Lyman bullet sizing die

F

floydster

New member
Has anyone ever drilled more holes in thier Lyman bullet sizing dies?
I have a 357 dia. die and it has holes just on two sides and when I lube and size a pistol bullet, it only gets lube on two sides of the bullet, some of my other dies have holes in four places on the die.
Thanks for input.
Floydster
 
Instead of drilling holes in the sizing die, all you need to do is warm up the sizer so the bullet lube will flow easyer.

Lyman makes a heater for the sizer that heat the whole unit. I would try a hair drier first warming the sizer, please note, you can get it too warm.

If it's too warm the bullet turns to a grease like material till it cools down.
 
Having a machining back ground, I have made some of my own bullet sizing dies. I found that the resulting dies would not hold their internal dimensions unless they were hardened. Therefore, I believe that the Lyman dies are likely too hard to add additional lube holes using conventional drill bits or two-flute end mills. Note: RCBS bullet sizing dies have holes on all four sides I believe, if you must have them. Nevertheless, I have used Lyman dies for years without the problem you describe...you should experiment with your technique (more pressure on lube), or adjustment of depth, etc. Are you using a "hard" lube that requires a heater?
 
Thanks guys, but I think my problem is I am trying to lube a Lee tumble lube bullet and the grooves are just to small--- I am using the regular black Lyman lube with a heat lamp, however if I had a die with holes on all sides it would work ok, I do believe.
My cast rifle bullets lube ok, except for a little lube leaking out on the bottom of the press between the die and press body, I am using an old no. 45.

I guess I will have to stick with tumble lubing these bullets:)
 
Yeah, you got it. Tumble lube bullets don’t work too hot in the Lyman 45. It’ll size them fine, but the lube groves are too shallow for proper lubing.

Harder lube works best for the rifle. The bullet doesn’t run out of lube in the long barrel. For pistols it doesn’t make much difference, hard or soft, because of barrel length. It’s been my experience that tumble lubed bullets have such shallow lube rings that they generally run out of lubrication when fired in rifles. ( i.e. 44 and 357 mags )

My ancient old 45 has leaked a bit of lube for years, save it for fluxing your lead.

The swaging dies are hardened. It would be tough to impossible to drill holes in them. Try taking them apart and cleaning them. Sometimes it works wonders.
 
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