Lee .452 sizing die

Boolit Bub Join DateJan 2013Posts34

Hello all I am casting for 45acp using a lee mold 200gr wc tl and they are dropping out at .453 or .454 most of the time. With that said I ran them through my lee sizing die witch is new and they measured .450 that to me is way to small. Is this something I should take up with Lee Precision or is there something I could do to the die? And if I were to load them at the .453 or .454 would that hurt or damage anything? At the .450 I'm getting light leading. Any help in this matter would be appreciated.

Boolit Man Join DateJan 2006LocationNo. IdahoPosts95

I'd try them as they drop from the mold, make up some dummies and if they chamber, I'd shoot some and see how they do accuracy-wise. .450 is way too small for most ACP's IMO. As for the die, I'd send it back to Lee (after calling them) along with a couple of sized boolits and see what they say. TL boolits were originally designed to be loaded un-sized (within reason), I believe.

Boolit Buddy Join DateSep 2012LocationLower AlabamaPosts62

yea dude send it back and watch ot for those witches...even though some of them are pretty hot in the end they just wanna fatten you up and have a feast!

If you're handy just hone out the sizing die yourself after making sure you need it at all. It's simple and fairly quick with a piece of dowel sand paper and a drill. I'd bet Lee is running full tilt 24/7 right now and it really is only a 30 min job if you go SUPER slow. I'd bet you don't need the sizing die though, if you haven't slugged your bore you should take this time to do that. I have 2 1911s that both have a .452 groove and my Lee mold drops same as yours so I don't size and they shoot fine. If you don't want to slug I'd load a dummy to make sure it chambers ok with a .454 boolit first then back your standard load off by 5% and load a few magazines worth and see what your firearm tells you. Good luck and let us know what you do.

Is this a......what day is this??

Send it back why tolerate poor products from a company that is notoriously cavalier with its quality, tolerances and specifications.

If I bought a .452" die then that is what I'd expect to get, if i got a .450" then I've been sold the wrong product. Unfortunately Lee is going like many post modern companies and applying the Ikea method of quality control, get the customer to do it.

I'm going to have to send the one I just got back....similar issue with a .452-200SWC. Pushes through at .449-.450.

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Boolit Bub Join DateJan 2013Posts34

thank you gentlemen for your replies and advise I will be calling Lee today

thank you gentlemen for your replies and advise I will be calling Lee todayMight be the alloy too. Most will spring back a little.
Lee dies are so easy to lap that I bought a bunch for the .44 and in minutes I have from .430 in steps to .434"

Boolit Mold Join DateJan 2013Posts16

I would just get some sand paper and a doll rod and open it up some more. I had to do this with my 356 die that was sizing to 354.

Send it back why tolerate poor products from a company that is notoriously cavalier with its quality, tolerances and specifications.+1,000,000

That is THE BEST description I've heard of Lee ever since the first anointment of Obama and the subsequent surge of purchasing began occurring--

a company that is notoriously cavalier with its quality, tolerances and specifications.
After the debacle I went through on the vaunted Classic Cast single stage press--which now finally works how it was supposed to--I've come to the conclusion that if the only place I can get a product is from Lee, then I don't really need it.

Funny thing is that I have some really old Lee stuff that still continues to function and work flawlessly. I'm talking about stuff that is over two decades old and older. It's the new junk from the past few years that has me walking away from them.

Boolit Master Join DateNov 2006Posts877

The sizing specs on Lee dies is just an approximation, anywhere between .449" and .454" fits within their specs for a .452' sizer. In the industry, it's called the +5 to -5% rule.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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