Opening up a Lee bullet sizing die
- Thread starter TomSp8
- Start date
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
Probably not no. They are not "that" precisely sized.
BUT, I have been lazy in changing them with some bullets/allots and needed to use proper pusher.
CW
BUT, I have been lazy in changing them with some bullets/allots and needed to use proper pusher.
CW
Red Bear
Member
i opened mine up with a dowel a piece of emery cloth and a drill press. must be careful because lee sizers are pretty soft and material comes out pretty quick. opened up a .323 sizer to .3255. ment to stop at .325 but .3255 worked ok. punch was no problem. have custom sizers were punch was not altered unless die is opened up quite a bit .002 should be no problem.
Thank you again for the assurance. I will be getting my first mold this week, Lee TL314-90-swc, along with a Lee .314 sizing die, and the help of a buddy who casts in the next week or so. Then to choose a pot/melting method. I shoot 99% cast bullets (commercial) and have been hand loading for almost 15 years. I've read a lot about casting and I'm on several cast bullet sites over the last 10 years, but finally gonna try it out.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Good for you! It's not as hard as some make it out to be.
I opened a Lee .329 sizer to .331+. Took exactly 200 rolls back and forth on my thigh with 180 gr paper on a steel rod IIRC. No issues with the push rod be it bare based or GC'd.
What are you using the .314 bullet in?
I opened a Lee .329 sizer to .331+. Took exactly 200 rolls back and forth on my thigh with 180 gr paper on a steel rod IIRC. No issues with the push rod be it bare based or GC'd.
What are you using the .314 bullet in?
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Rockydoc
Well-Known Member
I recently opened up a Lee sizing die that was supposed to be .357”. I opened it up from .356” to 3575”. I cut a slot in a hardwood dowel and cut strips of wet/dry sandpaper about ½” wide and long enough for a fairly tight fit. Using a variable speed drill, I started with 80 grit and progressed 180, 320, 400, 600 to 800 checking progress with pin gauges. When I got to where I wanted to be I then used JB Paste on a tight bore mop to polish. It was a lot slicker when I finished than when it came from the factory.
Thanks guys. I figured the die body wasn't too hard. Bret4207, I have a 6" Taurus model 76 in .32 long (kinda a rare bird, poor man's K32). I've tried .313 and .314 commercial cast with traditional lube, moly, and HiTek, (haven't started casting yet, but entering that brave new world next week I hope) but got leading at the forcing cone and first 1/2" of the lands (only, nothing past that). Assuming gas cutting. Finally pin gaged my cylinder throats and they are .316+......A heavy slathering of LLA helped tremendously, but was very messy in the dies. Slugged the bore at .312 .313. So I'm thinking I'm gonna try sizing the cast to fit the throats. I'm hoping this Lee TL314-90 swc drops large, as many have stated. And plan to dive into powder coating to increase diameter and resize to .316 if necessary. I already have thin walled Lapua cases, an oversized NOE expander plug, and successfully opened up my carbide case sizing die from .330 to .333 using a diamond hone. I hope I'm on the right track with my plans.
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Red Bear
Member
i used 320 grit to remove most metal then 600 to smooth. i wanted to remove .002 but with polishing ended up at .0025. but worked ok might have needed the extra .0005. not real sure 1000 grit is going to do much.
Do you provide any lubrication while cutting and polishing? Water, oil? I plan to wait until I actually see what I get from the mold. If they are small, I'll powder coat them. I have a .315 pin gage so I'll use that in the die body initially, then I'll sacrifice a few bullets with final polishing till they come out where I want them, I'm thinking a light friction fit to the cylinder throats. I think .003 or .004 will be okay over bore size as long as the loaded rounds still fall in and out of the cylinders by they're own weight?
Ian
Notorious member
You have a very good plan based on solid research and data from your revolver. Best of luck with your casting endeavors (most important thing after basic safety is make sure you cast fast enough to get and keep that mould hot enough so it will fill out sharp edges and not have wrinkles on the bullets) and keep us posted on how it goes.
Ian
Notorious member
Light oil like automatic transmission fluid or even 3in1 or mineral oil works fine to keep the paper from clogging instantly.
You're fine loading to the cylinder throats with them being that much larger than groove diameter. It will raise pressure very slightly but not enough to worry about unless you're already pushing limits with your load data.
It's a good idea to only use bullets to check your progress when lapping a die out. For one thing, the bullet springs back a little right after it goes through the die, and for another, the pin gauge is truly round and will only measure the smallest diameter of an elliptical or oval hole, not the largest. There will be some roundness error when you're finished lapping, it might be enough that lapping to a .315" minus gauge as a preliminary step is too much lapping.
Yup, I will go slowly and check/recheck with actual bullets to account for any spring back. And I will be loading these light for 25 yard indoor bullseye target accuracy/velocities. Great board here, with great positive vibes! Thank you everyone who contributed to my knowledge base!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Nice! I love the 32 Long and lucked into a K32 Smith some years back. Very fun gun! Sounds like you're on the right path Undersized commercial cast bullets, probably way harder than needed, sound like a sure fire way to get leading. The #1 rule in this game is "FIT is King!" Everything else follows fit.
One of the great things about life today is you can get a .316+ mould cut for your specific gun for not much more than a run of the mill RCBS/Lyman!
fiver
Well-Known Member
sounds like the typical tight spot under the frame and barrel threads.
you might could knock yourself out fighting molds,size dies and lube for the next 3 years.
and then get the gun fixed.
or you could measure the place where the leading is happening and fix that, then go back to what you were doing without all the drama.
you might could knock yourself out fighting molds,size dies and lube for the next 3 years.
and then get the gun fixed.
or you could measure the place where the leading is happening and fix that, then go back to what you were doing without all the drama.