No Lube-Sizer.......No Problem ! !

[Ben]

Today , I was experimenting with some 8X57 mm cast bullets.
For years, I've been shooting .3248 cast bullets out of my rifles.
Today I thought......" UUmmm, I wonder what a cast bullet that is roughly .001 larger would do out of my rifle.

I had a .324 " Lee Lube Sizer Die on my bench that I had not been using for some time.
I took a wooden dowel, cut a slit in the end of it, chucked it up in my drill with some 320 sand paper and started to work. It didn't take long to get a .326 sized cast bullet from the sizer die.

My H & I sizer die is .325", so I thought....Well, I can't lube a .326" bullet in that die ! "

I decided to take 20 or so of the cast bullets, then I sized them to .326" with Hornady gas checks installed. I then take a block of Ben's Red and using a small amount of the lube , I rubbed ( by hand ) the lube into the bullet grooves.

Admittedly , this is slow but if you're on a budget and want to shoot, this will work for you.
It would work with .30 cal., 8 mm, 38/357 Mag, .44 , or 45 cal.

On a budget, no problem, you can shoot cast bullets anyway without a major cash out lay for an expensive Lube - Sizer.

Ben


After homing the sizing die, I'm real close to my goal of .326"



Notice the small block of Ben's Red , I've hand rubbed the Ben's Red into the grooves of the bullets that you see below.



In this photo, I've pushed the bullets back through my .326" sizer die to " clean them up a bit ", then I rolled them in BLL and have them on a board to dry.

 

[freebullet]

Well done Ben.

That's how I've been doing my muzzleloader slugs. Where there's a will. ..

 

[Brad]

I finger lube many bullets as I may be trying a new lube and don't want to change out what is in the Star.

Sometimes a guy just uses what he has on hand. Not fast but it certainly works.

 

[JWFilips]

Ben,
I likes my Bullets like I likes my lady! ...just a bit more meat then socialy acceptable in todays world ( same reason I think fivers new avatar kicks "A")
If my rifles won't shoot fat...... more often then not... I'm astonished!
The way I figure it it is like an old 18th Century Cannoneer Put it in and it comes out and goes down range!

 

[JWFilips]

BTW Ben.... many times when i need to test something there is no way I'm going to not use Ben's Red So I just rub it all over the lube grooves then tumble in BLL & it all smoothes out but my pant legs get pretty slimy !

 

[Ben]

I hope that a young shooter that reads all this and DOES NOT have the $ for a new lube sizer will try this method.

Like Brad said, It isn't the quickest, but it will allow you to have some accurate cast bullets without draining the bank for a lube sizer and additional H & I dies and top punches.

Ben

 

[Ben]

Years ago, I offered this, maybe a young shooter could still learn something from the article :
_____________________________________________________________________

" $ $ Lube - Size on a Budget $ $"

I have 3 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 an expensive 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 was $12.29 from Midway :

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=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.

The business end of the home made Kake cutter :

The $10 Elect. Hot Plate

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 :

IMPT ! ! Use only enough heat to liquefy the lube, NO MORE .

Here is the finished product ready to load and shoot :

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

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 , 5 shots with a .22 rim fire case for size comparison purposes :

 

[GaryN]

Dang fine shooting Ben!!!!

 

[Dale53]

Ben;
Very nice write up for the "inpecunius"...

Dale53

 

[JWFilips]

Ben,
When I was new to casting...you showed me that fine article of yours and guess what ...I'm still using it today for all my cast bullets.Probably that's why I never felt the need for a lube-sizer! I have different pans of Ben's Red stored in zip lock bags along with the appropriate Kake cutter for that particular caliber. When I need to lube some bullets I load them into the pre-pcut holes from the last batch I cut out and place the pan on the hot plate at no higher temp then warm ( well that is my hot plate setting) and check them often so the Ben's Red doesn't get too hot ( will start smelling strong and it could show signs of smoking) heat it slow don't be in a rush Once the lube fully engages the bullet remove from the heat to set and cool. If the lube level starts to drop over time I cut little pieces of fresh lube and scatter around the pans to add volume.
Ben's red doesn't level well at the correct heat setting (low) but it will level eventually

Now as for that target Ben! Seems the holes are getting smaller and smaller! What great shooting you do.

 

[Ben]

Jim,

So glad that the article was a benefit to you. Yes, I'm glad that you stressed to keep the heat low, you want the lube hot enough to fill the lube grooves well, but no hotter.

One thing that I didn't mention is the alignment of the top punch with the hole in the lube sizer is often times not in perfect alignment. One side of the bullet can be sized more than the other side ( NOT GOOD )

The beauty of this system is the mis- alignment that can occur with a lube - sizer can't happen with the " Push -Thru " system.

The bullet self centers as it enters the Lee Push Thru Bullet Sizing die.
The base of the bullet will slide around and center itself as you push it through the die.

IT WORKS ! ! !

Ben

 

[Rick]

Much more common than mis-alignment of the top punch is poor fitting nose punches when sizing base first allowing the bullet to enter the die out of alignment. With nose first sizing a flat punch against a flat bullet base is what helps align things up far more accurately.

 

[Ben]

Well spoken Rick !

 

[Bret4207]

Assuming you check your bullets over good and use decent ones from the start, not the ones with flaws and not filled out, I've basically always gotten better results from unsized examples that are a snug fit in the throat. I only have a few combinations of mould and gun that require sizing to shoot. I believe many people over size.

I was probably 15 years into casting before I got a sizer! Bullet lube is marvelous for healing up those nasty cracks on your thumbs that cold weather brings...

 

[quicksylver]

I finger lube many bullets as I may be trying a new lube and don't want to change out what is in the Star.

Sometimes a guy just uses what he has on hand. Not fast but it certainly works.

"Has on hand" ?

I would assume that if one were "finger lubing" they would use what "was on hand"

 

[KHornet]

Has been a number of years since I used pan lubing and cake cutting, and don't miss it. That said, I used it for a number of years until I could afford a Lube sizer, and shot some decent targets with the system. I still on occasion size via lee push thru's, and then lube with the lube sizer, I do this most often with flat nosed bullets.

 

[Klaus]

Hi Ben,

how are your result with .326 sized Bullets ?

will try the same as you with cast from my 326471 NOE Mould upcomming Saturday


Klaus

 

[Ben]

Klaus,

8 mm at 50 yards, 5 shots with Lee, 180 gr. 8 mm Round nose sized to .326" with 12.3 grs. of Unique. 1 round a bit low right, the other 4 are there !

 

[Klaus]

Hi Ben, much impressive
have you shoot with your Turk Mauser ?

Let you know my results with pics next week....

Klaus

 

[KHornet]

Super!