Modifying Ideal Reloading Tool

C

CharlesT

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I received an Ideal 44-40 reloading tool for Christmas. I really like the idea of being able to load cartridges whilst sitting around the campfire. Molten lead, hot coffee and beans appeal to me in a somewhat masochistic way.

But there is one issue with the tool that I would like to solve.

The resizing die reduces the cast bullet to 0.425” which was typical for an older 44-40. However my barrel slugs out at 0.427” which poses a problem.

I was thinking that I would buy a Dremel felt buffing bob and some diamond paste from Lee Valley and, using my drill press, hone out the diameter of the bullet mold to +/- 0.429”. Then using a maple dowel sized to 0.428” and diamond paste, hone the sizing die to 0.428”.

Does anyone see a problem with this?

Does anyone see a better way of doing this?

I also need a decapping tool as well. Any of you kind folks with a lathe and a 3” piece of ½” steel rod who would be willing to turn it for me, please PM me. I have drawings.

Thanks

CT
 
CharlesT said:
Does anyone see a problem with this?

Does anyone see a better way of doing this?



CT
Click to expand...

Your chances of ending up with something both round and accurately sized, are pretty much infinitesimal, using a wood lap.

You can build or buy expanding copper or brass laps that will charge with diamond grit and can be better expected to give you good results.

But, reasonably, a reamer would be a better choice.
Touch an edge or any spot on the die with a file and you are likely going to find that it was not hardened, and if it was, it wasn't very much by the time it came out of the bluing tanks.

Good job for a lathe and a 4 jaw, or an expanding hand reamer. A machine reamer would be better, but you may get more use out of an expanding one in future.

Cheers
Trev
 
CharlesT said:
I received an Ideal 44-40 reloading tool for Christmas.
I also need a decapping tool as well.
Thanks
CT
Click to expand...

The universal decapping die for the 310 tong tool (nut cracker) can be found and delivered to your door for a very economical $. In case you are not aware, the nut cracker should not be used to resize your brass.

Trev gave sound advice on the bullet resizing die.

Enjoy
 
cariboo 221 said:
The universal decapping die for the 310 tong tool (nut cracker) can be found and delivered to your door for a very economical $. In case you are not aware, the nut cracker should not be used to resize your brass.

Trev gave sound advice on the bullet resizing die.

Enjoy
Click to expand...

it sounds like he has a old ideal tool with a bullet mold on it if so I've never seen one that takes removable dies meant for the 310 tool(Lyman or ideal) these old style ones pre date the 310 by a good number of years
 
If you do use an expanding hand reamer, try it out on some tubing or drill a few holes into a steel bar and ream them, out to get a feel for using the reamer. Cutting fluid would be good. Bacon fat will work, as will real lard (animal fats), wash and oil after using bacon fat, it has a lot of salt in it! A small tin of Eze-cut or similar is pretty cheap, if you can find it. Take a look at the KBC Tools site.

It is a bit of an acquired skill, and some don't have the patience for it. They are tools for taking off a very very small amount of material at a time, and do not work well with a heavy handed approach.

Be aware also, that there is a long tapered leade on the cutting edge that must be all the way through the part to get the sides parallel. If you take a close look at the cutting blades, you will see the tapered portion. It is this portion of the blade that does all the cutting. So, not a good tool for a blind hole.
Turn the adjustment screws with your fingers, and only snug them up with a wrench if you must. A typical cut that works pretty well is to move the nut about 1/6 of a turn per pass after making contact and working up from there. Lighter cuts, aside from not chattering, also follow the bore of the part better. There is some try and see to using them.

Resist the urge to speed things along with a drill. Crapshoot on whether it'll work, or wreck your part really fast. The chatter that can get going with six long cutting edges engaged in the part, can get ugly fast, and the only fix is a bigger hole or a new part. It's also a stone beotch to get the chatter out of the surface without grossly enlarging the hole. Yeah, worth repeating. Want it to come out on size, take off the material slowly and in many light cuts. Best way is to avoid chatter starting!
Never turn the reamer in reverse. It blunts the cutting edge. Either keep turning it forwards and out the far side, or keep turning it forwards as you draw it out the same way it went in.

I used to work in a shop where we used them a lot, sizing up the bores of bushings on landing gear and flight control surfaces, and in sizes ranging from a number 10 hole on up to about 2 1/2 inches. Larger than that were honed.
The expandable hand reamer is expensive, even for a cheap one. Treat it well and it'll last along time, though.

Maybe more info than you need, but there you go.
 
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Some of the older Ideal combination hand tool / bullet mold tools came with an insert for decapping. It looked like a round "slug" with a pin in the end of it. You put it into the seating die with the pin upwards, and put the case on it, then closed the handle to push out the primer. Should be easy enough to make one, but the overall length could be a bit tricky as too short would not push out a primer, and too long might break a decapping pin, bend it, or simply not have the proper leverage.

Your "proposed" way of enlarging the diameter of the mold could easily give you egg shaped diameter bullets, especially with a Dremel tool.
 
trevj said:
Maybe more info than you need, but there you go.
Click to expand...

Too much information is far better than not enough. Thanks.

buffdog said:
.
Some of the older Ideal combination hand tool / bullet mold tools came with an insert for decapping. It looked like a round "slug" with a pin in the end of it. You put it into the seating die with the pin upwards, and put the case on it, then closed the handle to push out the primer. Should be easy enough to make one, but the overall length could be a bit tricky as too short would not push out a primer, and too long might break a decapping pin, bend it, or simply not have the proper leverage.

Your "proposed" way of enlarging the diameter of the mold could easily give you egg shaped diameter bullets, especially with a Dremel tool.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing about the decapping pin. I'll have to do some measuring.

I was going to mount the felt bob in my drill press and lock the Ideal tool in the table vise. I'm only enlarging the mold by 2 thou or so.

Thanks to all for the information. I'll let you know how things work out.

CT
 
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