un-threaded Saeco L/S dies

[haak48]

I picked these lube/size dies from a gun show misc. box. I have a Saeco (black body) lube sizer as well as a Star & Lyman. I am not familiar with these un-threaded dies however. Could someone enlighten me please? Thanks, JH

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I have 2 Saecos-one is the black bodied model that you have; it is the much older version of the newer green ones, but regardless of color its the same machine. Both require that the bottom of the die be threaded for a retaining ring. It is a somewhat different, but I suppose standard thread, but can be measured and cut onto the end of your dies...you'll need the ring and that you can get directly from Saeco. Saeco can also tell you the diameter and the pitch of the threads as well. As for putting the threads on the dies, you could get a local machinist to do it or else PM/contact Buckshot on this forum for his advice. I cannot tell you why the dies you have were not threaded. I never heard of them not being so finished as they would simply not work in our machines as we know them....the die would, on the absence of some way to lock it in, be driven back up on the ejection stroke and also would not be able to contain the lube which then would be driven out past the die that had no retaining lock ring to seal it. LLS

[haak48]

Thank you for the reply LLS. I have been playing with these various L/S machines for nearly 40 years now and found these dies to be interesting. They have been well used and are still lube filled. I really do not need to modify them as I have the correct dies for the Saeco I have. I was just wondering what machine they were made for as they appear to be SAECO marked. Thanks, JH

[lathesmith]

If those are genuine Saeco dies...they will be very hard, you'll probably have to anneal them before they can be threaded.
My guess would be that they are non-Saeco made for the Saeco lube sizer, and whoever made them just used a close-fitting ring with set screw to hold them in place. IIRC, Saeco dies are an odd thread, something like .687 diameter x26tpi, and so the setscrew would be a way around this.
lathesmith

[haak48]

You are correct Chris, you can not touch them with a file. I am sure re-threading is out of the question from a practical point of view. Thanks, JH

[45nut]

Maybe this: Saeco made them,, but they are for the Lyman/RCBS lubesizers. The sure appear that way to me.

[haak48]

45nut, the Saeco dies are smaller in diameter than the Lyman/RCBS. These dies are perfectly built to the Saeco diameter except for the lack of threading. A set screw could be installed to catch the undercut beneath the rim as lathesmith suggested in the luber body, otherwise I see no practical way to use them. Maybe someone here knows what (other than a custom application) they were made for. Thanks, JH

[No_1]

I cannot imagine what application they are for but I do believe that if they are standard Saeco diameter then they will work in a Star using the adapters that I made for Ken and myself because in the Star configuration you do not need the threads.

Robert

[JCherry]

haak48,

I vaguely remember seeing an old book somewhere that had dies like yours. I think they were for a lubrisizer made by Cramer Molds that was (perhaps?) the predecessor of the SAECO lubrisizer.

You may be able to use the dies you have as push through dies.

Have Fun,

JCherry

[haak48]

Thanks JCherry. I checked over at the CBA and they are indeed Cramer lube/sizer dies, pre-dating the Saeco sizer. Probably made right after the first sale from way back when. Thanks to all who helped, JH

[GOPHER SLAYER]

haak48, I have a Cramer sizer which also uses threaded dies. When I make them for this sizerI don't bother with threads. Since the sizer uses a retaining ring I thought they should work without them. They work fine. I also fail to see the need to make sizing dies so hard, after all, lead is a very soft metal. I have been using these homemade dies for years with no problems.