Lyman sizer too small

[ghh3rd]

I just purchased a Lyman lube sizer and received a .431 sizer. I just found hat the sizer is swaging down to less than .430! I guess I could attempt to lap it out, but it sure is annoying that it's that far off. Just wanted to vent.

Randy

[dragonrider]

Sad part is it is not unusual at all. Have heard of several sizers by Lyman and Lee that have been small. It's annoying for sure.

[fecmech]

Call Lyman and have them replace it.

[462]

ghh3rd,
I agree with fecmech -- give Lyman a call. Ask for a lady named Nancy.

[knifemaker]

I hate to say it, but the last 5 sizers i have bought have been running about one thousand smaller then the advertised size. That includes even two custom sizing dies I paid 44 bucks each for.
Another problem i encounterd, I ordered a custom 44 cal sizing die at .433 for a marlin 94 that needed a larger cast bullet for better accuracy. I complained about the earlier custom die being undersized. This die was not undersize, except for the push rod that the base of the bullet sits on. It was sized .430 allowing lube to seep past it. Good thing i have a lathe. I made a new push rod at .432 and the other dies i lapped larger myself.
So much for quality control anymore.

[wistlepig1]

Same here! After lapping it was good to go but I didn't think I was getting a "sizer KIT".

[John Guedry]

If it was too big there would'nt be much you could do with it.

[JIMinPHX]

Geeze, I guess that I must just be lucky. Every size die that I have ever bought from Lyman or Lee always ball mic'd within .0001" of what they said it was.

If it's really off that much, I'd call the manufacturer. They tend to be pretty good about standing behind their products. Alternately, you could offer it up on the swapping & selling section of the board & try to trade it for the size that you need. Somebody is bound to need the size that you have.

By the way,
How did you measure the die that you have? What tool did you use? Calipers? Micrometer? Did you measure the die directly? Did you measure a slug that came out of it? If so, what alloy was the slug?

[Ben]

We seem to be living in a day where we continue to have to " tweak " things upon arrival to get satisfactory results. Seems that way now with Lyman's molds.

I've come to a point that I'm leery about ordering any NEW Lyman mold. If I can find a 1950's or 1960's mold I'll buy it. I ordered 3 different Lyman 311284 molds over a 5 yr. period. All cast undersized bullets. I've given up on Lyman. I bought a 2 cav. NOE 311284. Every dimension on the cast bullet is perfect ! Swede's quality control is impressive.

Some of the old guys that worked for .75 an hour at Lyman would turn over in their graves if they could hear these quality control horror stories. They didn't make a lot of money but they took pride in what they made !

Those old guys made Lyman what it was. Looks like things have really changed.

[MtGun44]

Many, many casters only own a dial caliper. Before I would assume that the
die is off, I 'd let an experienced user measure a boolit that went thru that die with
a MICROMETER. A caliper is usually quoted by the mfgr as '.001" accy'. This means that
your measured .430 is between .429 and .431 - you CANNOT get more accy from that
device - it is not physically capable of producing more accurate data NO MATTER WHO is
running it.

While a caliper is pretty darned good and useful, for a boolit diameter you really need to
use a deft touch and a good quality micrometer. I have a set of old Mitotoyo 1" - 3" mic's
with carbide faces and check standards for the 2" and 3" mics. The 0-1" gets 99+%
of the use, but it zeros perfectly every time with clean anvil faces and certainly the carbide
faces are not wearing very much!

When measuring boolits I always reach for the micrometer, not the calipers. I have at least
3 on the bench at any one time, an old Mitotoyo metric dial caliper, a newer Mitotoyo inch
dial caliper and a cheapo Chinese digital caliper that was a genuine bargain at $16 a few
years back. These are perfect for almost every reloading chore, but not for measuring a
slug pushed thru the bore or a boolit freshly cast or from a sizer.

[OLPDon]

MtGun44
You are quite right worked a can co. as mech and Machinist. Nothing like a mic and a person with the right touch the tork knob was seldom use by me after yrs of using a mic.
Randy
I would say you need to get your hand on a Qual. Mic and/or someone to check.
Don