H & I Die trouble shooting

[mrblue]

I'm sizing my boolits and seem to be hitting some snags. I have a heater going, and I put the boolit down into the sizer give the reservoir a few cranks and bring the boolit back up. Well i get that about half fill the lube grooves up. The other half seem to leave the top lube groove empty. Do the dies need cleaning? If i put them down any further they tend to lube the top of the boolit as well. Any tips?

Can i get this moved? Posted wrong sections LOL

[Rich/WIS]

Adjust how far the bullets are going into the die, lube holes in die may not be lining up well with lube grooves in bullet.

[louism]

Wrong forum by the way.
My Lyman did that to me the other day. Took a while to figure it out but the prints on the plus her were worn and the plunger was spinning in the bore rather then tightening down to add preasure. Replaced the rings and all is well.

[Ed in North Texas]

If I understand your post, you are saying you are getting proper fill on all the lube grooves on one side of the die, and proper fill on all but the top groove on the other side. It sure sounds to me like you need to pull that H&I die and clean it out completely. It should not be an issue of the bullet not seating fully in the die, the top groove is filling on one side. It shouldn't be the seal on the piston of the pressure screw - you are getting complete fill on one side. I think it is unlikely (possible, but less likely than the die being plugged up) that one side of the tool is plugged up, because you are getting complete fill on most of the lube grooves on that side.

I'd pull the die and clean it (heat or boil it out when my wife was out of the house). :???:

When was the last time the entire tool was cleaned out? If it's been 20 or 30 years, maybe it is time to clean it up completely and put new seals on the piston too. Don't ask.

[338RemUltraMag]

The easiest way to troubleshoot is to boil it out then if the problem persists check something else, but 90% of the time a 15 minute boil makes things right again.

[454PB]

It's easier to clean the die than the whole luber. Remove the die and warm it up with a propane torch, it doesn't take much and all the old lube will run out. You can then inspect the lube holes and do more cleaning if required.

[Hawkeye45]

Be careful with that torch...I know too well. I used a hair dryer until I got a heat gun at HF . While the die is out scoop out, or melt out the lube on the side that is not filling. Reassemble and try again.

Mr. Ed

[MGySgt]

easiest way to clean the die - I use a pyrex measuring cup and will it witrh water - put in microwave for 3 minutes on high - take out of microway and put the H&I die in cup. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Everything comes right out!

[myg30]

+1 on a cup of real hot water, the plunger will drop out and clean the holes. If you can re install it while its warm it makes it easier to push into the lube.

Be safe, Mike