Lube sizer die question

[sigshooter]

I finally got my Lyman .452 die for the Lubsizer and I am generally pretty happy with it.

I do have a couple of questions though regarding the placement of the boolit.

I have been using a borrowed RCBS and I have noticed that there is a small chamfer or lead in to the sizing area of this die. There is nothing like that on the lyman, so boolit placement has to be perfect or it will shave off the base of the boolit. The only way I have been able to reliably set the boolit, is to lower the press with just the top punch and slightly push down the inner pin, then raise it back up most of the way so that the pin is not pushed up, then I am able to seat the boolit without a problem.

I do have a small lathe and carbide bits, so my question is, would it be advisable to put a very small 30 degree lead in to this die? Is there another alternative?

I have not found a way to adjust the mechanism so that the internal pin does not come up flush to the top. Is there some way of doing that?

The only other thing that I could think of is to shorten the lower pin, but since the issue is only on one of my dies so far, I think that it would require making a new pin. Maybe this is preferable to molesting a brand new die?

Thanks for any input.

SIG

[theperfessor]

The older Lyman dies did not have any lead in as you have noticed. It is a simple matter with a lathe and some abrasive cloth to put a little taper on the mouth of the die.

Check the adjusting mechanism under the die on the luber to see if that helps adjust the pin position. But a little chamfer on the die mouth will do a lot of good.

[sigshooter]

Thanks Perfessor,

I have tried everything I can in the adjustment arena, so I think it's going off to the garage.

Just a note, it's not just the older ones, this one is brandy spankin new, edges so sharp I could cut a finger.

I would not have let it out of the shop like that. Not even a quickie break edge on it.

Thanks again, I will post results and hopefully before and after pics.

SIG

[454PB]

The center pin should not be flush with the top of the die. With your lathe, you can quickly turn off about .100".

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yep, as 454PB said,
Take a tenth or so off the bottom of the center pin.

[paul h]

The lyman sizers will be much easier to use with a slight chamfer and a shorter pin. When the pin comes up flush and with no leade, it's very easy to size a bullet off center.

[sigshooter]

Thanks again for all the replies.

I found the solution.

First I cleaned up the bottom of the pin removing about .100
87378

Then chamfered a small bit of the opening
87379

This gave me the same basic problem, except that there is now a bit of clearance at the top of the die.
87380

After looking around at the machine, I saw that no matter how much I trimmed the bottom of the pin, there was entirely too much lower drive pin length, and I would have to trim off about an inch of the pin to compensate. Not an option.

So the final solution, as inelegant as it may be, is shown below.
87381
87382

At some point, I will make a nice bushing to replace the washers, but for now, it's cold out there and it works.

Best regards,
SIG

[454PB]

When that return pin is all the way up, it has a flat flange that should touch the bottom of the die body and stop any further upward movement. At that point, the "I" ejecting pin within the die should be about .10" below the top of the die. I wonder if somebody has replaced the return pin (the piece that is within the threaded adjustment rod) and either made it too long or failed to leave a flange to limit movement?

If so, the solution would be to replace that return pin with one of proper design.

I own two 450's, one was bought cheap at a gunshow and was missing that return pin. I installed a 5/16" bolt with the hex head at the top and cut the bolt to the desired length. The hex head acts as the "stop flange". If a bolt is too crude for you, you can easily turn one on your lathe.

[C.F.Plinker]

Next time you have the center pin (I punch) in the lathe center drill the top of it until there is only 1/32" to 1/16" rim left. Then through drill the center punch. The narrow rim lets the boolit seat better and reduces the chance of getting lube under the boolit. If you do get some lube under the boolit the through hole gives it a place to go.

If you have access to the old NRA Cast Bullets book look on page 49 for a picture of this. The write-up is on page 48.

[sigshooter]

After 454PB's comment, I feel like a complete idiot.

I looked at the drive pin, and yes it has a flange, it was on the bottom.

It worked fine on the 9mm because the pin was big enough to stop on the main part of the die, but of course was too small for the .452 die.

I have never had one of these before, and that is the way it was put together when I got it, so I figured that was the way it was supposed to go. Once I took it all back apart and put the pin in correctly it worked perfectly without the stack o' washers.

SIG

[454PB]

Great, glad you found the problem.

Don't feel bad, if you've never used a piece of equipment and you have no owner's manual, it takes time to figure it out.