Cast 45 acp and Hornady bullet feed

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Good morning. Just thought I would pop this in here.
I have been playing with some Hornady bullet feed dies. I have one for 38/357 and 45 acp.

I got the 38/357 one dropping cast bullets pretty much right away.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8583.jpg

The 45 one actually drops the bullets smoother but I found that on both my presses, the cases like to catch on the lip of the die. This mashes them up bad.
I dinked around last night with both my presses trying to get it adjusted so that the case would enter perfectly strait.
Yea like thats gona happen.

I gave up on that and started to look at the die.
I have always been of the opinion Hornady leaves the lip of their dies to flat.

Here you can see there is a very slight bevel on the lip of the die. not much of one but it is just enough to piss you off.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8593.jpg

Here is the die after I ground a new bevel into the lip. This solved that problem. It guides the cases in with out a hang. I suppose if the cases were belled for jacketed loads that would not have been an issue. But for the cast bullets to actually stay in the case mouth. You need it wider.
It was not off by much. Just enough.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8595.jpg

tried it in both my presses and not one hang or catch. now she drops them perfect.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8596.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8598.jpg

Time to put the seating die back on and lube some more bullets.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8597.jpg

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Yup that was the ticket. She works pretty good.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8602.jpg

[LeadBrain]

Just curious how well do the bullet feed dies work with cast boolits and if you had to modify them to be able to feed cast boolits? Are there any issues with the lube on cast?

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Just curious how well do the bullet feed dies work with cast boolits
It works really well for me. Is it perfect????? No its not but of all the things I have tried its pretty dang good.


and if you had to modify them to be able to feed cast boolits?

Yes you need to polish both collets A and B. Collet A very little if at all.
Collet B is the one that makes the whole thing work. It is sized at .451 for 45 acp. You need to polish it out to .452

Stick a bullet in collet A. It should hold. Insert a case in the bottom of the collet. If the bullet drops onto the case. All done. It may not need any polishing at all.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8558.jpg

Next insert a bullet into collet B. It needs to just drop through the collet.
If it does not ( it wont) Polish it a little bit at a time until it does.
I used a Piece of fine grit Emery cloth wrapped around a bore brush. Insert that into a drill if needed.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8566.jpg



Are there any issues with the lube on cast?


Sure there is. The softer the lube the more it gets gummed up.
I mitigate that problem by putting some bullets into a zip lock bag and dropping about a spoon full of Mica powder in and then shake the bag.
This coats the bullets and put a crust on the lube.
Still need to clean the collets after a couple hundred.

[LeadBrain]

Thanks for the Info. I am looking at this and the RCBS die to help speed things up alittle.

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Do not buy the RCBD Tube bullet feed die. I have that one for 45 ACP.
Even though RCBS states it will work with cast bullets. IT WILL NOT!!!

It is a completely inferior design. Plus they cost more.

I will say it works excellent with jacketed and plated bullets.

Here is the RCBS die on the right and the Hornady die on the left.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8555.jpg

Even with Hard lube bullets the plastic drop fingers catch exactly inside the lube groove and prevent the bullet from dropping.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8441.jpg

It is a stupid design.

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Here is where you go to get the rigid plastic tubes to use with the Hornady dies.

http://www.lnt.com/product/plumbing-parts/11442-504991/rigid-plastic-tubing.html

The 7/16ths tubes fit the 38/357 die.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8570.jpg

The 9/16ths tubes fit the 45 die. Although I do feel this tube is too wide for the bullets. Pointed bullets cock at a angle.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8597.jpg

It looks like the 1/2 inch OD tube will fit inside the 9/16ths tube. I was thinking of sleeving a 1/2 inch tube inside a short piece of 9/16ths tube.
The 9/16th part fits the die and the 1/2 in fit the bullets.

You do need something above the press to support the tube. They are too thin to self support at the top.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8562.jpg

[LeadBrain]

Great info. Too late on the Rcbs die I already had one on order, but if nothing else I will use it for Jacketed and get a Hornady for Cast. Now I need to come up with a low cost case feeder!