Are you on a budget ? ?

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I have 2 different lubri-sizers. I have a friend that is beginning to take a real interest in cast bullets for his 03' Springfield.

Unfortunately he wasn't in the position to order a Lyman lubri-sizer from Midway. So I introduced him to the " old way " of doing things.

I use a lot of .30 cal. cast bullets that are sized .310 dia. Unfortunately Lee doesn't offer a .310 " Push Thru " sizing die for .30 cal. cast rifle bullets. So I ordered a .309 and opened it up to .310.

Bought a hot plate for $10, my wife was about to throw away a metal pan , so I grabbed that and said.." Hey, I need that ."

The Sizing die is $21.00 from Midway :

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=501819

For someone on a limited budget , this is still a very effective way to size and lube .30 cal. cast rifle bullets ( and by using a " parent " case like a 35 Rem, for .35 cal. cast bullets, or a 444 Marlin Case for a .44 pistol bullet the system can easily be adapted to many other calibers other than .30 cal ) . Assuming you already have a .30 cal. mold, some bullet lube, and some gas checks, this equipment cost the sum total of $23.00.

Mis-alignment of the nose punch and the sizing die has ruined many hundreds of groups for me until I really began to understand what a concentric bullet was. In my opinion , the nose 1st system of bullet sizing is " THE WAY " to size bullets concentrically .

Photos below.....

You'll need a FIRED 30 / 30 empty cartridge case that is a snug fit over your .310 bullet. Take a 16 penny nail and turn the head of the nail to about .295 dia. I then cut a piece of wood dowel and make me a " push rod " to eject the lubed bullet from the solidified lube. Drill out the flash hole in the 30 / 30 cartridge case so that the 16 penny nail will slide freely through the hole.

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The business end of the home made Kake cutter :

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The $10 Elect. Hot Plate

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The lube is melted in the metal pan and the bullets that have already been sized to .310 are placed in the pan of liquid lube :

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Here is the finished product ready to load and shoot :

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Here is what the bullets look like when they are removed from the cooled , solidified bullet lube with the " Kake Cutter " :

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Next question is , will they shoot ? ?

I have a Custom Hvy. Barrel , A & B, F-54 contour , stainless fluted , VZ 24 Mauser bench rifle chambered in .308 Win. that really likes the Lee 155 gr. , CE Harris bullet sized .310 , with 17.5 grs. of 2400 and a Fed 210 primer. The bullet is seated into the lands so that light engraving occurs upon chambering . This group was fired at 50 yards with the bullets that you see above in the previous photo , 5 shots in the group with a .22 rim fire case for size comparison purposes :

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Ian

Notorious member
Excellent! Thanks for posting your pan-lube tutorial, this is super low-buck and highly effective. If one doesn't own a drill press, a cordless drill works fine. One can also make a handle out of some epoxy putty, just mould it to the desired shape...I like a little mushroom shape on the head for my fat thumbs.
 

minmax

Active Member
Ben,
Thanks for the right up! I was just about to order the Lee .309 sizing die, and do the same thing.
The only problem is, I added up all of the sizer dies that I need. The cost would be about the same as buying the Lyman, but then I would still have to buy there dies.
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
Ben, never got quite that fancy. Bud did use a 30-30 case with the head cut off, and a wooden dowel from a kids toy set with the dowel set in it. I probably used it for 3 or 4 years. also did one for 22's using a 222 case with the head cut off. That was pre lee, but had 310 push thru 311 and 225 sizers. Slow, but kept me in shooting fodder. Still have the 310 tools and dies for 222, 30-30 and o6. You are obviously more of a finish craftman than I am or was. Good thread.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks fellows.
I hope that if someone reads this and has a .30 cal. rifle or a 38/357 revolver and has never cast bullets because they don't want to invest in a lube sizer, dies, etc. that maybe this will change their mind and get them into the game.

Ben