Top punch for .454 Casull projectile

[CharlieHunter]

I have just bought a Ruger SRH in .454 Casull. Because ammo and projectiles aren't readily available over here I'm going to have to make my own. I thinking of ordering in a Lee C452-300-RF mould. I have an RCBS lube matic. Does anyone know what top punch would work best for that projectile?
Any thoughts on sizing the projectile vs using it as it drops from the mould? Intend to use wheelweights hardened by quenching.

[44man]

Darn, I thought I could help because I have one that fits good. I kept trying to find a number and then remembered I made the thing on my lathe. I checked my others and no. 424 fits close.
To make it fit better you can start a boolit without a gas check into the die with a flat piece of metal under the ram so you don't mess up the meplat. Then grease the nose, or wax it or use mold release. Then put epoxy in the punch after degreasing it good. Install it and set it down on the boolit and let it get hard. Wipe off excess epoxy once the punch is seated on the boolit so it won't have to be cleaned up when the stuff is hard.
They shoot fine without sizing but you still have to seat the gas check in the die by just pushing the boolit in a little way. I use a .452 die. My boolits expand to .453 after aging.

[chunkum]

Your question is a good one and likely someone here has the answer. A flat end generic punch from a machinist would be one alternative.
Not knowing your cylinder throat diameter it's hard to say if not-sizing is a viable alternative. With the gas check version, it's entirely possible that a plain WW/2%Tin alloy will be all you'll need as far as hardness is concerned.
Best Regards,
chunkum

[Dale53]

I use a simple flat punch the largest that I can get that is not bigger than the meplat. In fact, I typically can use a single flat punch on several different caliber bullets (if they are flat nosed, of course).

Dale53

[44man]

I also use a flat punch for a few boolits and it helps to wipe a film of sizing lube on the boolit nose. Let's it slide a little as it enters the die.

[454PB]

I too made my own top punch, but I read somewhere (maybe here?) that the RCBS 600 punch works.

My Ruger SRH has .452" throats. Any boolit bigger than that will not chamber.

By the way, that boolit is an excellent performer in .454 Casull.

[454PB]

It was this post:
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=19397

And it was for the .44 caliber version of that same Lee design. I have both designs, but the top punch I made was for the .45 caliber one. It fits both designs. The only caveat is that the .45 punch won't enter my .430 to .432 sizers. That isn't a problem for me, the boolit is so long the top punch doesn't need to enter the sizer.

[CharlieHunter]

Thanks to everyone who answered my question. Its given me a lot of useful info.