and have a lot of time, pan lubing is cheap to set up and
works just fine.

If you want to do a greater quantity in a shorter time a RCBS or Lyman lubrisizer will be
faster and much less messy.

If you are going to turn out mass quantities of the same boolit - a Star is the way to go.
It can be a bit fiddly to set up - you have to plug excess or improperly located holes in
the die with lead shot, and adjust it so the shot of lube is delivered exactly to the lube
grooves, but once adjusted - you can just rip through them, and no mess at all.

Swapping between a single groove boolit and a multi-groove in the same diam will mean
drilling out the lead shot or adding it - depending on which way you are going, so fiddly
again, unless you buy extra dies and leave them dedicated to one type of boolit.

Lyman and RCBS are far simpler and quicker to set up, but are ultimately a good bit
slower for productuion of large quantities than a Star, but far, far faster than pan lubing.

It comes down to bux to spend and quantities to lube.

I have a RCBS, two Lyman and two Stars. Stars are pretty much dedicated to the most
common three or four boolits and the others do all the other boolits that are loaded in much
smaller quantity.

Bill

[Blacksmith]

I just got a Ideal/Lyman 45 I paid a bit too much for it but it came with several sticks of lube, three sizing die and top punch sets, a set of reloading dies, several .50 Cal ammo cans, 5 molds, 8 pounds of assorted powders, 14 boxes of J word bullets, several hundred once fired brass in several calibers, about a thousand primers, one Ruger Blackhawk in .357, and a holster.

[captaint]

After tumble lubing for a while when I got started, that got old. My boolit seaters were getting gunked up and I wasn't happy. When I decided to get a lubesizer, I got a Star because it made sense that the boolit went through the die nose first and no top punches are required. I would buy the Star again, love it... enjoy Mike

[km101]

After some research, I was convinced that a lube/sizer was the way to go! Started out with one and it worked well, so I bought another. Have one for hard lube and one for soft. They have worked so well I have never tried TL or pan lubing.

It's clean, easy and fast. What's not to like?

[km101]

I just got a Ideal/Lyman 45 I paid a bit too much for it but it came with several sticks of lube, three sizing die and top punch sets, a set of reloading dies, several .50 Cal ammo cans, 5 molds, 8 pounds of assorted powders, 14 boxes of J word bullets, several hundred once fired brass in several calibers, about a thousand primers, one Ruger Blackhawk in .357, and a holster.
__________________
Blacksmith


Blacksmith: Has your brother-in-law sobered up and missed all that stuff yet? :)

[jcwit]

Started with tumble lubing, got tired of excess lube being on the seating plunger and having to clean it off as the bullets kept getting seated deeper and deeper.