Lee TC Boolits and Lyman 45/450/4500

[thehouseproduct]

I am just starting to use my new to me Lyman 45. I have a 0.358" sizer and the 402 top punch. I was able to correctly lube some SWC but these TC boolits are giving me big problems. I am either not getting a complete band of lube or the lube pushes underneath the base and give me a small column of lube. I need help fixing the problem. I turned off the lube warmer and it helped the problem but it hasn't gone away.

For those who haven't seen one, the Lee TC boolit looks like this:
http://leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/356120tc.gif

[fryboy]

ummmm how big are ur castings ? mine cast kinda small ( a lil fatter with hard alloy but ...) it sounds like it isnt quite going deep enough in the die , as for not enough lube in the groove ..... on various boolits i apply lube at different times , some i only do at the bottom of the stroke other's at the top , some i can do a couple of boolits before i have to apply more pressure but usually dropping it back down a second time usually takes care of it ( and is also part of the lyman instructions .....

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/pdf/LyC_BC_LS_4500.pdf


" Apply no more pressure on lubricant than is required to “just fill the grooves”. If too much
pressure is built up, the lube will accumulate between the base of the bullet and the bottom
punch. This condition may also be caused by not holding down firmly on the handle when
you apply lubricant pressure. The very least pressure that will fill the grooves is best.
At times there will be portions of the grooves which do not readily fill with lubricant. This
is due to trapped air. If those bullets are again cycled through the die, without increasing
lubricant pressure, they will fill properly.
Many prefer to work with the lightest lube pressure and raise and lower the bullet twice;
the second time without any extra pressure. This produces a perfect job every time."

my best tip is one i put my die in i make sure that the holes aren't set in line with the reservoir ( as a "x" instead of as a "t" )

[Elkins45]

I have had a similar problem. This bullet is just short that there is little margin for error in depth adjustment. Start shallow enough that no lube enters the groove then very gradually adjust down until the lube shows up in the groove. Even then you'll need to be really careful not to apply too much pressure to the ratchet.

[myg30]

I lubed a bunch of .401 TC's with no trouble in my 450 lyman. Just got to be patient with set up.
I did just learn somthing new, holding pressure on the handle when cranking the ratchet !
Thats what I love about CB's forum, SO much info and reminders fer us old folk !

Thanks Fryboy, Mike

[Red squirrel]

I to had this issue. Follow ELKINS45's advice above and you'll be golden. Setup is everything. However I did notice that once I finally got everything adjusted, I was still getting a ring of lube around the base of the bullet. This is due to the bullet design being a slight bevel base and sizing base first. My mold was a .40s&w 175gr T.C. standard lube grove six cav lee so I removed the sprue plate and hardware on it and threw it in the mill at work and just removed enough alum off the top of the mold to make it a true flat base bullet. Didnt take much off, about .030 I think. Now I dont waste that lube at the base and my bullets still weigh 173 gr with w.w. alloy. I think they even shoot better out of my xd but It could be my imagination.

[thehouseproduct]

I am pretty much fed up with it. I'm just going to get a 358-125-rn six cavity. I can use it for 9mm and 38 special. Next I need a plain base 45 mold.

[turbo1889]

I also had some extreme frustration with the Lyman lubra-sizer when I first started using one. Here are some pointers I can give you that I have learned so far:

1. ~ Don't use that stupid ratchet handle assembly provided with the Lyman lubra-sizer instead just use a regular old stubby box end wrench. This will allow you to back off the pressure between boolits. Put a boolit in the sizer and depress the handle to seat the boolit in the sizer die, then crank the wrench down to apply pressure and then back it back off a full turn before you pull the handle up to eject the boolit from the sizing die. Repeat for each boolit and things will be significantly less frustrating. A little slower, yes, but definitely worth it.

2. ~ For lubing single lube groove boolits the RCBS sizing dies are far, far superior to Lyman sizing dies and the machine can use either. So get the RCBS dies whenever you have a choice for boolits with just a single lube groove or multi lube groove boolits where you’re only going to lube the bottom lube groove.

3. ~ When you do have to use the multi lube injection point holes Lyman dies treat them like star dies and plug the lube holes that you won't be using with lead shot. In order to be able to easily and successfully plug which ever holes you so desire with lead shot you should back-drill the holes so that the outside diameter of the holes is larger then the inside diameter of the holes. The dies are made of a very hard metal and thus you shouldn't actually try to do this with a larger size drill bit. Instead use a Dremel tool with a cone shaped diamond/carbide grinding attachment and use that to "cone out" the outside of the holes so that they easily accept a lead shot pellet; thus in actuality you are back-grinding rather then back-drilling them.

4. ~ For the vast majority of boolits which have a flat on the nose it is actually a good idea not to use a fitted top punch. Instead just a simple flat punch works best of all. Tom at Accurate Molds sells them ready made if you so desire or you can make one yourself easily enough by grinding down the end of a spare punch until it is flat on the end, choose one of the smaller diameter ones so that it will slip down inside the die on most diameter sizes.

5. ~ The next modification you can make to the Lyman dies when you have an opportunity after you finish fixing them as far as back-grinding them so you can plug the holes you aren’t using is to drill additional rows of lube injection holes so that at each lube groove there are four lube injection points at 90 degrees from each other like the RCBS dies rather then two lube injection points at 180 degrees as the Lyman dies are originally set up with that leave those annoying little air bubbles in the lube grooves right at the seam between the two injection holes on opposite sides of the boolit. As I previously mentioned the dies are made of a very hard metal and it is very difficult but not impossible to drill them. You will need a drill press with some sort of vise clamping assembly to hold the die for drilling, some sort of cutting lubrication (STP works great), and most importantly some high quality drill bits that are made from a cobalt alloy. Regular steel drill bits and even titanium drill bits are not sufficient for drilling in whatever nasty hard stuff they make those sizing dies out of. Does it really have to be that hard of steel to size down lead? Good grief, last I checked regular steel was plenty harder then even the hardest lead alloy. Sorry, a little off subject and on the soap box about a personal pet peeve.

6. ~ Then if your really ambitious and a tinkerer to boot you can get yourself a 1-1/2” bore or better double acting air cylinder with a 5” stroke or better. Put a one way check valve in the rod end port so that air can only go in and not out and you then have a single acting push only cylinder with automatic retraction due to the air cushion you just created in the rod end that will self adjust for any leakage. Then drill out and tap the piston from your Lyman lubra-sizer for the larger threads on the end of the air piston and make yourself a good strong bracket that attaches to the mounting bolts for the lubra-sizer that holds the air piston directly over the lube column. Plug the hole in the bottom of the lube reservoir where the threaded rod used to go. Hook up a momentary push button air valve with free air exhaust on release to the open air port on the back end of the air cylinder and your set to go; now you won’t have to apply and then back off the pressure just push the button to lube the boolit when it is in position and the lube pressure will automatically be backed off when you aren’t pushing the button. Plus you can fine tune the lube pressure by adjusting the air pressure on your air compressor regulator.

7. ~ If you want to go even further your next step is to remove the ejection assembly from the bottom of the lubra-sizer and back bore the bottom of your sizing dies to just an eighth of an inch or so below the bottom lube groove. Then make up a long flat nose top punch from a length of round stock and you now have a nose first push through sizer. You will have to eye-ball how deep you push the boolit inside the die so that the lube grooves are lined up with the lube injection holes (mark the side of the punch with a line that is even with the top of the die) then push the air button to lube the boolit and then finish your downward stroke on the handle to pop the boolit out the bottom of the die. Not quite as quick and slick as a Star sizer but it works quite well.

Anyway, depending on how far you want to take it that is how one gets a Lyman lubra-sizer to work like it should have worked in the first place.

[thehouseproduct]

Best post ever! Great advice.

[Larry Gibson]

I am just starting to use my new to me Lyman 45. I have a 0.358" sizer and the 402 top punch. I was able to correctly lube some SWC but these TC boolits are giving me big problems. I am either not getting a complete band of lube or the lube pushes underneath the base and give me a small column of lube. I need help fixing the problem. I turned off the lube warmer and it helped the problem but it hasn't gone away.

For those who haven't seen one, the Lee TC boolit looks like this:
http://leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/356120tc.gif

The Lee 356-120-TC is a very good and accurate bullet. I use a lot of those in my 9mm CZ75, my Spanish Destroyer .38 super and my .35 Remington rifle. I mostly cast mine of Range lead + 3% tin or WWs + 2% tin. The bevel on my bullets is very small. I found with my 450 that by tweeking the stop setting up or down a little alieviates most of the problem. I use Javelina lube with no heater.

Larry Gibson

[cbunt1]

<SNIP>

2. ~ For lubing single lube groove boolits the RCBS sizing dies are far, far superior to Lyman sizing dies and the machine can use either. So get the RCBS dies whenever you have a choice for boolits with just a single lube groove or multi lube groove boolits where you’re only going to lube the bottom lube groove.

3. ~ When you do have to use the multi lube injection point holes Lyman dies treat them like star dies and plug the lube holes that you won't be using with lead shot. In order to be able to easily and successfully plug which ever holes you so desire with lead shot you should back-drill the holes so that the outside diameter of the holes is larger then the inside diameter of the holes. The dies are made of a very hard metal and thus you shouldn't actually try to do this with a larger size drill bit. Instead use a Dremel tool with a cone shaped diamond/carbide grinding attachment and use that to "cone out" the outside of the holes so that they easily accept a lead shot pellet; thus in actuality you are back-grinding rather then back-drilling them.
<SNIP>


I found that putting a peice of foil-tape around the bottom lube holes in my lyman lube dies helps. It doesn't last as long as lead shot, but it's "field-expedient" (i.e. works with what I had on hand LOL) and gets the job done.

After plugging those holes, it's just a matter of getting the depth right, and letting off the lube pressure before extracting the boolit.