I'm still fairly new to casting and have some questions.
I inherited a Lee electric pot and a couple of molds and an old Lyman "Handbook of Cast Bullets". I bought a used Lyman 450 lubrisizer with some old funky lube in it so I squeezed it out best I could and put in a new stick of soft lube, don't remember the name but it is something "gold". I also got top punch and sizers for .358 wadcutter (.38 Sp) and .452 SWC (.45ACP). Just been using wheel weights.
I have been very happy with the .45 bullets, they shoot as well as jacketed match bullets in my gun and leading is minimal. The .38 bullets also shoot well, just for cheap plinking. I just picked up a .30 cal rifle mold to use for 30-06 practice/plinking/rabbits, 311359, 115gr GC.
I am planning to use light charges of Unique or similar for squib loads in the 30-06, currently using 100 gr SPEER Plinkers with good results.
Questions:
1) Do you think I can use the same soft lube for the rifle bullets?
2) If I change to a hard lube how do I empty the soft lube out of the sizer?
3) Is there a cheap alternative to the electric lube heater?
I have no instructions or anything about how to use the 450. I have it working OK but I find that after a few bullets go through there is a big buildup of lube on top of the lower "punch" under the bullet. It probably doesn't hurt but makes a mess on the bench from the bottom of the bullet.
I press the bullet down, then crank the lube handle, then raise the bullet, is this correct?
Is there an adjustment I can make to eliminate this?
Any help, instruction or advise is very appreciated!