interchangeability of Lyman 45 and 450 sizer dies.

[bruce drake]

Does the newer Lyamn 450/4500 sizer dies interchange with the older Lyman 45? I have an opportunity to pick on up but I want to know if I'll be limited to trolling e-bay for used dies or have Buckshot :-D make them for me?

Bruce

[Shepherd2]

The same dies will work in the 45, 450 and 4500. In the 45 they are held in by a set screw.

[bruce drake]

Thanks! I may go and get that sizer tomorrow after church.

Bruce

[boogerred]

you can use rcbs sizer dies and top punches in it to. i have a 450 and have about the same number of lyman and rcbs dies and punches for it

[bruce drake]

OK, So now I have the sizer and can I use the Lyman 450 instructions I found on the web to set this up or are there specific Lyman 45 issues to be concerned about?

Bruce

[bruce drake]

How do you take the sizing die out of the 45 after you remove the set screw. Is it simply tapping the die out from the bottom or do you have to empty the thing of lube before you can replace the die?

Bruce

[StarMetal]

Bruce,

Same as in the 450 and 4500. They stick because of the lube. You will notice in that the plunger underneath the die that pushes the rod that pushes the bullet out of the die is not touching the die when the handle is in the lowered position. You mere place an object (literately anything, like on my 450 I use the wrench that come with the machine to tighten and loosen the die nut (45's as you learned don't have a die nut) to take up that space) and raise the lever to force the die up enough that you can grap it. That's it. If I confused you tell me and I'll try to explain differently.

Joe

[bruce drake]

Joe,

Thanks. Sounds like it's simpler than you described. I'll give it a shot tonight after work.

I'm finally going to be able to size and gas-check my 6.5 and .257 bullets because LEE wants $25 a sizing die for them.

I sized some previously gas-checked .311 bullets last night with the provided .308 die and I was getting two items wrong.

1. Lube on bottom of bullet: Too much pressure?
2. Rounded Gas checks: The checks were bulged. was this because of the resizing or did the gas check match the profile of the plunger?


Bruce

[StarMetal]

Lube on the base of the bullet can result from a few things. Too much pressure like you mentioned, irregular base or bases with flaw (this is with plain base bullets only, the sizer being a size that is actually bigger then the bullet, raising the lever way too slow to extract the bullet, lube way too soft (especially if you're using a heater on your sizer, are just a few.

Checks bulged. Sound to me that they are being sized down too much. For example I use 338 bullets for my 8x56R M95 Steyr carbine. The groove diameter of my barrel is actually .331 and the bullet Lee makes for it is .329 (makes you wonder huh?, haven't seen too many fellows here that actually have a M95 with a tighter groove then .330) so like I said I use the 338 bullets with 338 gascheck and they come out of the sizer convexed (or bulged out, with a rounded bottom). Also if there is a sprue nub it will push the base of the gascheck out also. When you're forcing the bullet down into the sizer you don't have to apply ape force once it bottoms out or with softer allloys you can actually bump up the size of the bullet especially the noses on bore-rider design bullets.

Yeah that trick to get the die out of the sizer is simple. To put what I said in a simpler form, when you stick something inbetween that little raising plunger and the die, you are basically extending the lenght of it. Being the thumbscrew is lose, it will push the die out of the sizer body some.

Joe

[KCSO]

I made a brass spacer that slips under the die and then you just lift up to pus it out. Or a 45 cal bullet does that same thing. I think I have a set of instructions for my 45 somewhere and most of this is covered. I will lokk tonight and if I find them i will scan them in and post them. If you use 450 dies in the 45 don't run the lock screw down tight or they will leak at the front.

[bruce drake]

I bought a Lyman H&I die from Midsouth yesterday as the catalog said they were interchangeable with RCBS dies. Should I keep the set screw tight or just touching?

Bruce

[NVcurmudgeon]

Bruce, keep the set screw just tight enough to hold the die in place. Others have reported distorted or cracked dies from overtightening. Also, remove the screw that holds the top punch and just let it float, keeping it from falling out with a dab of boolit lube. That allows the boolit to find its own centering in the die. One more thing, if you got any dies with the 45 machine, check to see that they don't have an abrupt step in them. That is the long-discontinued type of Lyman die that tended to size by scraping lead off of one side of the boolit. Those old dies were discontinued over 35 years ago and replaced with the modern tapered entry type.

[KCSO]

I checked the box and the papers are not in there. I will have to check all my binders and see whare I saved them.

[bruce drake]

StarMetal and KCSO,

Thanks for the tip on popping out the sizing die. I didn't have an empty 45 ACP case (plenty of loaded ones though) so I used a 9/16 nut from the toolbox and it popped right out. Now I'll just have to stand by while my order from Midsouth treks its way north from Tennessee.


NV Cur--,

The step I should look for is on the inside of the die or the outside? Not a big issue as most of my .308 rifles actually prefer .309 or .310 sized bullets and this die will probably end up on the auction block soon.

Bruce

[NVcurmudgeon]

The step is one the inside. The boolit starts into a generously wide hole, which abruptly changes to nominal sizing diameter. The boolit gets no guidance during the transition from wide to narrow and can't center in the reduced diameter. Often the die scrapes one side off and doesn't touch the other side when "sizing." Much like ending the left and right lanes of a three lane road suddenly with no merging "taper."