Lee Lube and Sizing Kit?

[boatswainsmate]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has gotten a hold of a bad one before. I tried using my brand new .452 sizer today on my powder coated bullets and it took the coating off the bullets. I did smash tests throughout my baking process and had no issues. I used my RCBS sizer on the same batch of bullets with no issues. I had resistance when pushing through the lee die but the bullets came out .452. Thanks for all advice in advance!

[jugulater]

the only thing i could think that could be wrong with the die would be that it wasn't polished very well causing a rough feeling. simply polishing the die would make it smoother but would open it up too.

ive read a good bit on powder coating but havent attempted it myself yet, it is my understanding that the powder coat adds some to the diameter of the boolit. maybe size .451 then coat to achieve a .452 diameter?

[Mytmousemalibu]

Does the die have a sharp chamfer step leade into the sized diameter? If so it might be shearing off the PC. You could try rolling any sharpness over with a little sanding/smoothing if it has one but just that edge, shouldn't hurt your overall size if thats all you touch.

[boatswainsmate]

Thanks for all the comments. I got a good look inside the die and their is a huge gouge inside the sizing part of the die. I guess I will look into sending it back if it would be worth doing so:cry:

[Mytmousemalibu]

Lee has a reputation of excellent customer service and that has been my experience with them as well. I would give them a call and explain your defect, bet it doesn't cost you a penny!

[blikseme300]

My experience has been that Lee sizer dies are typically rough and typically undersized so a few minutes with wet/dry wrapped around a dowel smooths things out. Some folks use polish such as Flitz to make them even slicker. For the price it is little trouble to tune the die a little.

[bstone5]

As a general rule all of the Lee Sizind die do better if the bore is polished.
The mouth also does better if the mouth is opened up a little more and also polished.
The opening and polishing of the mouth also helps if the die is also used to install gas checks on plain base bullets.

[boatswainsmate]

Here is what I'm dealing with.
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn271/ericlee1971/DSCN0459_zpsclejf38t.jpg (http://s306.photobucket.com/user/ericlee1971/media/DSCN0459_zpsclejf38t.jpg.html)

[blikseme300]

The throat of the die does not match the bore in a bad way. It explains why you are getting shaving of the PC/boolit. Me being the person I am would chuck it in the lathe and fix it using a pencil grinder but that's just me. It might be fixed using a dowel and wet-dry to smooth it out but it will take time. PM inbound.

[Jonesy]

I've found with that same die that it can be a real pain if it's not screwed in quite a ways. I was able to polish mine up with a patch cloth wrapped over a .45 brush chucked into a drill with some polishing compound spackled on. Glides smooth as silk now and spits 'em out perfectly at .452.

I cant tell from the picture if the gouge you're talking about is the ring going around the inside of the die, if so, mine's got the same ring on it and it works great. Just make sure the top of your stroke gets the base of the bullet over that ring otherwise you'll end up getting two jammed into the sizing portion at the same time and they will NOT come out without big damage done to the bullet.

[MT Chambers]

The size marked on Lee sizing dies is just a "ballpark figure", and usually require work by the purchaser to get the required size.

[boatswainsmate]

Thanks for all the help. Lee is sending me a new lube and die set tomorrow.