I've finally decided to give in and jump on the powder coat bandwagon. I have a Lee push-through sizer for my desired bullet diameter, but I sold my Lee Turret Press awhile back that I was using as a single stage. My bullets from my Lyman mold #356637 are on the large side, with the base-bottom nearly .359 and about .358 on the other parts that matter. When powder coated, I'm looking at up to .2 over this. I will be sizing to .357. Cabella's near me sells the cheap pot metal single stage #90045 for less than $60. Will this work without breaking? It would be dedicated to this single purpose.
Cheapest Lee press strong enough for sizing 9mm PC'd lead bullets?
- Thread starter Skyhawk
- Start date
Plenty strong for what your planning.
Mine snapped in half with regular case sizing, bullets sizing, and loading after maybe two years. Shipping to send it in for warranty was more than I paid for mine ($27 new) so I just tossed it in my scrap metal box.
My concern if sizing the bullets smaller than the lead diameter after powder coating is it may cut/scrape some of the powder coat off. I did that with some large .44 mag bullets I powder coated and ended up with little stripes of lead peeking through. Is there an issue with the bullets not seating or chambering properly if not sized? If not I'd shoot them as powder coated and let the forcing cone size them. As long as the load was worked up with the larger bullets you're fine so long as they fit in the chamber.
My concern if sizing the bullets smaller than the lead diameter after powder coating is it may cut/scrape some of the powder coat off. I did that with some large .44 mag bullets I powder coated and ended up with little stripes of lead peeking through. Is there an issue with the bullets not seating or chambering properly if not sized? If not I'd shoot them as powder coated and let the forcing cone size them. As long as the load was worked up with the larger bullets you're fine so long as they fit in the chamber.
Thanks guys. If it lasts me 2 years, at that price I'd be okay with it. I did gently hammer a a few through the Lee sizing die, and the coating seemed to stay intact. Interestingly, the PC didn't hold up so well in my Lyman lube sizer. My load was worked up with the Lyman, lubed lead sized to .357. With PC'ing, I know I'll be starting over. I suppose I could size the bullets BEFORE PC'ing, but I hate the thought of lubing then washing them before the shake n' bake stage. I'll see if they seat without sizing first after a good coat.
Barnes_270
Regular
- Location
- Langley, BC
I'd look for any inexpensive used O-frame press, not the cheap C-frame Lee.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
A few things to consider before making your purchase: How hard are your bullets, there is a significant difference in force required when a large down-size is being performed between a soft , almost pure lead bullet (BN around 6) to a COWW hardness (around 11-13) to a commercial cast or linotype hardness (22-25). A Lee c-press might not stand the pressures required.
Your second post concerning your Lyman sizer interested me as that is all I use for my sizing. I have sized many rifle bullets in my Lyman sizer before PCing. I have my sizer that I use for PCing completely cleaned of all lube so there is no chance of contamination of the powder. I run the slugs thru dry (up to a .003 downsize) and then PC. If I have to, I run them tru again dry after PCing, I have never experienced any scuffing that exposed any lead, even hard cast commercial bullets, if anything is going to scuff they should.
Your second post concerning your Lyman sizer interested me as that is all I use for my sizing. I have sized many rifle bullets in my Lyman sizer before PCing. I have my sizer that I use for PCing completely cleaned of all lube so there is no chance of contamination of the powder. I run the slugs thru dry (up to a .003 downsize) and then PC. If I have to, I run them tru again dry after PCing, I have never experienced any scuffing that exposed any lead, even hard cast commercial bullets, if anything is going to scuff they should.
fingers284: My bullets are a mixture of clip on wheel weights with around 15% stick-ons that I sourced myself and melted into muffin ingots. I have a hardness tester, but never bothered with the mixed alloy for this because... well, it's just 9mm that are shoot at about 130 power factor (for IPSC). The Linotype I haven't sold sits in a vault in the garage! Hahaha
I didn't size the bullets before running them through my Lyman sizer, just after PCing. So they were quite over sized for sure. I'm going down at bit more than .002 even without PCing, so with the PC I could have been sizing down as much as .004 or more on some. I also find the sizing operation a bit faster in the Lee push through, however the entire point of the Lyman sizer was that I could lube and size at the same time, thus avoiding the pan lubing (then Lee push through) I used to do way back when which saved me a lot of time. I used to tumble lube too. That phase of my reloading "career" didn't last very long. But this PC thing really interests me right now. I remember shooting in the Philippines (an old post of mine about it is somewhere here) and wondering, what is with these coloured boolits! A few years later, now we know!
I didn't size the bullets before running them through my Lyman sizer, just after PCing. So they were quite over sized for sure. I'm going down at bit more than .002 even without PCing, so with the PC I could have been sizing down as much as .004 or more on some. I also find the sizing operation a bit faster in the Lee push through, however the entire point of the Lyman sizer was that I could lube and size at the same time, thus avoiding the pan lubing (then Lee push through) I used to do way back when which saved me a lot of time. I used to tumble lube too. That phase of my reloading "career" didn't last very long. But this PC thing really interests me right now. I remember shooting in the Philippines (an old post of mine about it is somewhere here) and wondering, what is with these coloured boolits! A few years later, now we know!
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I must confess I cheat a bit with my bullet sizing...I have two Lymans, both bought used at gunshows for $45 or less for each one (both had a few sizer dies and top punches included in the deal). I keep the one already mentioned clean (I boiled the whole press and sizers that I thought I would use to absolutely get rid of all grease lube) clean and dry and the other still has conventional lube in the tube. For the price of two commercial bought sizers I have two machines that pretty well take care of "most" sizing combination I can dream up. I say "most" as I am triply spoiled by the fact that if some bullets are cast that need to be taken down in stages, I can fire up the lathe and in an hr or so have a "custom" sizer for any dia I desire.
Now I am not saying that every caster needs the above set-up to be competent because it just aint so....but it sure is nice when you need it...
Now I am not saying that every caster needs the above set-up to be competent because it just aint so....but it sure is nice when you need it...
- Location
- West Quebec
I use a Forster single with two arms it's really strong and does not twist when pushed hard
Sadly I had to resize after coating. Unless I seated them about .045" further in than my regular lubed & sized loads, the exposed bullet would get hung-up inside the barrel. These bullets have a pretty stubby ogive. Due to pressure concerns with an extra heavy bullet in a 9mm gun (each weighs over 157 grains/mixed wheel weights), I decided not to risk seating them that deeply and resized them instead. I think this was the right move...
They came out to .359ish with the PC, so I sized a couple hundred bullets to .357 and that cheep Lee press didn't break (so far). I'm going to shoot them Monday through the chrono using 3 different N320 loads: 2.8 gr, 2.9 gr, and 3.0 gr. while aiming for 800 to 820 fps. 2.8 grains gives me that in my sized & lubed bullets, but I heard we loose a bit of speed with PC bullets.
I have some concerns about leading, so I'm going to inspect my barrel after 10 shoots, then 25, then 50 shots, and hopefully shoot at least 200 rounds. If that PC layer is as effective in barrel obturation as lead is, then my barrel should come out shiny and clean. If not, I'm back to the old tried-and-true way. I've never experienced even a hint of leading with these bullets lubed and sized to .357 with the Lyman, so it should be a good test.
They came out to .359ish with the PC, so I sized a couple hundred bullets to .357 and that cheep Lee press didn't break (so far). I'm going to shoot them Monday through the chrono using 3 different N320 loads: 2.8 gr, 2.9 gr, and 3.0 gr. while aiming for 800 to 820 fps. 2.8 grains gives me that in my sized & lubed bullets, but I heard we loose a bit of speed with PC bullets.
I have some concerns about leading, so I'm going to inspect my barrel after 10 shoots, then 25, then 50 shots, and hopefully shoot at least 200 rounds. If that PC layer is as effective in barrel obturation as lead is, then my barrel should come out shiny and clean. If not, I'm back to the old tried-and-true way. I've never experienced even a hint of leading with these bullets lubed and sized to .357 with the Lyman, so it should be a good test.
I've sized berry's .358 bullets down to .329 in 2 steps both times with lube on the lee c press. what made it break in the end was a 5 foot fall and it was just the handle that broke. it must have been jealous when it saw me mounting it's replacement, the lee classic cast. I've also loaded tens of thousands of rounds with it from 9mm to 500mag and 223 to 7.62x54r.
