Lyman 31141 Top Punch

[Stonecrusher]

Just a crazy question. For those that have them, how well does the prescribed #8 top punch fit your 31141 boolits?

My #8 is a punch for a flat meplat but the end of the punch is about .080" over the diameter of the end of the boolit. I recently did a run of these boolits and went to a softer alloy, ww w/2%, than I was using before. When seating gaschecks before sizing I was having a difficult time keeping the slug straight because of the slop in the top punch.

After looking closer I found that I have been using a #413 top punch for the last twenty five years or so because it fits better. Although it is made for a spitzer, the ogive is really close and provides good alignment for seating checks and staring the boolit straight for sizing. It leaves a slight, about .015" "chamfer" on the corner of the meplat before the rest of the punch contacts the ogive farther down. This little "chamfer" causes no problems, at least as far as I can tell.

The reason this showed up now was because I am trying out aluminum checks I made from .020" sheet specifically for my mosin to be sized to .3165". The extra pressure need to size down the checks was enough for the lubesizer to squish the nose of the boolit a shocking amount. With the #413 the deformation is less but still enough that I get long distance flyers.

I need to get some thinner sheet to try for the .30 cal. and am thinking of trying initial sizing nose first with a push thru before lubing. That should stop any deformation. I could heat treat as well.

Anyway,,,,, My main question is: is my #8 punch made correctly, or do I need to replace it?

[Yodogsandman]

.A quick, semi-permanent fix would be to take either top punch and make it fit your boolit with an epoxy, bondo or J. B. Weld. Prepare a boolit with a spray of PAM on it as a release agent. Clean the top punch with a solvent, shove a dab of epoxy in the cup and lightly place it down on the prepared boolit that's centered in your sizing die. When cured it should size boolits square and without distortion. Note that the epoxy will need >60F to cure and I'd wait at least 12 hours before using it. If you need to remove the epoxy for any reason, heat it with a propane torch.

[Stonecrusher]

Thanks for the reply Yodog. I know I can fix it, I was just wondering if perhaps my top punch was marked with the wrong number and is for another boolit profile.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Many do not really fit at all because LYMAN, especially, has modified the boolit profiles while using the same mold numbers. Use the epoxy method or bevel the top punch with your case neck deburring tool to suit your mold.

BvT