Sizing cast bullets on loading press?

[bangerjim]

Traffer,

Of course you don't need a press to resize boolits. All you need is a polished hole of the correct size, a punch and a mallet. Belding and Mull offered this tool for years. A steel cylinder with a taper to the final diameter hole, and a base with a relief under it, formed the body. If you wanted to drill a hole in your workbench and hang a container under it, you could bolt the base down. The punch was of the proper diameter, with an unturned section for a stop and head. The pan-lubed boolits were dropped, base first, into the hole and pushed or tapped through.

If you've made a rim fire reloader, you ought to be able to make this.

But a simple LEE "C" press and the correct $20 die is sooooooooo fast and sooooooo inexpensive. Why play whack-a-mole with your boolits????????????????????

[bangerjim]

So far I have only been loading 22lr. I recently bought a Lee Precision for 9mm but haven't used it yet. Since there are no dies etc for 22 rimfire, I have had to make my own tools. I use a Channel lock or pump pliers for pressing and a hammer for swaging and crimping with a collet crimper. (actually just barely tapping on the crimper). I have an idea for making a swaging die with a bottle jack and an inverted u shaped piece of heavy steel. If I could get a really strong press for cheap I would forgo the bottle jack build. I plan on also swaging hollow bases into 9mm with what ever I end up with. What would you recommend for a press that could handle swaging for cheap?

For swaging you will need well over a grand....and MORE. The super heavy duty press is very costly and the dies, well, just plan on getting a 2nd on your house. There some good plans on this site to build one. Do a search above to find the thread.

That is why I do NOT or EVER WILL swage boolits. Not needed. And I have the full machine shop to make all that carp. You can buy FMJ's much cheaper - if you absolutely think you MUST have them! I get darned near FMJ performance with PC'd cast lead boolits. Why bother with swaging>>>?

banger

[Traffer]

I already swag the 22 rimfire. Was using a hammer now using a Harbor freight 5" vise. I swag the 22 because they needs hollow base. I was cutting the cup in the base with a drill setup but I went and cut down my mold. Now I don't have enough lead to play with to cut the base. So I must swag the hollow base. I also want to swag a hollow base into 9mm. I went and bought a mold that that is 117 grain round nose. There is not enough bearing surface on these to make reliable loads so ... back to hollow base. If I swag a hollow base into these bullets I think they will be the perfect size etc. So I will use the vise until I build a press. I have an idea to make one out of a bottle jack. I think I can thread the second stage of the jack and cut a hole and tap a type of loop frame from some heavy steel and mount the home made die on the top, jacking the die into it. There are suspension parts in cars that may be something I can use for the "loop frame". But I don't mind even hammering the hollow base in there if I have to.
When you live on a shoe string you gotta think out of the box on occasion.

[Walter Laich]

I have MANY (!) sizes of the LEE sizing dies. What better way to do it???????

They work great and do not cost much so you can get lots of sizes. I throw the ALOX away, as I PC everything. The boolits slide thru the dies like butter with PC!



Why waste money on a lubramatic? Use PC.

And what have you been doing since Oct 2007 for sizing cast boolits????????

Why do you doubt success????? I have a full machine shop (and the skills) but why would I waste my time making something I can buy for a few bucks????? If one ever wears out (doubtful), I will just buy another one of that size.

banger

only thing I do is put a spring around the base pin that extends about 1/4" above it. That way I don't have to take the time to perfectly align the the bullet with the pin.

learned this on here...somewhere

[edwardware]

For the price of the Lee Push-Through sizers, they can't be beat. A little polishing eases things along, but I've only bothered on my 0.452.

[DerekP Houston]

I powder coat and use the Lee sizer dies...works very well.

Same here, though with both PC and Hitek. I assume if I'd caught the bug sooner I would own a lubresizer and would've stuck with that route though.

[Naphtali]

Many thanks to all of you. You solved a problem and - BONUS - created some money for me.

[gwpercle]

Lee will send you a brand new catalog for free, request it from their web site and the mail man will bring it to you...The best part is , there is no charge to you !
You have to get the freebee's before they start charging for them....the price of everything just keeps going up .
There are even a few new products that weren't in there in nine years ago.
Gary

[mdi]

I've been using Lee push through dies since day one (I first had the Lee kit that had a 3" round pan, a chunk of red lube, a punch and a die. The bullets were pan lubed, and pounded through the die, no threads on the die body. Worked great). I now have mebbe 11 Lee push through dies with 4 mounted on a spare turret for my turret press. I have "customized" a few to get a specific diameter and have never had any problems with, good round, consistent diameters. I pan lube, tumble/dip lube and PC and have found no need for a lubersizer (with dies and nose punches for every bullet I cast)...

[robg]

I bought the Lee c press just to size boolits easier ,I now use it for the fcd die after seating on my wamadet press.

[DerekP Houston]

only thing I do is put a spring around the base pin that extends about 1/4" above it. That way I don't have to take the time to perfectly align the the bullet with the pin.

learned this on here...somewhere

I had forgotten about that recommended trick. Thanks for the reminder!

[Freightman]

I use Lee push through I have a c press mounted upside down just drop the boolits in and work the handle. Star is good but expensive for no more than I would use it .