Help For The Lyman 450 Lubricator/Sizer

[Navy Six]

If any of you use the Lyman 450, I'm sure you've occasionally run into the problem of lube accumulating at the base of a bullet when lowered into the machine for sizing/lubricating. Lymans advise is to hold the operating handle down firmly and use the minimal amount of pressure with the ratchet wrench. None of that worked for me and I would have to clean excess lube from the top of the sizing die 2-3 times per 100 bullets. What finally did the trick was lowering the bullet while maintaining firm pressure on the operating handle, holding for a count of three, THEN apply a bit of pressure with the ratchet wrench while maintaining your pressure with the operating handle. This slowed my progress down slightly but at least I wasn't stopping to clean out lube all the time. Since I've adopted this procedure, the problem has not occurred once for the past several months. By the way, I've always used SPG or some other blackpowder compatible lube. Hope this may be of help to some of you.

[Bunk Stagnerg]

Hi Navy Six

I had the same problem with my RCBS tool and I found if you put a little pressure on the lube before you push the bullet down the lube grooves will fill and the base stays clean.
I guess the pressure bleeds off where it is supposed to be.

I had that problem with DD's Big Lube bullet and tried this method and it worked pretty well and the bases stayed clean.

With bullets for smokes (somewhat) less it does not take much to fill the lube grooves. Try turning the ratchet about a quarter turn and see how that goes.
Good Luck
Bunk

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Adjust the ram up or down a bit and lubing the bullet base will not be as bad. One set of lube holes may be lining up with the bullet base.

I use the ratchet when then handle is down with a bit of pressure on it.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LET A LYMAN LUBRICIZER RUN OUT OF LUBE.  Shout mode intended! It push/pulls the bottom right out of it. Then it requires factory parts to re-build.  I know!

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[Navy Six]

Thanks for for the reply Bunk and Sir Charles. I know what you are talking about when you say don't let the Lyman run out of lube! I courted disaster twice that way. I have been generally satisfied with the Lyman for the last 15 years. I know there are faster machines (Star), but I find everything about the reloading process to be almost therapy, so I don't mind setting a moderate pace.

[pony express]

Most of the time I just turn the ratchet about 1/8 turn maybe every other bullet or so, it still fills the grooves ok.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Most of the time I just turn the ratchet about 1/8 turn maybe every other bullet or so, it still fills the grooves ok.

Sometimes I turn the ratchet every bullet, especially if things are not going smoothly or if the bullet is large. Mostly I snug it up every three bullets or so. You know when it needs it when the grooves aren't properly filled.  After a while you get a "feel" for how much to turn it.

[Litl Red]

When sizing 45LC or 40-65 the amount the ratchet is moved differs quite a bit than when sizing 32Mags. 

Just this morning when changing from one to another I noticed the lube that was exposed was dry looking on one side.  Digging it out proved it was either drying out (which is baffling as it's about as closed a system as can be) or hadn't been mixed thoroughly when mfg'ed.   The ratchet moved a lot easier when the next bullets were being lubed. 

Lots of different things affect how much the ratchet needs to be moved.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

When sizing 45LC or 40-65 the amount the ratchet is moved differs quite a bit than when sizing 32Mags. 

Just this morning when changing from one to another I noticed the lube that was exposed was dry looking on one side.  Digging it out proved it was either drying out (which is baffling as it's about as closed a system as can be) or hadn't been mixed thoroughly when mfg'ed.   The ratchet moved a lot easier when the next bullets were being lubed. 

Lots of different things affect how much the ratchet needs to be moved.

If the die hasn't been used for a bit the lube might have dried somewhat at the surface. That would explain why the next bullets filled more easily.

[Litl Red]

If the die hasn't been used for a bit the lube might have dried somewhat at the surface. That would explain why the next bullets filled more easily.

?

The lube inside a lubesizer isn't exposed to the air when the tool isn't in use.  The sizing die seals the thing and it's piston seals the die.  There isn't any lube exposed anywhere.  The reason the "next bullets" filled more easily was the ratchet wasn't screwing against some lube that was solid as a rock.

Sorry to be confusing about a sentence that was trying to soft pedal criticism of some manufactured lube.  I really think that tube of lube had a problem when it was mixed.   I've got two lubesizers setup.   One hadn't been used for almost 20 years when it was called back into action a couple of years ago.  When it was opened up, when the required sizing die was swapped in, the lube inside the body was soft and perfectly usable.  Of course, the nut that keeps the die in place was rather firmly "glued" to the body of the lubesizer by some VERY dried out lube.  The ratchet worked like yesterday hadn't been real loooong ago.       

The real shame about lubesizers is they are so difficult and messy to clean out.  They really weren't designed to make changing lubes easy or to facilitate maintenance.

       

[Litl Red]

and then

Another trick is to hold a bullet up next to the die to see how far it will need to move into the die to be sized.  The trick is to see how far the nose will stick out when the base is between lube holes in the die.   Then you set the piston stop to block the piston when the nose is sticking out the observed distance.   

Or if you didn't do the preceding, and you wind up with that mess, just start adjusting the piston stop to block the piston sooner and sooner until the mess stops happening.  What you're doing is a cut-and-try fix to get the same results as the preceding trick gives. 

Some of our tools can drive us crazy..........

[Crow Choker]

I've been using the Lyman 450/4500 sizer/luber since '79. Thought I might have been the only one with the problem . I found out too by using some of Sir Charles and Litl Red's methods, I could cut down on the amount of lube that would build up in the die and left on the bullet base. Always kept a small screwdriver with its end turned 90* to use as a scraper and some Q Tips for cleaning the die handy. Never have eliminated the lube build up entirely, but using the posted tricks have helped cut it down. I've cleaned lube out of the reservoir 3-4 times since '79, but quit since it was such a pain and chore. Did it when switching lubes for black and smokeless powders. Anymore, when planning to switch lubes, I just let the lube level run down as far as I dare and refill with the different lube. The blended lube doesn't last long and I've never seen any problems, esp when changing over to a lube such as SPG for black powder bullets, ie some of the petroleum based lube affecting excessive fouling buildup. I agree with  Navy Six about all aspects of reloading being therapeutic. I enjoy reloading(all aspects of it) as much as I do shooting--except brass trimming, hate it with a passion!!!

[pony express]

Anymore, when planning to switch lubes, I just let the lube level run down as far as I dare and refill with the different lube. The blended lube doesn't last long and I've never seen any problems,

When I do that, I get "two tone" bullets for quite a while, seems to take forever to get ALL the old oput.

[Crow Choker]

Pony Express: I know what you mean by the "two tone" bullets. In my previous post I didn't mean to imply that the bullets with both lubes on them were few. They do last for a while as you posted, especially the first ones "off the assembly line", but I usually keep them separate and load them as a unit or make sure they are spread out among the rest to lessen any problems. The only time I worry about it though is when switching from Alox type lubes for smokeless to SPG type for blackpowder. Some may cringe at the mixed lubes on a small number of bullets, but I never have had any problems. The majority of my shooting isn't attempting to get cloverleaf's on a piece of paper, although nothing wrong with that, so the mixed lubes doesn't present much of a 'hick-up' in my shooting.   

[Litl Red]

Clearing lube out of the Lyman?

The 2nd time that chore came up, the hair dryer came down from the bathroom.  The lubesizer is on a heavy wood bench in the garage.  A bucket went under it in case.   The dryer helped but was slow so I set fire to the bench to speed things up.  I hate working with partially melted wax....     Nah.....   Didn't really do that....   but I did get out the Monokote heat gun.  It's used by model airplane builders if you're not familiar with the tool.   The sucker (ok, it's really a blower) is between a hair dryer and a paint remover. 

Removing whatever sizing die is in the machine gives the lube somewhere to go...   and a bucket below helps too.   

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Clearing lube out of the Lyman?

The 2nd time that chore came up, the hair dryer came down from the bathroom.  The lubesizer is on a heavy wood bench in the garage.  A bucket went under it in case.   The dryer helped but was slow so I set fire to the bench to speed things up.  I hate working with partially melted wax....     Nah.....   Didn't really do that....   but I did get out the Monokote heat gun.  It's used by model airplane builders if you're not familiar with the tool.   The sucker (ok, it's really a blower) is between a hair dryer and a paint remover. 

Removing whatever sizing die is in the machine gives the lube somewhere to go...   and a bucket below helps too.   

It's much easier to use a second lubrisizer.  I have a grey one for SPG, and a green one for green RCBS lube. Both were found used.

[Litl Red]

It's much easier to use a second lubrisizer.  I have a grey one for SPG, and a green one for green RCBS lube. Both were found used.

The one that needed cleaning was the 2nd one.   It wasn't getting used and went solid over a couple of years. 

Good thing is now I got yet another reason TO SHOOT A LOT MORE!   

[pony express]

I got a second one I haven't used yet, it's so old I think it's an Ideal instead of a Lyman. The resivoir(sp?) on it is made from chrome plated steel tube.