Do a search on 'Ranch Dog" for alox lubing. He's got some great tips as well.
Extra decapping pins is a good idea for backup. I have a few LEE's but like Recluse mentioned- they are tough.
Do a search on 'Ranch Dog" for alox lubing. He's got some great tips as well.
Extra decapping pins is a good idea for backup. I have a few LEE's but like Recluse mentioned- they are tough.
Thanks Pat I've done that, been all over his site too, sure wish he hadn't taken off the reloading data. I've got six other Lee moulds along with this one but none of them are TL designs except the old .44 230 grain I've got and I don't have a .44 pistol anymore (STUPID, I had a super redhawk .44 mag stainless....) and that was 20 years ago.
Ressurecting that old mold with info I found here led me to buy the six other Lee molds I now have that cast perfectly after I Lee-mented what needed to be done to them.
Guess I'm gonna have to just be an old dog caster now and start trying stuff. Not sure if the alox will be adequate if I shove those new bullets through a sizer, afraid it will swage off the micro-band but we got about a foot of snow here yesterday so I guess I'm gettin fixin to go downstair play with lead!
Thanks,
Art
As I age, I find that the memory isn't as clear as it once was. We take notes on powder charge weights and cartridge O.A.L. Why not mixes as well??. Here is an area where I should take my own advice.
I read somewhere that "The faintest ink is better than the sharpest memory"
Shiloh
Je suis Charlie
"A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves."
Bertrand de Jouvenel
“Any government that does not trust its citizens with firearms is either a tyranny, or planning to become one.” – Joseph P. Martino
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” – Milton Friedman
"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas?" - J. Stalin
Keeping spare decapping pins is important. I broke one on my Lyman Carbide 357 die and I couldn't find anyone in the Tacoma area who had them for sale. Finally a fellow cast bullet guy on ther CB-L sent me some.
I spent my working life on NOAA Research ships, we were well aware of importancve of spares. That for want of a nail ditty often bit us on the butt so we learned to stock essential spares.
An early lesson was when somebody in my department-Oceanographic Tech- failed to get more of the artgum eraser powder in a sort of cheesecloth bag. Somebody spent an afternoon chopping up artgum erasers with a chef's knife. We used the powdered artgums on the plots we made of our operations.
Never too late for a happy childhood
hey shiloh i'm bout ready to go to a tattoo parlor, i write it then forget where i put it.
i've had only 3 times to call lee and ask to speak with a tech, and spoke to bill or pat and these guys are super, we spoke about molds that i wanted to experiment with, they were very helpful and gave me good advice and asked me to let them know how it went. thats the only time i've had to call never broke anything on 17 sets of dies and 3 presses so i guess i'm a satisified customer;
skimmerhead
Cheap things are not good and Good Thing's Are Not Cheap
the worst part of getting old; is remembering when you were young
I have been aloxing my bullets and they work just fine. I get good accuracy also. I find that Bill and Pat at Lee are very helpful. They sent me new handles for my mold , and it was my fault they broke. Yea that is great customer service. I have polished out some burrs and craks on there molds,not a big deal to me. I have coated the bullets to lightly and to much. The happy medium is what you got to get use to. I covered some way to heavy and had to let them dry in the heat for about a week. They worked real well to by the way. If you got the time try it.
VOTE 2010! Throw them out! Every last one of them! (Feel free to add this to your sig. Spread the word!) I got this from AZ Stew
Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician - Col Jeff Cooper
I've also never broken a Lee decapping pin. But I broke one in my Lyman Universal decapper and it's not replacable without replacing the whole stem ( media in a flash hole). I've also broken many RCBS decapping pins and also had the stem break on a couple just above the expander ball. I stiil buy their products.
I've broken RCBS pins a plenty ....... and I still rave about RCBS.
Lee's been good to me as all the other brands that I have crossed paths with.
As to LLA thinness ........ I thinned with mineral spirits, blended a bit of powdered moly in ...... and double it!
Two thin apps with two drying times.
AND ...... I use wax paper ....... over and over!
Maybe I'll graduate to alluminum foil ....... and then again?
Three 44s
I did bend one lee decapping pin. My mistake I stuck the case and after removing the case dropped the pin on the concrete. I called lee and told them what happened and I had a new one three days later. And it was absolutely my fault and I told them that!!
Remember the average response time of a 911 call is over 4 minutes. The average response time of a .357 is around 1300 F.P.S.
VOTE 2010! Throw them out! Every last one of them! (Feel free to add this to your sig. Spread the word!) I got this from AZ Stew
Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician - Col Jeff Cooper
Stopped using wax paper.
I just use a teflon coated cookie sheet I bought from a chuch rummage sale for 50 cents and just wipe off any excess lube.
Buckbeans
Wax paer/foil which works better?? In my mind neither but a heavy peice of freezer paper is great alot stronger and can be reused over and over. But I quit using all of the above I have found that a used large flat rate is perfect and they don't fall out or hit the floor. After a use or two it has its own alox/wax coating and is also non stick. The boolits didn't even stick the first time.
Remember the average response time of a 911 call is over 4 minutes. The average response time of a .357 is around 1300 F.P.S.
I am going to try the Teflon cookie sheet idea I can get these dirt cheap at yard sales.
LEE PRODUCTS ROCK by the way.
Last edited by dukenukum; 06-14-2010 at 10:03 AM. Reason: forgot stuff
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 |