sizing bevel based bullets with a lyman or rcbs sizer

[garagist]

 When sizing a bevel based bullet with above sizer, the lube will fill the bevel.  Would it affect in any way the finished round when this lube is left in place?

[Veral]

  Leaving the bevel full of lube will help not hinder performance, but the serious problem is that if you don't size swiftly, lube will jack the ejection / stop plug down, which pumps a column of lube between bullet and plug.  A mess at best, but it also prevents the bullet from reaching the lube ports.  If you are getting along comfortably with the sizing, stay with it. but never order a bevel base bullet for Lyan or RCBS sizers.

This advise also applies to gas checked bullets used without gas checks.  If the bullet has sufficient bearing with checks left off, the barrel is good, and the check shank left full of lube, performance can be better than with a plain base, though not nearly as good as with gas checked.

  One important factor to consider is,  if ammo will be stored in a warm enough place to melt the lube, some powder wetting will occure, which kills the wetted powder, causing weak loads.

[garagist]

Veral, thank you for your explaination.  I worked something out to prevent the plug from going down while sizing.  The lube goes only in the lube grooves and in the tiny bevel. I was more or less convinced this wouldn't hurt performance, and now you confirmed it. Thanks again
Ronald

[Veral]

   If you will, I would like to have you share whatever method you used to keep the stop plug from moving down when sizing bb bullets.  I did it once by spring loading the plug, as it is a problem which come up quite often when lubing in hot weather with soft lubricants.

[garagist]

Hi Veral,
First, I want to appologise for my late reply, but I've been off line for a couple of weeks.
Now, here we go. I made a small angled wedge out of hardwood, that fits exactly  between the ejector rod and the ejection plate, when the sizer handle is lowered until the top hat touches the bullet. When the bullet is sized and lubed, the wedge is to be removed again to be able to take the bullet out of the sizer. It is of course more time consuming than the regular operation, but once you've got the hang of it, it doesn't take too much extra time. I only have to do this for one particular bullet size and weight, so it is not much of a burden, but I would not recommend it for every day use 

[Veral]

Thank you for the esplainaton.

  Since we are on the subject.  If the standard plug is modified, or a special plug is made just for bevel base bullets, sizing them is as easy as flat based.  In a lathe, cut the plug so that, around the perimeter,  it matches the bevel of the bullet of interest.  Cup the center out so it cannot contact the flat part of the base.  For optimum results, drill through the pin lengthwise almost to the bottom, then put a cross hole through.   Each time a bullet is sized, apply  a little pressure after it hits bottom, and any traces of lube will be pumped out the cross hole.  Understand the lube between bullet and plug problem, which often happens with flat based bullets also, always occures while the bullet is being sized, on the down stroke.  On the up stroke, pressure against the stop plug prevents any more lube to enter.  Sprues that aren't cut smooth to the base are the cause of this problem with flat based bullets.