Spoiled!!!

[hpdrifter]

I broke down a bought me a Lubrisizer. Wow. I am now spoiled. I just don't see how anyone could like panlubing or tumble lubing over this.

I'd read where the adjusting was tricky and it was messy and so forth and so on. The onliest fly in me ointment is my .452 die needs to be .453 and maybe alittle + and it has 2 lube holes and IS pretty touchy to adjust for the Lee 255 SWC; small lube rings and the .458 has but one lube hole(RCBS)for more and bigger lube groooves, but it does the job well.

I did think that I'd never get lube down to the dies tho. Seems like it took forever to get lube to the bullet. But once there all was up and running nicely.

Using the moly that came with my unit.. How long will a stick last?

Hog heaven

[NVcurmudgeon]

hpdrifter, if I read your post right you have an RCBS die, but you did not say which brand of Lubrisizer you have. Consensus here seems to be that RCBS is the better machine, but Lyman dies are smoother. Then there is the higher price spread, Saeco. I don't know because I have two Lyman 450s, one 1968 and one 2003, both give complete satisfaction. All my dies are Lyman also. Be sure to mike sized boolits from your dies and your alloy. They do not necessarily produce booolits sized as marked on the dies. I have a Lyman .356 and a .357 die. Both turn out boolits of .3565" diameter, using my standard alloy of WW plus 2% tin.

Re: lube consumption, I can't give you exact figures. I use Javelina Alox lube and run through maybe 4-6 sticks a year lubing upwards of 3,000 boolits.

[SharpsShooter]

hpdrifter,

I used to pan lube all my boolits and had it down to fine art. Then I ran across a Lyman Ideal #45 (the old orange one) for a good price. I bought it and have never looked back. It doesn't take long to get spoiled with the right tools.

[hpdrifter]

NVc, i didn't say which lubesizer I got on purpose, but I'll go ahead and say I got the Lyman 4500. Am thoroughly pleased with it, but I had to loosen all the linkage a little. I hate the binding feeling of new machinery. There are things I'd do different if I were building one, but it'd cost me $5-600 and eons of time. I wanted the heater so as to be at least semi-complete and it was the CHEAPEST WAY OUT. From now on, me dies will be Lyman. I had to get the RCBS .458 because Midway was out of Lyman of that size.

Yes, about the checking sizes. My .452(Lyman) takes em down to .4516, so I really need to open that one up or get a .454 and hope it's undersized a little. My bullets are cast as ~.4528 and I need all of that for my Ruger BH.

SS, I only pan lubed a couple of times and tumble lubed a little more. Both were messy and the TL seemed extremely wasteful. I guess I didn't invest enough time into the pan method to learn the ins and outs. Got the TL working pretty good, but.......

[Buckshot]

..............hpdrifter, "Yes, about the checking sizes. My .452(Lyman) takes em down to .4516, so I really need to open that one up or get a .454 and hope it's undersized a little. My bullets are cast as ~.4528 and I need all of that for my Ruger BH."

A .452" sizing to .4516" is darn close, but the tolerance is on the wrong side . For the custom dies I make I spec nominal +.0005". That way at least that way you get the nominal diameter. HA, if yuo wanted smaller you'd get a smaller die!

I'd do what you suggested and get the .454" and then just watch your lube pressure.

..................Buckshot

[hpdrifter]

A .452" sizing to .4516" is darn close, but the tolerance is on the wrong side . For the custom dies I make I spec nominal +.0005". That way at least that way you get the nominal diameter. HA, if yuo wanted smaller you'd get a smaller die!

I'd do what you suggested and get the .454" and then just watch your lube pressure.

..................Buckshot

In the overall scheme of things they got pretty close i must admit, but as you noted, the other direction woulda been nice. If I could bank on the .454 being of the same genre......

But, I don't spent all my discretionary money for a while.

[Dale53]

Don't blame Lyman for being off just .0004". You may or may not believe this, but different alloys will end up different sizes. Pure lead doesn't "spring back" but the harder alloys do. If you don't believe me, run a GOOD pure lead bullet through the die and then run a GOOD linotype bullet through the same die (same bullet in every description from the same mould but with different alloys).

Just something else to ponder on the way to the NUT HOUSE (LOL)
Dale53

[pdgraham]

.............

Using the moly that came with my unit.. How long will a stick last?
................

Good question... I keep intending to count how many 45acp boolits I can lube with a stick but I lose track and forget.

Anyone ever get a ball park figure on how long a stick will last?

[hpdrifter]

Dale, I ain't blaming no one. Actually i think it's pretty accurate for a production type tool. Just WISHED it was "off" the other way. Over.

I find it peculiar that all of the guns chambers that I've bought lately are OVERSIZED, throats UNDERSIZED, and the reloading dies are tight to specs. It makes for overworked brass and inaccuracy.