Lewis,
I would sure like a copy of that myself to send to a newbie and to post when needed. Can ya send me a email ? 45nut@mynra.com Thanks !

marlinlover:

No, the shaft stays put and just rotates, drawing the piston down as you turn it. But to do this, the shaft needs a head to hold it in place. Look at the BOTTOM of the lube reservoir - you will see a shallow, round recess 1/2" in diameter and 1/16" or so deep in the center od the part that sets flat on the bench. The shaft has a matching round head (picture a big, threaded nail, standing on its head) that rotates, but does not move up or down, in the recess, trapped in place by the tool being bolted to the bench. (This joint sometimes leaks, so the suggestion of a thin metal or fiber shim under the tool is a good idea.) As I said, it looks like this "nail-head" has broken off, and you should see some signs of fracture at the end of the shaft opposite the hex at the top.

Lyman <www.lymanproducts.com> has a nice little booklet showing parts breakdowns and instructions for all their tools. The current one shows the later No. 450 sizer, which has a separate baseplate fitting into the base of the reservoir, with the compression shaft recess in its center, but it works exactly the same way (except that it leaks worse, having a badly-designed, too narrow o-ring seal). After a lot of criticism and comparison with RCBS's excellent service policy, Lyman has recently gotten quite good at responding to customer problems; I am sure they will be happy to help out.

floodgate

marlinlover;

I believe the compression shaft on your Lyman No. 45 is broken; it should have a flange on the bottom that seats in the recess beneath the lube reservoir. Lyman can supply parts for these, and the shaft for the current No. 450/4500 should fit. But ask for the older style; they still had these in stock awhile back. Gentle heat with a hair dryer - or, if you're VERY careful, a "soft" flame from a propane torch held at a good distance so as not to scorch the paint - will soften the old lube and most of it will run out; and a good soaking in paint thinner/solvent should get it clean enough to refill. You can poke the lube out of the holes in the dies with a pipe cleaner. If you don't have the little hex ratchet that rotates the compression shaft, the little "Chapman" wrench handle in the Brownells' screwdriver kits is the same model Lyman uses. These are good tools; I have a couple of No. 45's and a No. 450 and they've never let me down.

floodgate

I'll address just a couple of your questions. When I mount a Lyman Lubrisizer onto the loading bench, I put a small piece of metal under that bolt so it won't screw down into the bench. That has worked for me for many years. When you need to clean out old lube, remove the sizing die, if there is one in it, then heat the lubrisizer and melt the lube out. I did this just recently and used a heat lamp. In a few minutes the lube ran out the bottom into a 5 quart ice cream tub sitting on the floor under the lubrisizer.
One more: You shoud size your bullets so they will just barely fit through you chamber throats. If your throats are .453, then your bullets should be .452", or .4525". Of course if your bore size is larger than the throats, then it won't shoot very good anyway. Bullet casting is a science and an art. There have been books written on the subject. I would start with Veral Smiths book, and also read some cast bullet forums, like this one. You will pick up a lot of information. Good luck.

Neal

Thanks FG,

So the shaft screws down, and the plunger goes down with it, applying pressure?

That would mean the flange you speak of would be threaded and would hold tite in the housing... right?

Is lyman on the web?

Neal,

What's happening now with the shaft is it pushes right through with no threads sat the bottom of the housing to pull the plunger down.

I wish I could find a parts breakdown of this thing, but the old instructions do not show it.

Yep, sounds like that part at the bottom of the lube resevoir is missing.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/

Is the fat 30 deal still on??

I bought an Ideal Mod. 45 Lube Sizer used.

The threaded shaft that goes through the lube stick housing just has threads on the bottom end, no nut or anything.

I was wondering what secures the shaft, so it will pull the plunger down on the lube stick when you crank the top of the shaft?

There's no female threads on the frame, there's no keeper to hold a nut? I don't get it?

Does anyone know how this works?

Also, how do I get out old hard dried lube in the Lube sizer and dies?

I bought a LBT .455 320 LFN mold used for my 454 Casull Raging Bull.

I haven't sluged this barrel, so I don't know how well this bullet will work, or what I should size it at? Anyone use this one?

I'm thinking I would like to:

Cast WW lead.

Run the bullet through a Lee sizer at .454 and gascheck.

Anneal the bullets to get a higher BHN.

Then run through the Ideal Mod. 45 and apply LBT Blue soft lube (hoping it will work without heat).

Any tips or directions would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance..