Adding a Spring to a Lyman 450's Reservoir?

[Grump]

AFTER the next batch or two of Boolits go through the Star sizer (love that thing, even the tools to remove & replace the dies), I'm gonna have to set up the Lyman to do some gas check Boolits and another one that is too short for all the lube holes in the right size Star unit.

When the temp is right for the lube, I also just LOVE being able to crank the reservoir handle a half-turn to increase the pressure, then send a handful through before needing to put another half-turn on. Needing to rachet tighter every 2-3 Boolits is going to be a change and I suspect it will get quite annoying real fast next time.

I don't have a compressor and doubt I would want to put a pneumatic lube "drive" on the Lyman even if I did.

Sooooo.....anyone rig up, or sell, some sort of parts kit that puts a nice stiff spring between a lube "driver" or "follower" and the part the threaded shaft pushes down on? From the first time I used the Lyman, I thought it was built just a little dumb in that department.

[texassako]

You mean something like the Cabine Tree lube feeder? http://www.buffaloarms.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=159273&CAT=4467 I kind of want one, but other toys always seem to bump it down on the priority list.

[Grump]

Yeah, that's exactly the sort of thing I had in mind.

Except it's twice as heavy and twice the price I had hoped for. What's with the base and big rod? Looks like it requires knocking out the existing rod that drives the plunger disk. And it looks like it might reduce or eliminate the lube seepage out the bottom...???

Anyone here use one of those? NO product reviews yet at the website.

Wonder if one of those old Mercedes valve springs I have laying around could drive something similar? Shorter throw length but it seems workable. Maybe.

[Walter Laich]

I have one and it's great
There is a game you play between the temp and how much pressure you can apply. Too hot and too much and you get lube coming out the bottom of the 450/4500.
Your machine has to have the threaded rod removable as the ALF takes its place
I can do about 5-8 bullets before adding more pressure. Depends on caliber and number of lube grooves.

[BruceB]

The 450 is actually quite a subtle machine in use.

There is a learning period, in which the user must become accustomed to how it really works, and not everyone always agrees on the best method.

For instance, I find that FOR ME, turning the pressure wrench a fraction of a turn FOR EACH BULLET works best in controlling pressure and flow. If a bullet comes up with some partly-unfilled grooves, I simply push it into the die again and add a wee bit of pressure on the wrench.

After using a 450 for some thousands of bullets, it is actually possible to FEEL the pressure increase on the wrench handle as the bullet's grooves reach "full". This sounds rather weird, but it's true.

The remarks above about excess heat and pressure can be "taken to the bank"..... absolutely true, and excess in either department likely is the leading factor that gives problems.

I've used Lyman lubesizers for over 45 years, and have no need or desire for anything else.

[dragon813gt]

I can't recommend the A.L.F. Nothing but lube everywhere it's not supposed to be. Mine is for a RCBS LAM and the threaded rod on the ALF is a smaller diameter than the stock one. It comes w/ some dinky gasket that's supposed to seal it all up. No matter the lube temp, it didn't apply lube to the bullets until the lube was squirting out all over the base plate. Mine just didn't seal and I tried it w/ both my LAMs.

[Dale53]

BruceB is absolutely correct. I have had a Lyman, an RCBS, and a Star for a very long time. Recently, I sold my Lyman to a good friend who needed a leg up in getting started.

I no longer shoot long guns but am still quite active with the handgun. The Star answers my needs these days.

However, the Lyman, using a method similar to Bruce's does a fine job on a variety of bullet styles. It was my "go to" for gas checked bullets and long, black powder cartridge rifle bullets as well a black powder cartridge pistol bullets. Using home made Emmert's lube, it didn't require a heater. However, my Lyman heater is drilled and tapped for all three of my sizer types and has been used for all.

FWIW
Dale53

[MT Chambers]

I'm prolly not much help, but can't imagine a grooved bullet that can't be done on a Star and done right and fast, what is the problem you are having?

[Grump]

MT:

In the Star, there are just too many lube holes in the .3575 die I tried out for short 124-gr 9mm bullets. Once I had the punch down far enough to keep lube from squirting out the lowest holes, lube from the top holes filling around the boolit noses in amounts large enough to almost turn the output into a cylinder shape from base to tip...lube all over the noses.

So the Lyman gets used for those. I just find the need to put a tiny crank on the lever for every boolit (or every other one--I have enough "feel" like BruceB describes to do that) so often to be annoying. I'd love to have a handful of five in my left hand, feeding them in as fast as I can flip them off into a tray below the unit and put a new one on the bottom ram. My right hand would stay on the handle.

With the Star and a fairly stiff lube (at least up to about 80°F), I can get 10 through between cranking the lube feed, and of course they just go down into the bin with no need to pick 'em up or flip 'em out/off of the bottom ram, since there is none. Right hand stays on the handle and sometimes I have to work to keep from sizing and lubing a portion of my left hand that's feeding the boolits...

I also like the bottoming-out function of the Lyman when seating gas checks. Not sure I've even tried the Star with a GC boolit...but I could since I use base-first feed instead of nose-first. Or so I have been led to believe.

[David2011]

MT:

In the Star, there are just too many lube holes in the .3575 die I tried out for short 124-gr 9mm bullets. Once I had the punch down far enough to keep lube from squirting out the lowest holes, lube from the top holes filling around the boolit noses in amounts large enough to almost turn the output into a cylinder shape from base to tip...lube all over the noses.


Did you try plugging the unneeded holes with shot? That's how the dispensing location is controlled in a Star die. For all of my single lube groove boolits the dies have 2 of the 3 rows of holes plugged.

David

[Grump]

Thought about it but I'm not enthused about switching back and forth when running the .38s.


Did you try plugging the unneeded holes with shot? That's how the dispensing location is controlled in a Star die. For all of my single lube groove boolits the dies have 2 of the 3 rows of holes plugged.

David