Sizing Lee boolits with Lyman 450?

[Huntsman]

How many boolit casters do this?
Do the grooves fill up well?
All but one of my moulds are Lee so I was wondering if it's worth it to spend money on a Lyman. Thx in advance.

[MT Chambers]

Tl bullets are good to go with either Lyman or Star as long as you are not displacing too much metal, which would be obvious to the eye.

[Walter Laich]

I use a couple of 450s and they do fine. For me it does take some time to zero in on right depth to fill the lube grooves but once found the lock nut keeps it from changing. I have two because I mainly do 45 acp and Colt as well as 38 Sp. Easier to change out machines than recalibrate.

Most of bullets are from Lee molds though I do have Lyman and some high $$ molds that work just fine in the 450.

I use a hard lube and have a heater that I regulate with a aquarium temp control (cheap man's PID).

[trapper9260]

I have Lee molds and other makes and I have a 450 Lyman I do do like Walter stated after it is set to where it needs to be then I am good to go.it fills the groves ok also.I have a heater on my also.Helps alot.

[Larry Gibson]

All "standard" lube grooved Lee bullets are just like any other bullet with "standard" lube grooves in regard to sizing and lubing in a Lyman 450.

If you are referring to Lee's TL bullets then the answer is yeas they can be sized and lubed in a Lyman 450. However, there is a caveat; if you're sizing more than .002 then on the smaller caliber bullets the lube grooves can be swaged away or left with little groove left for any lube. If you lube them first with an "as cast diameter H&I die in the Lyman 450 the bullets can then be sized down several thousandths with a Lee push through or a proper size H&I die in the Lyman 450. The alloy also has a ply in this as the softer the alloy the easier to swage away the grooves but conversely the harder the alloy the harder to size.

FWIW; I lube my .314 TL bullets first then size down as far as .309. My TL 38s drop at .359 so I just size and lube in a in a .358 H&I die. All 3 of my 41 TL moulds drop the bullets at .411 so I used a .410 H&I die. My TL 44s drop at .431 so they get sized and lubed in a .430 H&I die. I use an NRA 50/50 or BAC lube so it flows easily into the TL grooves.

Larry Gibson

[ndnchf]

I've been using a 450 for 20 years with Lee mold bullets. It works fine, they don't know the difference. I will add that I picked up a nice Lyman 45 a few months ago and now find that I like it better than the 450.