Used to be a source for these die blanks drilled or undrilled. Anybody know where I can find some without starting from scratch?
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Used to be a source for these die blanks drilled or undrilled. Anybody know where I can find some without starting from scratch?
I'm not sure where to buy them, But I have thought about buying older common ones and buying a chucking reamer too get the size I want. Probably have to draw the hardness to drill and ream them.
The old Lyman H&I dies (the one without the o-ring) are not hardened
I drill the H die out to the diameter that I need and turn an I die to fit inside
What diameter are you needing?
Looking for a .352. Am fixing to lap the BASE only of my Lyman 351319 mold (made specifically for the 351WSL) so it will retain a 348 gas check which it does not even when casting with pure Lino. I have a .352 Lee push thru but nose first or base first sizing will not securely hold the gas check; I can pick them off with my fingernail. I have tried PC'ing both the Lino and ww cast bullets to increase size which kinda works with the Lino slugs but not the ww slugs as those are half a thou smaller. Increasing the shank size should work with the gas check retention and, if I can find an original .352 sizer or make one from a blank or whatever I'll be in business.
Buffalo Arms and S and S firearms both make custom Lyman H &I dies
Lapped out shank only and bullet will now SECURELY hold a .348 gas check after mashing thru a Lee sizer. Still looking for a die blank; at one time someone or some outfit was selling the blanks...
Keith The Perfessor made blank die bodies (solid and with pilot holes) for all the common types of lubrisizers. He doesn’t post here anymore, for reasons I know not, but I believe he’s still active on the CBA website. Last I heard, he had a shop setup to make them and was training an apprentice when he was here.
I bought five each of his pilot-drilled Ideal, SAECO and Star blanks. Haven’t started on the Star ones, but all the Ideals and SAECOs fit the respective machines perfectly. If you’re a good setup man, I suppose you could machine them on a drill press, but I used a lathe for the sizing hole (drills to get close and then a boring tool to finish) and a spin-index fixture on a vertical milling machine to drill the lube holes.
I’ve never found any of the Lyman or Ideal dies to be hardened, and I’ve “custom-bored” many out to specialty diameters. By the time the sizing operation wears them oversize, your barrel will be oversized to the same extent from shooting them. The big advantage to Keith’s blanks is that you can put the lube holes exactly where the lube grooves in your favorite mould are.
For a one-off, you might look for a used/damaged die of smaller caliber at a gun show.