I don't think Lyman has made the #45 lubesizer for about 50 years,
and it remains one of the favorite lubesizers for many of us boolit casters.
Over the past few years, I seem to have become an expert on them
(said tongue in cheek).
Twice, I have bought/traded for a box of parts (some broken)
and have re-assembled/built several #45 lubesizers from those parts.
I have also designed/built/sold a stronger replacement handle/linkage kit,
which is the major weak "LINK" in the #45's design IMHO.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=107488
fyi, I am no longer selling them.
In the last year, I have bought several complete units (like the photo's below),
that only needed cleaning to be able to use it. Many other members here
have done the same...and some of them, if they were NEW to lubesizing boolits,
they would post the question, "What's the best way to clean up a
lubesizer ?"
So I thought I'd start a detailed thread on answering
that question...and a few others.
I bought this at the local gunshow last week, which I am a vendor at.
Since I was there the whole weekend, I was able to negociate
with the vendor over the weekend and get his price down
from his asking price...assuming he didn't sell it to someone else,
a risk I didn't mind taking since I didn't really even want another sizer.
He had alot of other used reloading tools, he told me he sells lubesizers
all the time on fleaBay for $80 to $100...why wasn't he selling this one there ?
I suspect he surfed through fleabay and seen what they go for and was
just BSing me. He also had a nice old Ideal .257 "pointy" style boolit mold.
at the end of the weekend, I paid $75 for the #45 and the mold...a great deal.
btw, What I got is what is shown in the photo, no wrench, no top punch, but
there is a .358 die installed...Bonus ! that's worth about $15 if you don't need it.
I suspected the Red color wasn't original, of the many 45's I've owned
and seen, they have all been Orange (or repainted). The lighting at the
gunshow wasn't real good at this guys table, but I did catch a glipse of the
bottom...Yep some original orange paint.
The top cast iron piece that is suppose to slide on the reservior tube
was stuck (glued with old lube), So I couldn't check the function and
if there was a top punch and die installed, I could have checked the
allignment if it was stuck. For the looks inside the reservior, the lube
has leaked past the pressure nut, So I assume it hasn't been upgraded
to the O-ring style pressure nut which should eliminate that leaking.
But at first glimpse, since it was repainted and the Hex end of the
pressure screw looked in mint condition, I had hoped that the
pressure nut and screw was upgraded...I guess we'll see for sure
when I get it taken apart...Later...
btw, in hindsight, I could have warmed the reservior tube up with
my hand to get the lube to loosen it's grip and maybe borrowed
a top punch from the vendor and checked for function and allignment.
this would have been a smart thing to have done.
another thing to check for when buying a #45 lubesizer is if the
slide rods or the cast iron parts are worn from excessive use without
proper lubrication. Remember it's at least 50 years old !
Grab the upper piece with the left hand as shown above and
grab the lower piece with the right hand as shown below.
with the upper piece lowered most or all of the way, try to twist them.
It should NOT move, it should be tight.
If the upper piece is raised up all the way, there maybe a little
movement and that's OK, but it's better if there isn't any,
if the slide rod nuts are not tight, that can also cause this same
looseness I am discribing...tighten them and try twisting again.
I reiterate, When the upper peice is lowered all the way, if there is any
slop/movement when twisting, you will not be able to size boolits
consistantly and imperfectly sized boolits (NOT concentric, think lop-sided)
will be the result due to varied allignment of top punch and Die
and I WOULD NOT BUY IT...except for parts.
Another common problem to look for is a crack in the lower
cast iron peice, between the die setscrew and the die. This is
caused by over tightening. It's impossible to fix for the average
handyman/reloader...maybe a skilled welder could braze that
cast iron, but I have never had to deal with it and I would recommend
avoiding buying one that's cracked. Photo below shows a close up
of the area in question. This one is NOT cracked.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/u...wviewRed45.jpg
Good luck, I hope this helps,
Jon