DHC
01-05-2015, 08:00 PM
Something I learned recently that may be of value to others. I recently cast up a bunch of heavy-weight 45 cal bullets - water-quenched, and then let them sit around for a while before running them through the Star lube-sizer. Ran only a few before I managed to bend the shovel handle on the Star. I contacted Lathesmith from this board and asked him to make me up one of his Roller-style 'L' handles which just came in. He suggested I be sure to lube the bullets before sizing to save possible damage to the Star sizer - which got me thinking about what lube to use. In the past I have simply run a lubed bullet back through the sizer about every 10th bullet and that seems to do the trick, but I decided to try something a little different this time. I settled on trying some case lube - was thinking of just handling a few bullets with some Imperial sizing wax, but instead decided to try some Hornady One-Shot. I'd tried One-Shot for lubing bottleneck brass cases before sizing and have been unimpressed with its performance, but for these purposes, it worked terrific. One quick 'spritz' onto a group of a few hundred bullets prior to running them through the Star sizer made a world of difference. They flew through the sizer with far less resistance than the unlubed bullets.
Sooooo . . . lessons learned:
1. Water-quenched large caliber bullets can be HARD to size. . . . REALLY hard.
2. Lathesmith's Roller 'L' handle is the BOMB for the Star sizer. I particularly like the fact it allows you to run the sizer with Star's air tube installed and not bump into the air tube at the top of the stroke.
3. A quick shot of a case lube like Hornady One-Shot onto the hardened bullets saves a TON of wear and tear on equipment and shoulder alike. And BTW - the Hornady One-Shot is not supposed to foul powder, so it should have no effect when left on the bullet.
Offered FWIW.
Sooooo . . . lessons learned:
1. Water-quenched large caliber bullets can be HARD to size. . . . REALLY hard.
2. Lathesmith's Roller 'L' handle is the BOMB for the Star sizer. I particularly like the fact it allows you to run the sizer with Star's air tube installed and not bump into the air tube at the top of the stroke.
3. A quick shot of a case lube like Hornady One-Shot onto the hardened bullets saves a TON of wear and tear on equipment and shoulder alike. And BTW - the Hornady One-Shot is not supposed to foul powder, so it should have no effect when left on the bullet.
Offered FWIW.