Need advice on Adjusting my Lyman 450

[odinohi]

Lube is getting in the lube groove evenly, but is also getting all over my gas check. This is my first time using a lubesizer. The lube on the gas check is making a total mess on my brass when loading. Also the gas checks arent crimped on well at all. They are coming off when I remove the sized and lubed bullet fro the sizer. The bullet is a 429244 HP. Gas checks are Lyman in the gray and black striped box. Lube is Orange magic. I'm running a homemade heater on the sizer and that does seem to be working well. The sizer die is a Lyman .430" and it has 2 holes on each side. If I set my stop too high its not lubing the lube groove and when I lower it too much its getting lube all over the oglive of the bullet. Is there a way to plug off that bottom hole? Thanks in advance guys, Tom

[Shiloh]

Is the sizer die too large??

Is the depth rod adjusted correctly??

Shiloh

[hornady]

My guess would be too much heat on the lube. Or too much pressure on the Luber .I have used Orange Magic with out heat. But I lube in a heated Basement. I now use white label with a Lyman heater. There is a post on hear about hooking a light dimmer up to control the heat. As to the GC. I use Hornady crimp on checks. I don’t know about the Lyman. You may have a bad Base on your cast bullets.

[Gunslinger]

As Hornady mentioned, maybe too much heat. The problem you describe is normal with crappy Lyman dies, due to the placements of the holes. Get RCBS dies, their holes are placed horizontally which is much better.

The loose gas checks could be a problem with the mold. This can be corrected by polishing out the shank area of the mold.... I've never done this, but I'm certain someone here can help you. Also you can try annealing the checks.

Good luck

[NuJudge]

Get out your micrometer and Vernier Caliper and give us some measurements for the heel of the bullet where the Gas Check attaches. Give us some measurements for the as-cast bullet diameter, and what the bullet diameter is after sizing. Give us measurements on the gas check, Inside & Outside diameter of the mouth before crimping, and Outside diameter after crimping.

Regarding the Gas Check not being crimped on very well, once upon a time Lyman Gas Checks did not have the crimp-on feature, only Hornady Checks did. I am unsure whether your Checks are old enough not to have the crimp-on feature. If they don't have the feature, they won't crimp on, no matter what.

I am familiar with the 429244 and sizing/Gas Checking/Lubing it, but less so with that lube. Regarding the mess, can I suggest you first try using less heat? With my 429244 molds, I have no problem getting crimp-on Gas Checks to stay on when using a .434" sizing die.

[MT Gianni]

You can use shot to plug the bottom hole on your die. I believe it is #6.
I don't think grey box LY checks crimp on but are designed to fall off in flight.

[GBertolet]

Without seeing fisthand, I will have to guess. First the problem of gas checks coming off. The Lymans are not a crimp on type like the Hornady. Unless the fit is perfect on the heel of the bullet, they can come off. The heel of the bullet could be undersized making this worse. You didn't mention what alloy you are using for the bullets. A harder alloy will cast slightly larger, possibly helping the fit, if the base is undersized. I prefer to use the Hornady gas checks myself because they crimp on, plus they are cheaper than the Lymans. Also you may have too much pressure on the bullet lube when sizing the bullet. Try backing off a little on the pressure. Use just enough to do one bullet at a time before adding any pressure. One other thing is you may be getting the lube too hot with your home made heater, making it too runny. I have this mold in the SWC version. It's a good shooter.

[Hardcast416taylor]

When I used a home made heater, I learned fast that I needed a way to control the heat. I was getting about the same results you are with sloppy, runny lube. I took a light dimmer control switch then mounted it in a plastic wall mount box with a proper top plate. I put this assembly on a small board then spliced it inline near the heater. I could then control the temp. and have a shut off if desired. This worked for me and made several others for friends, yes I do have friends, for quite awhile till I got a midway heater on closeout. I would try using Hornady checks for better fit, I really never did have a lot of love for the Lyman checks.Robert

[243winxb]

Is there a way to plug off that bottom hole? Shot as said above, or any lead will do. Tap lead into the hole with a plastic head mallet.

[Cowboy5780]

I read somewhere and am braindead at the moment where, i cut a small disc of foam rubber or cardboard and put in the bottom of the die. works good