Lubrisizer Troubles - Stuck Bullets!

[Hanzy4200]

I finally made the jump to serious bullet lubing. Ordered a Lyman 4500. My first mistake was ordering the wrong top punch, but that is irrelevant at the moment. I'm trying the lube/size some Lee 429-200-RF .44 mags. They keep getting jammed in the stupid lube die! Jammed as is in exerting so much force on the backstroke I am in fear of damaging the press. Finally had to hammer it out with a punch. Tried again with a .430 bullet already run through a Lee sizer. Same ****. Bullets are well lubed. Again, the top punch is incorrect for the bullet nose, but it isn't deforming the bullet enough to cause a stoppage. I'm currently at $400+ spent and very pissed off. Should have stuck with my $20 Lee sizers. Any ideas?

[D Crockett]

sounds like you have the wrong die for that bullet I would check that first D Crockett

[Shuz]

First lay a lamp or some other heat source on the 4500 to make sure the lube is soft enuf to flow. Crank the handle to get lube into the die. Measure the ".430" boolit to make sure it is really .430. If it is, it should go into the die easily even if your H die is .428. If your boolits are quench cast or otherwise hardened, it may take some pressure but it should still go thru. As far as a top punch, just use a flat bolt that is of the correct diameter to fit the press and saw the head off. This will give you a flat head punch that works well with the Lee 44-200RNFP. At least it does on mine. If this doesn't do it, contact Lyman and tell them your issue, and suggest they replace your luber.

[Kraschenbirn]

What's the diameter of the "stuck" boolits after you've punched them out? Could be that you got a mismarked or, possibly, unfinished H-die...like one that got out of the factory without final honing/polish. I've currently got two Lyman 450s and an original Lyman 45 with somewhere around 30 dies sets and, yes, I've managed to get a boolit 'stuck' a time or two...but, so far, it's always due to an error or oversight on my part. As Shuz suggested, make certain you've got plenty of lube flowing into your H-die.

Bill

[Rdbronco]

A good three decimal micrometer is your friend on this. I only use a dial caliper on cartridge OAL. I also have had that problem with thin bullet lubes. I prefer the LBT stuff. During sizing I drop in a lubed bullet every tenth pull of the handle. YMMV

[Victor N TN]

#4500 BULLET SIZER & LUBRICATOR

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/lyman_sizerandlubricator.pdf

Just in case you didn't get one with the unit.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

There are two things that I think it could be.

1. If a die is clean, so clean there is no lube residue, then a clean boolit that hasn't been pre-lubed, will stick in the die. But you said, "Bullets are well lubed", if that means what I think it means, then this isn't the problem...But I mention it just in case.

2. You die (assuming it's brand new) may not have been thoroughly polished at the factory. remove it and clean it, if it doesn't look shiney polished, then you could polish it, or return it for another die. I had one new Lyman die that had visible machining lines in it, So it's quite possible you have the same...that sure would cause STUCK boolits.

[gwpercle]

I had the same problem with some "new" sizer dies , not the 20 and 30 years old dies I've been using but the new ones , didn't want to eject.....they have rough interiors, seem to be common.
Mine had a few rough edges around the holes . Polish them out with Wet-or- Dry abrasive paper and any light oil , I started with some 400, then went to 600 & 800 finishing with 1000 . Now they go in and come out easily.
Just polish the metal and remove any rough edges...don't enlarge.
Polish until the insides are smoother than a baby's bottom and that will fix it.
If it got through Lyman without the final finishing....call them and explain problem, be nice.

Any boolit with a flat spot is better sized with a flat top punch. I filled my punches RN cavity with JB Weld, let dry and filed / sanded it flat...use that bad boy on every boolit with a flat and even used it on some RN boolits...just left a tiny flat spot on the RN. Flat punches work the absolute best.

Lube/sizers have a learning curve , they have to be adjusted properly, and operated properly and the die has to be smooth...But once you learn the ropes ...you gonna love it ! You'll throw rocks at the Lee.
Gary

[Strtspdlx]

Let's make this easy. Take the bullet out of the equation. With your current setup run the handle with no bullet on or in the press. See if it jams up

I'm thinking that top punch that isn't correct is going into the die and causing your binding issue. If it binds up when you run a sized bullet. It isn't the bullet. If it binds up without z bullet. It's the die or top punch. If you remove the top punch and it binds. It's the die. But I'd think the die would bind in both directions. But I may be wrong.

[C.F.Plinker]

What lube are you using?

Take the die out of the press. Is there lube in every one of the lube holes?

Does the plunger move smoothly up and down in the die body? If not, clean both of them until it does. WD40 is your friend for this.

Put just the die body back in the press and work the pressure screw until you can see lube coming through the holes in the die body. Oil the plunger and the plunger hole in the die and reassemble the die. Make sure the plunger can move within the die body.

Now try sizing a boolit and let us know what happens.

[243winxb]

Hard alloys and sizing down more than .003" will make for a hard to extract bullet.

[KenT7021]

I had a bullet stick in a new H&I die a while back.After I got the bullet out of the die I put some gun oil on the next bullet and ran it thru with no problem.I have used Lyman lube sizers since the 50's without having a bullet stick in the die.The bullet lube does very little to lubricate the interior of the die.It does help to use a bit of heat on the lube sizer.I was using straight linotype alloy when I had the problem.

[dale2242]

The first boolit I put through a new lube/sizer die is liberally coated with RCBS case lube.......dale

[Andy]

I have had dies that needed a good dose of oil to move freely when brand new