"baked" my first lube cake & all I can say is.....

[44man]

Well, now that I know it's 50-50, it is not too hard. So it just boils down to technique. Follow what the other fellows say and you will be OK.
To tell the truth, I would size the gas check portion ONLY, maybe by pushing just far (upside down) enough in a Lee size die and then pushing it back out before pouring hot lube around the boolits. If they fit a little loose, I would worry about lube sneaking in between the check and base. I use a Lyman lube sizer and just run the boolits in far enough to crimp the checks if I am going to pan lube.
If the checks are a tight fit then no need to worry and they can be sized after lubing. But either way, checks must be crimped.
I use Felix lube for hand lubing. I just squeeze it in the grooves with my fingers, then run them through a Lee die. If they are PB, I use an oversize die just to remove excess lube. For the gas checks I step down a little in sizing or use my lube sizer with Lar's carnauba red. I don't think I do anything the same for all the different boolits.
You should see the mess I make when I hand lube!

[ssn vet]

sounds like a great application for a toaster oven.....

I may need to hit up some garage sales and seek one out.

I guess this is where the "fun" of expirimentation takes off.

I'm not to shy to experiment, but I much prefer it when my experiments are a success.