stubbicatt
New member
I guess each has his own reasons for getting into bullet casting. For myself, mostly, I got started to feed BPCR years ago, and stay with it now to feed my Schuetzen rifle. Of course, since I'm already doing that, I guess I'd may as well cast for my revolvers.
I sold much of my equipment 15 years ago or so when my cancer metastasized and it didn't look like there were any long term prospects. So the BPCR and the Lyman sizer and die collection went down the pike.
So now I am casting for a 30-30, a gas checked RCBS mould. Really, an outstanding product, the RCBS mould. But rather than either buy a dedicated Lyman or RCBS lubesizer, or get a sizing die and top punch for my Star, I determined that I would go cheap on this one, try something different, and I bought a Lee push thru sizer, in the spirit of experimentation and innovation.
Cripes.
I tried the tumble lubing, and it just doesn't do it for me. From all accounts, it works just fine, but to look at it, with that thin veneer of alox all over the bullets, it just can't work... I know the Wright brothers proved that heavier than air flight is possible, but when I look at it, I just don't see it! So, scratch the possibilities of tumble lubing. Toss those bullets back in the melt and start over. Besides, they smell bad.
Now I am struggling to figure out "proper" grease-in-the-grooves-lubing. I tried pan lubing, but never was able to successfully figure out a suitable "kake cutter," so moth balled that tedious operation. Now I'm simply heating lube, and dipping bullets in the lube, and then running them through the Lee sizer die. This is less tedious than pan lubing, but certainly more tedious than running them thru a lubrisizer of some sort.
The tedium of lubing and sizing this way has me reconsidering a proper die and top punch for the Star. There's a fellow who goes by the moniker Lathesmith at cast bullets website who has made other dies for me which have worked out well. His dies and top punch setups will set me back about $65 or so, so not a princely sum, but still I want this Lee setup to work out for me!
Question is, what will I do with the Lee sizer when I finally give up on experimentation and get the right setup for my Star?
The angst a cheap SOB will put himself through to save a buck. LOL.
I sold much of my equipment 15 years ago or so when my cancer metastasized and it didn't look like there were any long term prospects. So the BPCR and the Lyman sizer and die collection went down the pike.
So now I am casting for a 30-30, a gas checked RCBS mould. Really, an outstanding product, the RCBS mould. But rather than either buy a dedicated Lyman or RCBS lubesizer, or get a sizing die and top punch for my Star, I determined that I would go cheap on this one, try something different, and I bought a Lee push thru sizer, in the spirit of experimentation and innovation.
Cripes.
I tried the tumble lubing, and it just doesn't do it for me. From all accounts, it works just fine, but to look at it, with that thin veneer of alox all over the bullets, it just can't work... I know the Wright brothers proved that heavier than air flight is possible, but when I look at it, I just don't see it! So, scratch the possibilities of tumble lubing. Toss those bullets back in the melt and start over. Besides, they smell bad.
Now I am struggling to figure out "proper" grease-in-the-grooves-lubing. I tried pan lubing, but never was able to successfully figure out a suitable "kake cutter," so moth balled that tedious operation. Now I'm simply heating lube, and dipping bullets in the lube, and then running them through the Lee sizer die. This is less tedious than pan lubing, but certainly more tedious than running them thru a lubrisizer of some sort.
The tedium of lubing and sizing this way has me reconsidering a proper die and top punch for the Star. There's a fellow who goes by the moniker Lathesmith at cast bullets website who has made other dies for me which have worked out well. His dies and top punch setups will set me back about $65 or so, so not a princely sum, but still I want this Lee setup to work out for me!
Question is, what will I do with the Lee sizer when I finally give up on experimentation and get the right setup for my Star?
The angst a cheap SOB will put himself through to save a buck. LOL.
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