Thinking if I am having to buy new dies, maybe I should consider the Saeco sizer, as it seems to be the one that most of my reloading heroes, such as Earl McKinney, use.
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What do you all like about the Saeco vs. RCBS?
There are hours and hours of YouTube videos on the subject. I use the shake and bake method with Eastwood powder. I mostly just powder coat for CAS so far and the Silver colored Eastwood powder works great and looks like regular cast bullets when loaded.Bill in Oregon wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:14 pm Chuck, I have not been paying attention to the powder coating thing since it first popped up on Cast Boolits 3-4 years ago. Any developments?
Don't know if you have looked but Optics planet has diesBill in Oregon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:48 am Thanks fellas. Earl, the Star sounds like a very fine machine; I just don't cast enough to justify the expense of adding one to the battery, so will try to get by with the RCBS.
Redding/Saeco makes some good stuff, but boy, Buffalo Arms wants $63 for a custom .512 die for the Saeco. Wouldn't take many dies to put me in the poor house.
Ray, I have used the Lee push-through sizers with satisfaction. Your pan lube advice is excellent, especially in light of the recent "Pan-lube FAIL" thread I started here last week.
I will follow your guidelines for the next batch of pills for my 12,7X44 rolling block and my Snider.
Thought you were looking for .512 dieBill in Oregon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:54 am Harry, wish I needed some of those dies on clearance!
That's what I do. I have an orange 450 with soft lube and the more modern grey 4500 w/heater has the harder lube.Bill in Oregon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:08 pm I guess I should really keep my open for another beater Lyman or RCBS so I can keep one charged with hard smokeless lube and one charged with SPG or Matthews for black powder cartridges.
Yep, this is my method. I currently have eight RCBS lubrisizers and I don't know how many dies...Bill in Oregon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:08 pm I guess I should really keep my open for another beater Lyman or RCBS so I can keep one charged with hard smokeless lube and one charged with SPG or Matthews for black powder cartridges.
I thought mine was old Earl! My dies have an O-ring seal on them, so no seal in the Lyman sizer. I have a mix of Lyman and RCBS dies, maybe 40 or so? Bought mine used 30 years ago, and it's one of the gray wrinkle finished ones. No idea of age?earlmck wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:07 pm They must be pretty much indestructible -- my elderly Lyman has to be 50 years old and may be somewhat older since I bought it "used" from a friend. It doesn't have any nut to hold dies in place -- just a little set screw turned by an Allen wrench. And no seals either, so it does leak a bit, especially if I let it get too warm.
But my old babe only gets used for plain-based bullets and just a couple of calibers with gas check of which I shoot so few I can't justify (yet) putting out the $50 for Star dies. But for gas checked bullets the Star is sooo much nicer that I now have almost all the Star dies I need for those sizes. Hard to go back to Mayberry when you've tasted gay Paree.
Yes, I use the same dies as you with the O-ring seal to keep the lube from getting out past the top of the die. By "no seals" to replace I guess I was referencing Griff's post where he said he'd had his RCBS many years and just replaced seals a couple of times.marlinman93 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:11 pm I thought mine was old Earl! My dies have an O-ring seal on them, so no seal in the Lyman sizer. I have a mix of Lyman and RCBS dies, maybe 40 or so? Bought mine used 30 years ago, and it's one of the gray wrinkle finished ones. No idea of age?
Yes, mine is older than yours if yours is orange. Mine doesn't have alignment rods, it has flat bars that are about 1/2" wide. Strange how Lyman changed around on how dies were secured? I have another pre Lyman Ideal #1 sizer that is black and chrome and it has the twin rods and a setscrew that retains the dies. Neat part is my old Ideal uses the same dies as the newest Lyman sizers use!