Substitutions

[hornady]

I believe at one time Mid-south shooters automatically offered Substitutions for out of stock items. Monday I ordered a Lyman H&I die and top punch for a new bullet I will be casting, I saw no mention of a substitute for the Lyman Die or top punch. I back ordered the Lyman. I have used both RCBS and Lyman Dies and punches in my Lyman 1400 in the past. A guy on another forum suggested I double-check the statues of the RCBS items to use in place of the Lyman. Sure enough the RCBS Die and punch were in stock. The last Lyman Die and punch I back order from Mid-South took 6 weeks. The lady at Mid-south told me when I called to change the order I should have it in 3 to 5 days.

[cephas]

Just an observation about different makes of sizing dies. I utilize an older Lyman 50 and although both RCBS and Lyman dies will do the job I get a bit of leakage around the top of the die body in the RCBS. The pic shows a slight difference in the gasket at the top of the die. Form left to right, RCBS, older Lyman and the H&I. There are modifications to the press that have been suggested but it really has never been that much of a problem.

[hornady]

Yes one of my dies I now use is an RCBS. I have not found it to be a problem myself, unless I use too much heat. I use White Label BAC special blend lube, I converted the receptacle to the lube heater to a rheostat. With this lube and this time of the year I do not need heat. The winter months a little heat is helpful, once I get the lube warm I set the rheostat back about a half turn. With the RCBS die I need to set it back another ¼ turn. The small amount of lube I loose I save for fluxing.

[cephas]

Yep, BAC is also my go to lube. They make good stuff. If you do any tumble lubing check out their version of Lee's allox called Xlox. I mounted my press on a thin metal plate and in winter set an old clothes iron on it to warm the whole sizer.