Lube/Size die

[jgh4445]

Having never even seen one of the lube/sizers in operation, and being in the process of getting mine set up,(RCBS) I have a couple of real newbie questions. What does the H&I stand for on the Lyman dies. Is there a non-H&I die? What does the "post" in the middle of the sizing die do? I'm assuming it works with the adjustment at the bottom of the sizer to limit the depth of the bullet in the die when being lubed but I haven't ever seen one work so I'm not sure.

[dubber123]

Not sure on the H&I designation myself, but the post you mention does several things, it does work with the adjustment to limit travel, it also is what ejects the sized boolit back out of the die. It also seals the lube from just squirting uncontrollably out of the lube holes in the die, and it gives a firm surface for the gas check to be seated against.

[jgh4445]

Thanks Dubber cleared that right up.

[NVcurmudgeon]

H&I are the sizing die and bottom punch. G is the top punch.

[floodgate]

jgh4445:

The "G" for the top punch, fitted to the bullet nose profile, "H" for the sizing die body, and "I" for the ejector punch go back to an early Ideal Handbook drawing (Issue No. 13, 1901) of the newly-introduced "Ideal Bullet Lubricator and Sizer", where those letters were used to identify the three components. They have changed slightly over the years, but the present-day ones still work in my old No. 1 Lube-Sizer.

Floodgate

[1hole]

Floodgate has it right. The original listings in the Ideal catalog showed items listed alphebetically. For their new "lubrasizer" tool, G - was the nose punch, H - was the size die and I - was the internal die punch that controlled the bullets position. The H and I dies came as a matched set and still do. Those catalog designations stuck in our jargon.

[jgh4445]

Thanks. Nice to learn a little bit of history.