[hipoint]

I take it that bullet sizing is a must when casting for my .41 mag... I'm still learning all this stuff and haven't even set up my presses until I get someone local to walk me through the ropes, but I want to have all my components ready for when my friend has the time to teach me some things...

that said, do I have to have a dedicated press for bullet sizing or do they sell some sort of add on for my lyman press?

quite curious about this as I thought I could just get a "doo hickey" to go on my regular reloading press.

any suggestions for the most affordable option for someone starting out on a serious budget?

[jr_roosa]

Maybe, maybe not. It depends how big they are out of the mold. If they run a little big, get a Lee sizer that looks just like a die. Just lube and run them through.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/601977/lee-bullet-lube-and-size-kit-410-diameter

[Reefinmike]

If you are casting yourself, if they do not drop from the mold at .4120" or .4110", you should size them down. if using a lee tumble lube mold, you can simply run them through a lee sizing die. any other mold with grease groves, they should be pushed through a lubrisizer. Two out of the three lee tumble lube bullet molds ive bought have needed a sizing die to go along with the order. the last mold i bought (230gr tl ltc) dropped them right on the money at .452. I bougt a sizing die in my order. didnt need it, but better than realizing i needed it and had to put my loading off another week and have to pay shipping again.

[hipoint]

thanks, that's what I thought. Since it's only 20 bucks I'll go on and order it just to have. I'll start casting pretty soon and check the size but for that price it will be a good thing to just have anyhow regardless of how this mold drops them as I may get more molds in the future.

I was confused after someone was trying to sell me a 200 dollar setup for this, I thought that you could use a die in a regular press.

The fella wasn't being dishonest, I just got confused ;-) I don't think I will be doing the kind of production to use a dedicated press just for sizing.

[Reefinmike]

do you have a tumble lube bullet mold or one with grease groves? one may require $20 worth of equipment, the other a $200+ lubrisizer...

[jr_roosa]

do you have a tumble lube bullet mold or one with grease groves? one may require $20 worth of equipment, the other a $200+ lubrisizer...

Lee liquid alox works fine for me with grease grooves.

-J.

[hipoint]

keith style semi wad cutter with *I think* 3 grooves.

[Arkansas Paul]

It doesn't matter whether it's a Lee tumble lube bullet or not. The ones with "grease grooves" work just as well tumble lubed and pushed through a Lee sizer die. I do it all the time and my stuff works as good as anyone's.

[41 Mag]

As mentioned the resulting bullet poured in you mold will determine the sizing required. Depending on the alloy you use and the temp at which you run it will also change things up a little. Also as mentioned the Alox type lube can be used on any type bullet, the fit and velocity you run them at will have more effects on whether or not they lead your barrel.

The Lee sizing kit will come with a bottle of Lee Alox which is pretty good for all around lube. Another which has just hit the market and one you will probably be happier with can be found at the following link,
Delux Liquid X-Lox~45-45-10 (http://lsstuff.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=31)

This is simply a blended version of the pure Alox Lee uses. It will dry to touch verse remaining tacky like the regular stuff does. It works really well and if you use a touch of heat like from a hair drier to warm up your bullets before you tumble them it will dry all the quicker. This version simply cuts to the chase and you do not have to spend the added time stirring and mixing it up yourself. As to it's abilities, I use the home brew version on everything from my 45 ACP up through my GC'ed 454 loads which run 1500fps+, with no issues. White Label Lube is a great place to get lube and their products will handle anything your needs can come up with.

The best way to use it is to lube once before sizing, and again after. Most folks say if you can see the lube on the bullets your actually using too much. Personally having a bit more is simply an added insureacne that I actually got enough on them in the first place. My lube bullets have a very slight varnished look to them when held under a lamp. With the 454 I don't even sweat how much is on them usually they have a noticeable amount, but again they are rocking along at a higher velocity and pressure than anything else I am shooting.

If you decide that you want to use some of the stick type lubes insted of tumbling, you can pan lube with them. This is siply gently heating up the stick lube in a sauce pan, and having your bullets standing on their bases and ready in another shallow pan, you pour the melted lube into that pan so that it comes up to or just above the front driving band. Once there you alloy the lube to cool and use something that is just slightly bigger than the OD of your bullet to cut them out similar to cutting out cookies. I have seen things like large shell cases, tubing, golf club handles cut just bigger than the bullets and there is even a couple of folks who sell cutters specific to the caliber they are intended to cut. Using this method you can still use the Lee sizer to size after lubing, but you will find that after 5 or 10 bullets you will need to wipe the lube ring off the mouth to keep things from building up.

Good luck with your 41, I have had one for a long time and fully enjoy shooting it. Casting has opened up a whole new world of bullets for it as well and since I am pouring them I can control the hardness as well. This is good as some I have shot were simply WAY too hard and left considerable leading in my barrels. What I have found is that anything from around a 12BHN to a 15 is just right for loads running up to around 1300fps. For powders I have found that 2400, and the Accurate powders 5, 7, & 9, have worked REALLY well.

Have fun and be safe with that lead, where your protective face shield and leathers when working with it. 650 - 800 degree molten lead is pretty unforgiving when it hits soft tissue and skin.