Something to share about luberesizers

[ian45662]

Just kinda stumbled onto something. Maybe this is common knowledge but it has blown my mind which I will admit aint hard to do. Well I have always used a lyman luberesizer and today I was running some 54 cal minies through a die which I had just purchased. So I go to check one with my dial calipers and the base of these are being sized down to 532-530 but the top lube groove Is 536. At this point I am confused as anything because the stem that's in the die is a 537 pin guage. I pulled it out and checked again and sure enough the stem is right at .5365 but I do feel kind of a tight spot half way through the die so being the tinkering person that I am I get out my lapping compound and go to work. I was able to polish out the tight spot in the die. So now I proudly clean all the compound from the die and place it back in the luberesizer. I go to work sizing minies confident that I had found a remedy when after running a few through I check and once again the base is smaller that the top groove. After some cussing and head scratching I just happened o try running a minie through without applying any lube and guess what!?!?! It was the same size at the base as it is at the top. At this point I had realized that when I was applying lube I was slightly crushing the skirt. I plugged in the heater that I have with it and that seemed to fix the problem no that not so much pressure is required to fill the grooves. I may have a new set of problems though. Now I may have made my die to large. The Minies are a very snug fit. I may have just spent 30 dollars to learn a valuable lesson. It may be worth going to a push through sizing die for hollow base bullets. Incase your wondering I use SPG

[John Holland]

Ian, I recommend shooting the bullet first. The bullet I shoot is 0.5765, this goes into a bore of 0.5760. The bullet stays at the muzzle and if I pull it out the lands are lightly engraved into the skirt. The is is just like the old R.E.A.L. bullets, which stood for "Rifling Engraved At Loading". I have no fouling issues and it produces 10-X ring accuracy.

[ian45662]

I am going to try it first for sure. I don't think the rifling is leaving any marks on the minie it's just really snug. Fouling control will be key but as long as it stays soft I think your right it should be fine.

[Greg Ogdan 110th OVI]

Ian,

You might want to try a softer lube, especially if those are Musket bullets. MCM and GBF come to mind. I have used both and they seem to work better than SPG.

Greg

[Maillemaker]

That is an interesting observation.

You should be able to compensate for this by not cranking down on the piston shaft so much?

Steve

[ian45662]

Well the heater softens up the lube to the point where it is no issue at all. I have about 4 pounds of SPG so I'm just going to keep using it. I have no complaints at all with the lube itself. With heat I just barley crank on it and the rings full with lube and the rings are the same size all the way up. I'm just really glad I caught on to that. Not really sure what kind of an effect It would have on accuracy. It really couldn't be good.

[bobanderson]

I make my own dies for the Lyman. For my minie die, I cut the top of the center pin to match the edge of the skirt, in effect sizing the inside and outside of the hollow base.
Works slick.

[ian45662]

I am glad to report the minies load just fine. Little nicer fit

[jonk]

You know, I complained about this very issue last year or maybe two years ago, when I switched to the moose 315 gr minie in my enfield. Makes me want to try it out again using a push through sizer and dip lubing to see if it would eliminate the flyers...

[marv762]

i always use a push through sizer for minnies. i have a luber from North East Trader that lubes the inside and outside of the minnie after it is in the tube. has been working for me for the last 15 years and it never distorts the nose of the bullet. :p

[lkmcd1]

Ian, I recommend shooting the bullet first. The bullet I shoot is 0.5765, this goes into a bore of 0.5760. The bullet stays at the muzzle and if I pull it out the lands are lightly engraved into the skirt. The is is just like the old R.E.A.L. bullets, which stood for "Rifling Engraved At Loading". I have no fouling issues and it produces 10-X ring accuracy.

John
I am going to try this out again. Accidently last season I mixed in some unsized bullets to be used at a skirmish. I could shoot several of them OK, but a few, I'm guessing had slightly deformed skirts, and I couldn't get them started. How do you overcome skirt deformation issues? I noticed it slowed down my loading time and ramming effort. As cast I believe my bullets are ~ .0005 to .001 larger than my bore, but this is hard to measure as my Pedersoli Enfield has 5 lands.
Thanks
Larry

[Muley Gil]

John
I am going to try this out again. Accidently last season I mixed in some unsized bullets to be used at a skirmish. I could shoot several of them OK, but a few, I'm guessing had slightly deformed skirts, and I couldn't get them started. How do you overcome skirt deformation issues? I noticed it slowed down my loading time and ramming effort. As cast I believe my bullets are ~ .0005 to .001 larger than my bore, but this is hard to measure as my Pedersoli Enfield has 5 lands.
Thanks
Larry

If you have trouble loading a Minie while on the line, drop that bullet on the ground and grab another tube. Don't double charge the powder!! Just use the bullet from the tube. You run the risk of jamming a bullet part the way down the barrel. If you shoot it out, you can cause a "ring" in the bore. You don't want to stand there watching your teammates bust targets while holding your muzzleloading percussion club. Fixing bayonets and charging the pigeon board is also NOT an option. :D


You should always develope a routine while sizing, charging tubes, etc. Put your unsized bullets to either the left or right of your sizer. Grab a bullet with one hand, size, put in the sized bullet container. Repeat. Don't get distracted by children, pets, spouse, etc.

You can always check the fit of the bullet in the bore before you load them into tubes.