Lee Lube & Size Kit

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stu925

New member
I'm in the very early stages of researching the purchase of some casting equipment and I came across this http://www.midwayusa.com/product/116429/lee-bullet-lube-and-size-kit-452-diameter?cm_vc=mini_sell. I'm sure it's been asked before but nothing came up in my search for info. Has anyone used this kit and if so would you recommend it for a beginning caster? I'm on a very limited budget so I figured if the Lee kit was worth it I would go that route for now rather than buy a dedicated lubrisizer. I'm planning on starting out just casting for my .45 Colt and then moving on to .45 ACP. I have probably 200lbs of lead here in bags of shot that I will never load since I have plenty of shotgun shells. I figured if I started casting I could use that lead shot to cast .45 Colt bullets. I've spent pretty much all weekend going over posts here and am currently reading From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners©. Any opinions on the Lee kit are appreciated.

Stu
 
I started with a Lee bullet sizer like that in .356 diameter. They work fine. I still have it even though I don't have a 9mm gun anymore. Looks like new.
 
I use the Lee kit and LLA for 45 ACP but use the Lyman and SPG for the 45 Colt. I guess if you're shooting smokeless powder the Lee kit will serve you well, I have at least a few of them and like them. I prefer to lube before and after, I use LLA before and Rooster Jacket after on the 45 ACP. The others I just use LLA.
 
I'm loading smokeless powder in the .45 Colt. I'm loading for a S&W 25-5 currently with the hopes of adding a Blackhawk later on down the line for a hunting handgun. In any event I have no plans to load blackpowder cartridges.

Stu
 
I use Lee sizers for everything (until I get a luber / sizer).

It's a slow process, but I pan lube everything with SPG or Carnuba Red lubes. After they're lubed, a trip through the sizer finishes them off.

But... you may not need a sizer, if the mold drops bullets at the correct diameter (especially if you decide to tumble lube).
For example, one of my latest additions is loaded and shot as-cast. I pan lube, and load.
It's the 425 gr RN bore-rider seen on the far left, and 3rd from the right.
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I use them exclusively for my bullet casting.

Cast bullets.
Put bullets in jug.
Add Lube. (Paste wax, a little Vaseline and a little Alox.)
Shake
Pour and spread onto drying surface and put a fan blowing onto it in the garage on Sunday.
Rotate bullets on Wednesday.
Size bullets on Saturday.

Though i would advise that you save yourself the trouble and buy both a .452 and a .451 sizer die. I end up using the .451 because my 45's like them better.
 
They're all I use, although I admit that I don't size handgun bullets. My sizing is limited strictly to those bullets I afix a gas check, so I'm really using them to seat gas checks. I've never found any real benefit to sizing handgun bullets. As long as they're big enough, they'll size when they hit the forcing cone.
 
Yep, the Lee sizing system is very popular, even with owners of luber-sizers. I have a Lee turret with 4 of their sizing dies mounted to keep them handy. I'd suggest a Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook, a stainless steel pot, a Coleman stove, a Lyman dipper/ladle, a Lee tumble lube 2 cavity mold (for whichever gun/caliber you choose), a Lee sizer kit w/alox, and some pure lead to mix with your shot. Some T/L molds will drop bullets that don't need sizing, but you'll need a micrometer to measure them. Just lube the T/L bullets with some thinned alox (most new users use way too much alox, and mineral spirits will thin and allow/help alox dry faster) load and shoot. I've read "the only way to learn to cast bullets, is to cast bullets..."
 
Mikld,

Dang! I've been looking at my old Lyman Spart-T turret press and wondering what service to put it to for quite awhile. I think you just solved that for me. Thanks!

I've been using the Lee sizing kits for some time and love them. I have a lubrisizer, but it hasn't been out for awhile now. It only is when I need to fill lube grooves in rifle bullets. I have one .309" diameter Lee sizers that I polished with Dico Stainless Steel grade compound (no, the Lee isn't stainless, but Veral Smith pointed out this blue compound is particularly good with hardened carbon steel) with a felt bob on a Dremel tool. I use it to push cast .32 wadcutters through to make .30 cal plinkers. They come out looking like glass.

Also, if you need an odd size, it's not hard to run a split dowel on a drill into one of the Lee bullet sizers with a little wet/dry 320 grit and cutting oil on it to open the diameter up a little, then polish. Did that with a .457" I had when I found I needed .460".
 
Ok so that settles it, it'll be a Lee kit. That'll save me some cash over buying the dedicated lubrisizer. Now all I have to do is get a little cash together and I can get started. I've been keeping an eye on the auction sites for a used furnace, hopefully I can get a good deal on one. I'm sure I'll have a bunch more questions as I go. BTW the alloy section of from Ingot to Target is like reading stereo instructions, I got what I needed out of it I think, but it took a while to get through it.

Stu
 
To get started on the cheap, you can buy from a thrift store a small pot or pan to put on a camp stove to melt your lead in. Buy a ladle, the mold you want (Lee two holers are fine to get started with), and a lead thermometer. Put that with your sizer and you've got the basics.
 
I've been keeping an eye on the auction sites for a used furnace, hopefully I can get a good deal on one.
Click to expand...

Midway has the Lyman Big Dipper furnace on sale for $33 through the end of March. That isn't bad at all, when you have to consider that there's a 50% chance of any used furnace having a fried thermostat or heating element.

But, as Vance said...
You don't have to have a furnace/smelter.

I got started with an old 8" dutch oven, and a turkey fryer (I already had the turkey fryer; and I can get 80 lbs in that dutch oven - it doesn't have to be big). I spent the money for a Lee ingot mold, and bought thrift store spoons, lube pans, and a stainless mixing bowl to use in a double boiler (for pan lubing).
It only cost me about $10 for the lot.

If you're going to be smelting a lot of alloy, a definitely suggest having more than 1 ingot mold. My first few smelting sessions had me spending most of my time playing with ants and fluxing the pot out of boredom, because I had to wait on the ONE mold.
 
I looked at the big dipper furnace as well as the kit which comes with an ingot mold, dipper, lube and guide. I will probably invest in the casting furnace since I don't have a camp stove anymore (although I suppose I could use the side burner on my grill). I've also been considering doing my smelting over the firepit in the back yard in a dutch oven although it seems the temperature would be very difficult to control. I'm still in the research phase of the project and haven't decided on anything yet. I have noticed that most of the used casting furnaces I've seen in auctions are going for just as much as new ones so that's out.

Stu
 
I made up this list around a year ago, so the prices may have crept up a bit. But it's what I consider a basic set-up. It happens I wrote this up for someone else that wanted to do 45's. I stored it in M-word for future use. I would get you going to produce useable boolits with no added purchases, but allow you to expand eventually to better molds or a lubrisizer.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=645810 $64.99

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=789762 $19.49

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=776747 $19.49

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=116429 $17.29

121.26
This is the basic cost for a set-up that would get you ready to cast for a 45 auto. melt the lead, pour the bullet, lube it by tumbling, then run it through the sizer. Ready to load. And YES you can use the tumble lube for conventional lube groove bullets!

The Lee Pro 4 20 Lb Furnace is the best one they make, it has the ability to function as a bottom pour, and enough room to allow you to use a ladle if you want to try that method.

You didn't say which caliber, BUT the above prices would be the same no matter which handgun caliber(S) you may have. The same would go for rifle, the 2 cav lee molds all cost about the same money. Occasionally midway has a sale that will save a couple bucks off a mold, or other stuff.

I would certainly suggest you start with a simple handgun bullet without a gas check. Rifle bullets are a step up in skill level requirements, and paper patching is another higher skill level.
 
The Lee 358 mold actually dropped at 362, so I needed that sizing kit for my CZ. The 452 mold was the right size so I just load them as-is.
 
I have had good results with the TL 358-158 grain SWC mold. I have been casting with it for a few days, and shot some of them today. 60 rounds fired out of a Mod 67-1 S&W .38 spcl. Not a single streak of lead anywhere. I also load for .41 Mag with a TL SWC mold they shoot great as cast. The .451 200 grain SWC is a regular base with a snadard lube groove. I tumble lube those, and shoot as cast. I shoot them out of several dfferent guns with no issues at all.

Most Lee molds will dop bullets that will shoot as cast if you heat the mold up first.
 
I'm sure it's been asked before but nothing came up in my search for info. Has anyone used this kit and if so would you recommend it for a beginning caster?
Click to expand...

They do work, they're easy to use and (as you note) quite inexpensive.

In the long run I'm much happier with the Lubrisizer, than with a tumble lube method.
 
Like PawPaw, I don't bother resizing handgun bullets either. I used to use the Lee resizing kit with LLA tumble lube, but don't bother anymore. For some crazy reason I used to think that if I shot a stray bullet that was .0005" bigger than my target size, my gun to might blow up. :rolleyes:

Now I'm shooting as-cast .3575" down the pipe of a CZ 75B with wonderful accuracy and no leading. I also pan lube those ones. I do 500 at a time, and easily lube 3,000 bullets during an afternoon.
 
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