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Thread: .460 lee sizer + lubrisizer (type)?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master huntinlever's Avatar
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    .460 lee sizer + lubrisizer (type)?

    Hello all -

    Been a long time. I'm thinking about getting back into it but my brain has slowed down some (well, memory is bad) and though I have good notes from before, I'm afraid it may be a bit of a dumb question. Searched some, sorry if this has been covered. In a move, yikes, lost all my small reloading items - Accurate molds, sizing dies, etc. So will have to start again and building up slowly.

    I shoot the Marlin 45-70 gg. 425 g at 0.460", gas checked. I have approximately 45 rounds left over but they're a bit of a mix in that the containers are marked with load data, some with load data and labelled "untrimmed" for some reason, and some with load data marked "bad trim" for some reason. My customary load is 39.7 grains IMR 4198.

    I seem to recall I used both the lee sizing kit (push through, with the red container) to both size newly cast boolits and seat the gas check. Then, used my old Lyman 4500 for the lube itself. As I recall it was difficult to find a luber die at .460, though I eventually did.

    Does it make sense I would have used both the Lee for sizing and the Lyman for lube only?
    -Paul

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master


    missionary5155's Avatar
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    Good Morning
    With no way to look back and investigate your past, I would write it makes sense to me to use the same sizer diameter if that was your best shooting size.
    So kicking it all up to today....
    A .460 is a near standard for a caliber .45 Marlin rifles. That is what we use or .461 in Ballard or that other so called rifling.
    Check your actual diameter of those two dies. Size 3 cast in each and measure with a micrometer. You might be surprised.
    We routinely "open" sizers to whatever size we need. But .460 is not hard to find. Try Mid-South Shooters Supply or Titan Reloading. Those flashy boxes of advertisers above.
    Now a .407 or .413 or .514 or .623..... Those are going to be "custom jobs"
    Also check the size of those old loaded cast. Lead tends to "grow" over the years.
    "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
    Male Guanaco out in dry lakebed at 10,800 feet south of Arequipa.

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
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    Sounds kind of awkward to me.

    But I will admit that in my starting out (and broke) years of casting for rifles, I lubed and crimped on gaschecks in a .313" die that I had for the .32 H&R, then passed them through a Lee .311" die to fit my rifles. It worked, just a bit of extra fiddling.

    I have since purchased a .311 H&I die.

    Robert

  4. #4
    Boolit Master huntinlever's Avatar
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    Alright thanks alot guys. I honestly don't remember what I did, but I think I rolled the freshly cast boolits on a lubed pad, then sized them at 460 on the Lee (not for luber, just the sizing kit), then clipped the GC on, then ran the boolit upside down with a top punch in the Lyman Luber. I think I recall now having some trouble getting the GC to seat either using the Lee or right-side-up in the Lyman, so did them upside down and that worked.

    So, I've not found any .460 H&I dies, highest I've seen is .459. The barrel is slugged at .458 and I always thought it better to go with a .460 sizing than risk some leading or possibly inconsistent results. I also was a bit afraid to try and open up the .458 or .459 die, to be honest, so that's probably why I searched and eventually found a used .460 RCBS luber sizer die. Given the slight taper of the round, I actually don't know how to hand-open the diameter a bit more.

    So - no need for the Lee? Fresh boolits just seat the GC and lube them in a luber-sizer in one pass? OK to open the .459 to .460 (and if so, how do you guys deal with the slight taper), or you've found .459 is fine in a .458 bore?

    Edit: a pic added. I had others but can't find them. The groups here were basically consistent on repeated trips, and I was pretty happy with the load.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by huntinlever; 11-19-2022 at 05:35 PM.
    -Paul

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Please measure your as cast bullet diameter. If it is more than a couple of thousandths over your desired diameter, the Lee push through die will size down the bullet, nose first and not damage the bullet. I was bending soft cast bullets when I tried to seat gas checks and size/lube in the RCBS type lube sizer in the conventional manner.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    [ OK to open the .459 to .460 / .461 ] How did you go about opening these lube sizers dies up ?

  7. #7
    Boolit Master huntinlever's Avatar
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    Thanks Dusty. Just waiting for Tom's mold in a few weeks. Slightly different alloy from before, so we decided to set the mold to 0.61 and the Lee sizing to 0.60. I plan to pan lube for now (something I never did before) but will lap the H & H out to 0.61, I think, as I won't be using it for actual sizing (eyes out for a used Lam II or 450-4500).
    -Paul

  8. #8
    Boolit Master huntinlever's Avatar
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    I'm the last guy to ask - but I seem to recall I used a dowel, and some fine-grit emory paper (400, IIRC) lightly dipped in oil, and carefully rolled the die up and down my pants while drawing the dowel in and out. But best to ask on "lapping sizing dies." I just remember going slowly and checking constantly.
    -Paul

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check