New guy with questions?????

[fanner 50]

Ok so today it rained and the honey do's went away and I cast some bullets. My first. I have a Lyman 4500 and here are the questions; 1. When lube/sizeing I sometimes get a lot of lube under the base of the bullet. Is this a adjustment problem or just something to deal with? 2. I put the whole stick of Lyman lube in the 4500. How do you remove it to try another type? Do you just have to use it all up? 3. I tried re smelting the sprues and it failed miserably every one had a flaw in the nose of the bullet so I scraped them. What do others do? I know to you old timers this seems silly but I have read everything I can get my hands on and still have these questions. Oh! - Bullets functioned well and gave very nice groupe at 25 yds. Thanks in advance - F50

[Bass Ackward]

1. When lube/sizeing I sometimes get a lot of lube under the base of the bullet. Is this a adjustment problem or just something to deal with? 2. I put the whole stick of Lyman lube in the 4500. How do you remove it to try another type? Do you just have to use it all up? 3. I tried re smelting the sprues and it failed miserably every one had a flaw in the nose of the bullet so I scraped them.



1. Toughy because the answer can go both ways. If it is building up under there, then yes you have a depth issue as your base is probably stopped at the next hole down. But you will always get a film to some degree. But another possibility is that you have too much pressure in the well too. Try backing off that and see what happens.

2. That first stick pretty much went into the well around your die and it will soon be time for another. You can either use it up or set the 4500 outside in the sun or any of a couple of hundred other ways until you get it out. All methods are sortta messy and fall under the PIA category. That's why I have 5 lubrisizors now for the lubes I want to use.

3. Never add sprue when casting as it will need to be fluxed which continues to allow time to cool your mold, plus it lowers the temp of your melt which I suspect is the reason for your nose defects. IF you had a thermometer, you would see this. If you add enough, you will see it solidify and then take time to reheat.

A lot of times when guys complain that their molds take an awful long time to heat up and they have 50 throws before they start to get good bullets, you know the problem is that they didn't wait for their melt to get up to temp and they were just wasting their time. Gotta love those thermometers.

[montana_charlie]

3. I tried re smelting the sprues and it failed miserably every one had a flaw in the nose of the bullet so I scraped them. What do others do?
Everybody throws the sprues back in the pot (along with any reject bullets) and makes new bullets from them. Nobody throws them away.

Your nose defects stem from a cleanliness/temperature/technique issue...not the alloy in the sprues.
CM

[dromia]

I'm not quiet sure what you are meaning by No. 3, what exactly did you do with the sprues?

Changing lubes in a sizer is a bugger, I've got 3 sizers at present and need a couple more for all my different lube types, also have one dedicated to making lube ribbons for the old .577/.450 and other BPCR rounds.

Getting all the kit is part of the fun, boys and their toys as they say! :-D

[felix]

If you are using the dipper method, then dropping the sprues back into the pot as you open the mold, no problem. The dipper will remix the sprues continually. If you are using a bottom pour, the implication is speed of production. Let the sprues pile up, and then during break time, put all the sprues back into the pot, and reflux. Do not put the sprues back into the pot when your break time is short. Empty the entire pot without stirring the metal in the pot, while keeping the pot metal covered with something like kitty-litter, baking soda, sawdust, on whatever to keep the metal hot and away from air. ... felix

[fanner 50]

Thanks guys it sounds like I didn't make too many mistakes. I do have the reject bullets and some sprues left for the next time and I'll mix them in (I don't throw anything away according to my wife).Looks like I'll have to buy another Lube sizer or design one that can be easily cleaned.This is a great hobby I wish I had found years ago. Thanks again - F50

[montana_charlie]

1. When lube/sizeing I sometimes get a lot of lube under the base of the bullet. Is this a adjustment problem or just something to deal with?
This is so 'basic' I thought someone would have answered it before now.

The first thing to do to prevent lube from getting under the bullet base is to keep firm downward pressure on the press handle when cranking in the lube. This is where having a well-matched top punch is important.

Secondly, go lightly with the ratchet wrench. Depending on the lube, it doesn't take much force to make it flow into the grooves. (And it's better (IMO) to reinsert the bullet for an extra tweak than to have pressurized lube squirting into (and out of) every crack it can find.)
Crank the wrench till it wants to stop, pause a second, then see if it will crank just a bit more with no real force applied. That second gentle 'push' seems to catch the grooves which did not completely fill with the main application.

If that second crank is done with considerable force, the lube will be under heavy pressure...and it will squirt under the bullet base when you lift the press handle to eject the bullet.

You really want pressure in the system to have dropped to zero when you lift the handle.

As for depth adjustment, set it no deeper than necessary to fill the top groove.
The ejector pin should block any unused holes below your bullet.
CM

[leftiye]

As Mt says, just enough pressure to fill the grooves. I work up to this pressure with a boolit pushed down several times. When you get enough pressure, then just tighten the ratshet a notch or maybe two every several boolits lubed.

You could pan lube, and use lee sizers in your loading press to try out or use other lubes rather than cleaning out the lubrisizer. It REALLY is a b!*#*h to change lubes!

I use a separate pot to melt and flux metal which then goes into the casting furnace. All sprues and rejects go in this pot. A cast iron sauce pan, or basting pot (like barbecue fanatics use) on top of an electric hot plate works for this. I keep both pots covered with crushed charcoal to keep oxygen away from the metal. Really give some thought to getting a thermometer!

[1hole]

The tips given above on maintaining handle pressure while lubing are good. Experiment with just how little wrench torque it takes to fill your lube grooves, it will surprise you how little lube pressure is needed with most lubes. AND, if the lube is a good one, you really only need to fill the grooves to about 80% anyway.

Check your muzzle after firing a few rounds. If you have excessive lube it will collect on the crown as a soft goo.

My solution to using other lubes is simple; I don't. The old NRA formula of 50-50 Alox and Beeswax works so well I've never felt a need to change, not since first using it in '66. I did wear out a #45 Lyman luber and replaced it with a #450 in '78 but kept using the Alox lube, any brand is good enough.