FYI .459 sizing die

I have bought things from Track of the Wolf for years. Good people to deal with. Especially if you are loading for a Springfield Trapdoor.
 
My LEE sizer die for 45-70 arrived recently. The reloading recipes I saw show the 45-70 bullet ideally to be .459. The big talk says that .459 is the way to go, however, my guy in possession of my LEE die claims that it is not .457 but a bit tighter. Bad right.

So my guy modified my LEE .457 sizer to .459 & certified it with a .459 steel gauge blank.
Now comes the sizing test......
 
I purchased a Lee .457 sizing die and opened it up to .4595 with a steel rod and some 800 grit sandpaper. It took about 30-40 mins of work, and I stopped periodically, pushed 3 bullets through, and mic'd them. I kept going until I consistently got .4595. It worked like a charm and was cheap.
 
I noticed in the Lee 2021 pricing Lee now makes Sizers in their breech lock model , increasing in size by .001" for all calibers. I think the over/ under sized die cost $4 more than the standard size die?
 
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I ordered a Lee .459 sizing die kit from eBay $38+ 15 US shipped.
After reading more recommendations re bullet size, ordered a .458 $26 + 15 shipping.
Those were the old style kits.
New style Breach Lock bullet sizer kit 14.99 plus 15 shipping. You need a breech lock upgrade kit as well 19 plus 13 shipping.

I ordered
Lyman 457132. Says it’s .459 Lyman only list as one size .458 and .459, which is a little bit confusing. It was quite expensive CDN $167.
Most places out of stock. Found on Amazon.
Contemplating 457125 which is also up there in price.
Ordered a Lee 90577 459 500 dia .459 $28.99 plus 12.99 shipping(free to Us)
Set up a parcel pick up in US. To avoid shipping costs.

Not sure how they will all work out but I’ve got a few experiments to try. Interesting to see if the .458 or .459 size makes a difference. I had already ordered all .459 when I read about the recommendations for .458.
I have t slugged bore, but have read bore is .458.

The Lee moulds are quite a lot cheeper than the Lyman moulds.
I expect.
The Lyman is probably better it’s steel, the Lees are aluminum.
But the lees will give me more options.
 
Goodwin81 said:
I purchased a Lee .457 sizing die and opened it up to .4595 with a steel rod and some 800 grit sandpaper. It took about 30-40 mins of work, and I stopped periodically, pushed 3 bullets through, and mic'd them. I kept going until I consistently got .4595. It worked like a charm and was cheap.
Click to expand...

I did some version of this as well for a poor mans solution, more so to seat gas checks while barely sizing.
 
I second the local Lee suppliers at Higginsons powder they are great to deal with
Lee bullet sizer and punch .459
# 91616
Higginsonspowder.com they have them in stock = $16.00
 
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