New here

[trappershrek]

Hello all,

I am new here, been lurking for a while now and decided to finally join. I started casting last year with a lee electric pot and a lee tumble lube mold.

I now want to step up to better molds and start lubing with a lube sizer. Is there anything a need to watch out for when buying a RCBS or Lyman?

Whats the best lube to use in these, and do I have to have a heater?

[Bzcraig]

Welcome aboard! So far I have used the tumble lube method only but am getting real interested in powder coating instead of lubing. Lots of lubesizer users will be along soon.

[gmsharps]

Either machine is a good machine depending on your likes. You see them coming up for sale on the site on a regular basis and a used one is just fine. There is a lot of preferences for lube but the Whites lube is hard to beat especially for the price http://www.lsstuff.com/ . Their BAC and 2500 usually do not need a heater depending on the temp outside. Always keep your eyes open to uprade your stuff as you never know when you may stumble on a deal. If you shoot a lot of a specific bullet a Star may be in your future. Those are great machines and can be found at reasonable prices on some occasions but you have to act fast when you do find it. Make sure you read the stickies as there is a lot of great information to be found there. Welcome to the forum.

gmsharps

[CGT80]

I use the RCBS LAM I which is the earlier version. It works great. I use a lyman lube heater and White Label Cred lube. It needs heat, but it isn't very sticky. It gets up to 105-110 in the summer where I am. I like to store the boolits in bulk. People who use softer lubes, often stack the bullets neatly to keep the lube from traveling. I now buy the Cred in 1 pound bricks and just melt it in a metal coffee can and pour it into the RCBS LAM I. It is the cheapest way and works better than the little sticks.

I love my new NOE aluminum mold. It is a 5 cavity 30 cal. I also really like my MP brass mold. It is 4 cavity and makes hollow points. The brass is heavier and the hp's require a nice hot mold to drop properly. I added a mold shelf under my lee 20 pound pot so the mold is supported nicely. I used both molds tonight and the brass mold was much easier to use than when I held it myself. RCBS steel molds are nice as well, but only two cavity. These all drop nice sized boolits. Lee is said to be hit and miss and seems to run small quite often.

The ballisticast mark VI is similar to a star sizer. I have been eyeballing the star and mark VI. The mark VI is supposed to be stronger than the star and works better when you have boolits that need to be reduced a fair amount in diameter. It is a very nice looking and running unit, from watching videos of it. The star is very well liked as well. The RCBS is really not bad to use, once you get it figured out and adjusted, and I don't do a high volume of casting..........................but the push through sizers are just so fast.

I built a PID controller for my lee 20 pound pot. The lee 20 is great and I would never go back to a 10 pound pot. Heck even 20 runs out too fast. The pid keeps the temp right where you want it. It makes casting much more enjoyable. You just have to dump the sprues back in as you go. A handful or more of lead at once will cool it and they you have to wait again. Also, use a hotplate to heat your molds, if you don't already. Hot molds drop nice boolits very quickly. The more you can control the variables, the more consistent the boolits will be. I like slightly frosty boolits as it tells me they should be filled out nicely and the lube will stick well. Very frosty means too hot of a mold. They can shrink more and I have had them crack as they cool.

When I get going, I can use welding gloves and open the sprues with my hand and drop them back in the pot. I use a light weight hammer with soft plastic tips to tap the handles when needed. The good molds don't need much tapping.

96325
The drips drop through the hole in the shelf. I may extend the shelf towards me, as I stand in front of the pot, so that the mold will rest with the front of it under the spout.
96326
NOE just moved into a new shop and is working on increasing production. Their web site lists molds in stock. I was waiting on an MP mold for 30 cal but found the NOE was ready to buy. I love it. There are a lot of non hollow point molds listed on his web site which is good for me.
96327
The MP molds are very nice. They are often times made of heavier brass and often come in hollow point. They look cool, but I don't hunt, so they aren't needed and add a tad bit more work. The wait times can be a year or more for a group buy. He happened to have this one left over from a group buy and in stock so I bought it. Some buys go faster.

Welcome to the forum. I was at a similar casting position as you, about two years ago. This is getting addicting and fun. I don't even load 30 cal jwords for my rifles anymore, even though I have lots of them. I can shoot 30-06 and 30-30 cheaper than what some of the 22lr costs. Hopefully we can get you up to speed and really hooked with this hobby, ASAP. When you start to look at molds like they are pieces of jewelry, then you will know we've gotcha.

[35 shooter]

Welcome aboard, your definitely in the right place. I've learned more about cast boolits here over the summer and winter than i ever did in over 40 odd years on my own.

I use a rcbs sizer cause that's what the store had in stock when i bought mine over 30 years ago. It's still going strong. I know folks that have the Lyman's that have lasted all those years too. If your going to buy lube you could get it from Lar's or White Lable who is a member here also and keep it in the family so to speak. Good luck ...35shooter

[44man]

The TL boolits work great with normal lubes, I use Felix or White Label lubes on mine. I don't like Alox at all.

[trappershrek]

Thanks all,
I am going to be getting everything needed soon. I am sick of tumble lubing LOL.

[dverna]

If you want a better mold look at the Group Buys.

On the sizer/luber a lot has to do with number of bullet styles/calibers you want to gear up for and quantity.

I started with a Star because 99% of my bullets where .38 wadcutters and 1% where .308's. NOTHING beats the speed and ease of use of a Star. But it is not the right tool if you do small runs of many different bullets.

If I was starting out today, and shooting a variety of bullets I would do the Hi-Tek coatings for pistol bullets and use a Lyman or RCBS for rifle bullets.

Don Verna

[trappershrek]

Thanks, I will look into the Hi-Tek more but one reason I want to get away from tumble lube is the extra process. I did try powder coating but that takes a lot of extra time and steps too.

[Love Life]

RCBS makes a very high quality off the shelf mould. Very high quality.

Lyman can be hit or miss, but if you get a good one then you will be please.

Mihec makes a quality mould, but the wait for some of them is quite long. He does make a very high quality mould though.

NOE makes high quality aluminum and brass (sometimes?) mould. I prefer NOE as their moulds are light, durable, and cast very nice bullets.

A lube sizer is nice. Whether you need heat or not depends on the lube you use and the ambient temperature where your sizer is located.

You can also tumble lube non tumble lube bullets.

There are way to many vairables to tell you what the best lube is. I would buy a good lube like speed green or Lotak hard to start (available from the Bullshop) out with. At least then you know the lube probably isn't the failure point in a load.

If you want to skip wax lubes altogether then order some HI-Tech super coat and get busy coating!!

[Walter Laich]

I've got a number of different brand molds but still like my Lee's. With some work they do the job

[trappershrek]

My lee mold holds the bullets in tight. I have tried every temp, waiting a long time, dropping right a way, and lapping. I have to hit the handle bolt really hard many time to get them to drop.
I want to try RCBS but I cant find one that is tumble lube.

[Love Life]

You can tumble lube traditional (have a grease groove) bullet. I've done it for many thousands of them cast from RCBS moulds. I hope that helps.

As for the lee mould, well...sometimes you just have to hit them!

[Wayne Smith]

I gotta ask, what are you shooting and what are you shooting it in? Lubes for BP and lubes for smokeless are different. If you are shooting 14 different calibers a Lyman/RCBS luber is likely in your future, if you shoot one caliber a Star may be in your future. Answers to your questions largely relate to how YOU are going to use them. Our experience and advice are based on our use, not yours.

[MtGun44]

Welcome. Smart man. I was sick of tumble lubing after trying it once. Hate the smell and the
nasty sticky boolits with lube everywhere. MUCH prefer my lube in the lube grooves only.

RCBS is a bit more robust than the Lyman lubrisizer, but it is not a huge thing. They use the
same dies and are quick and easy to adjust for different boolits. You'll like the improvement.
I started with pan lubing and Lee hammer-thru sizer dies (long since out of production) and
loved getting my first lubrisizer, a RCBS.

Bill

[Echo]

I have a couple of Lachmiller loob-sizers (predecessor of the RCBS LAM) and use them for GC boolits, one (w/heater) loaded w/hard loob, the other w/NRA (50/50). I also have a Star that I use for PB pistol boolits, and use NRA in it. I also love TL'ing - so easy, and works. TL, run through a Lee sizer, re-TL, and shoot. I use an old Salad Spinner bowl that can hold a couple hundred boolits for tumbling. The options abound...