just ordered a lee lube sizer kit first time but have a question?

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midland man

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okay midwayusa has just put on the truck today coming this way is a lee lube sizer kit in which I have never used before! so I just got a used lyman mold single cavity 454190 they don't make anymore so I made some bullets up but they are coming out at .460 at the back of the bullet so I ordered this lube sizer kit in .454 so I can size these down a bit, so my question is can I just size them dry first then lube them with the lee alox afterwards?? thanks guys! :eek:
 
0.006 is a fair amount to size the boolits down. You are going to really want those to e lubed first. If you are going to be using the lee alox just lube them once before sizing and again after sizing so you have lube on the parts of the bullet that were sized
 
can I just size them dry...?
NO !
They will gall up inside the die beyond all recognition
(That's "GUBAR" for the Forum Filters);)

They must be lubed,... and the lube (if ALOX) must be allowed to dry.
(else GUBAR again):banghead:





(ask me how I know.)
 
Some folks will spray with johnson's furniture wax, and size. Then clean the bullets with acetone, then tumble lube with the liquid alox that comes with the kit.

Personally, firstly I think you may not be happy with sizing that bullet so much. It might be better to find another mould. Secondly, I just use pan lubing techniques to fill the lube grooves with grease, and then run through the Lee sizer. It seems to work just fine.

--The LLA tumble lube never seems to get dry, and is always a little sticky. I guess to me having lube where you need it and not where you don't has some sort of tactile importance.
 
Some people actually USE johnsons wood wax as lube. My favorite tumble lube is actually a 45/45/10 mix. 45% Johnson's wood wax, 45% liquid alox and 10% mineral spirits. It does dry completely and seems to work at higher velocities. You can mix your own but I found it nearly as cost effective just to buy it here:

http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31

You can't size them dry without problems. Not only will it squish up in the die, it will be much harder to size without lube. The typical procedure is to put a light layer on, size them and then put another light layer on.

I have found that if I warm up the bullets and the lube before applying that you get a far more consistent coat and you don't need to use nearly as much lube. I put my bottle of lube in a pan of hot water for 5-10 minutes and just shine a 100 watt incandescent light over the bullets for 10-15 minutes. I have a 2 quart plastic jug that I put the bullets in and add about 2-3 tablespoons to about 10 pounds of bullets. I roll them around in the jar until they look even and then dump them out on wax paper to dry.

You can tell if you are using too much lube if the warm bullets have little puddles under them after a few minutes. You get the feel for it pretty quick. I used to use a LOT of lube on cold bullets. They shoot fine but it makes them smokey and there is no need for it. If the bullets just look wet, that is good enough.
 
ALWAYS follow the instructions. They wrote the instructions for a reason, and that reason is usually to be sure you use the produce correctly.
You know, you could simply tumble lube a few bullets android them as-is and SEE if there is any problem chambering. I find that as-cast bullets are more accurate. I have been casting since about 1975, and haven't sized a bullet since about 1976.
Next, what is the actual measured throat diameter and groove diameter of your gun? Without those, you have no idea if 0.454" is correct.
If .45 Colt, the cylinder's throats should be 0.4555-0.4595" and groove diameter should be 0.450-0.454". You want the bullet to a tight slip fit in the cylinder's throats and at least 0.001" larger than actual groove diameter.
The case OD should be 0.474-0.480", but it needs to fit the chamber which is 0.4862-0.4902", so there could be lots of slop and the oversized section of the bullet, even if seating doesn't swage it down at all (and it will), may still fit.
I mean, what does it really cost to load a couple of inert dummy rounds, which you should do anyway, and verify if the as-cast bullets will work?
 
I did load 6 rounds and they did fit just fine in my heritage big bore revolver. so went and shot them with 7grs greendot in which is a max load in my book and men't to load them around 6grs lol but oh well will do next time but they did chamber just fine at as cast and but the groups was a tad wide outta that 6 rounds but also my throats measured .453 the bore was .452 and so I figured going to .454 should be a good fit, and get better groups hopefully! I did run some Missouri bullet company cowboy #1 250gr rnfp at 12bhn at .452 but kept getting leading building up but with my 6 rounds of as cast at 12bhn had zero leading compared so the bigger bullet did make a difference.
 
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