How far can you hone a lee sizer die?

[GrizzLeeBear]

Was thinking about doing some paper patch boolits for the .308 and 30-06. So wanted to be able to size boolits .301 or so and patch up to .309. Closest lee sizer is .285. Can I hone the .285 out to be .301? Would the rolling it with sandpaper on a steel rod method work for this?

[xr650]

You can open the die up that far.
You may run into ovality issues with out a proper hone.

I would recomend opening a fresh bottle before you start. You are going to be there a while. :drinks:

[lathesmith]

Bear, you would be much better off to have that Lee die bored before honing; otherwise, like XR says, it will take a long, long time to hone that thing out. If those Lee dies are hardened, it would be best to use a torch and take the temper out, use a lathe or "M" size bit to bore it, THEN use a hone to get it to final size. You could then re-harden it if necessary. There are several guys here on the boards capable of doing this, if you don't want to try it yourself.
lathesmith

[GrizzLeeBear]

Thanks guys. May be better to just send Lee the $29 for a custom sizer die, eh?

[Heavy lead]

I just did this with a .410 die using sandpaper around the blunt end of a drill bit to .416. It took a couple of hours, but it works fine. Polished it with a 416 x bullet with lapping compound stuck on an easy out in a battery drill.

[454PB]

The Lee sizers I have opened up were softer than any other commercial die I've seen.

[dubber123]

Thanks guys. May be better to just send Lee the $29 for a custom sizer die, eh?

Or, "keep the money local", and have Buckshot here on the forum make you one. His tolerances are tighter anyway. Might even save a buck or two.....