Carbide Sizing Dies

So a while ago, A mate of mine who casts bullets for a living asked me about a custom sizing die, His Automatic sizer used Lee Sizing Dies. Essentially they were good for around 50,000 sizing's and sometimes there were under or oversize. So i made a prototype in carbide, final polish was done with 0.25 micron diamond paste. We found the ram pushed the projectiles easier then through the Lee dies.. We ended up changing his die holder over to a Lee APP Sizer Die. So I finished off Dies for most of the molds he has.. All things equal, He might have to check these to make sure they are still in spec at around 1 million sizings. Still have to finish off 357, 358, .40 and .500 Attachment 299647

We all need a friend like you. Nice job.

Oh, I made a set for me as well.... to cover everything i need... Probably outlast me and whoever ends up with them when im ant food.. I get conned into so much ...

Speaking of brand and quality it's hard to make a straight correlation as long as you do the correct steps to maintain your products. While aluminum is soft and you would think it would be the mold that would go bad the fastest my worst cast hardest to cast mold is a lyman mold . it appears that it is not perfectly squared. You have to hold it just right to make it cast good

Time to go into business. Great work

That's impressive! I've only lapped carbide dies larger with diamond. How do you do the rough cut?

Like everything, Things wear out.. The Lee dies are fine for 99.99% of people who use them. As for Mold quality, well I've had molds from the best mold makers, some went in the bin.. But i can say, I've never had a bad mold from Accurate or MP .

Fabulous! I thought I was doing great when I drilled a hole in a hardened bolt.

Wayne

Well done, well done
What do you use for a pusher rod?

Mike

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Originally Posted by skeettx

Well done, well done
What do you use for a pusher rod?

Mike

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Well, for my Lee APP, I just turned up some from some 304 stainless .. As for my mate, Well he can turn up his own to suit his Auto sizer... Im not that nice..

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Originally Posted by M.A.D

Well, for my Lee APP, I just turned up some from some 304 stainless .. As for my mate, Well he can turn up his own to suit his Auto sizer... Im not that nice..

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For the amount of time you you spent polishing, i think the time taken for a punch is nothing, and a small price to pay.

I size my projectiles nose first, so i just use a punch a little under the size of the projectile i'm sizing. If i was sizing base first, i'd need to make custom punches with the nose shape machined into them. Some of my moulds are a bit over size, so i may need to do them base first in the future.

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Originally Posted by M.A.D

Like everything, Things wear out.. The Lee dies are fine for 99.99% of people who use them.

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Roger that, I'm one of them! But, first time I get a mold that I figger to cast a million or more boollits from I'll sure try to get a carbide sizer die for it. For now, my old steel sizers are working nicely and they seem to resist wear reasonably well.