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lubing and sizing 50 cal bullets

kfbrown14
i am very new to casting black powder bullets i have a lyman mold that makes 370 gr maxi ball 50 cal type bullets i want to lube and size them in my lyman idea lubrisizer my stupid question is what size die do i want to use i have found lots of them anywhere from 490 to 516
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9 comments

Date Votes
  • HandLoad
    Black Powder molds from Lyman come with a paper that says that they don't need to be sized - just lube 'em and shoot'em! That is what I am doing with the Dual mold that makes round balls and 320 R.E.A.L. "conical". Works pretty good - frist shot went into the bull at 25 yards, with 100 grains equivalent 777 pellets. Gonna try three pellets tomorrow, at 50 yards, then I figure I'll adjust sights to do it at 75 yards, point of aim.

    Fun Stuff, casting and lubing and shooting - I'm new to Black Powder, but have been shooting and reloading for over 40 years.
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  • Fletcher Pastore
    The sizer you use depends on the gun you are shooting them in.
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  • kfbrown14
    knight 50 cal
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  • HandLoad
    Reading further, maybe the "MaxiBall" you are shooting will need sizing - the pamphlet that came with my R.E.A.L. Mold said "no sizing necessary over a range of bore sizes"...I do know that it is a bit of a chore to get the things started in my CVA Electra, but I have only shot three, and they were without lube...the ones I am gonna shoot today are all lubed with the liquid ALOX that Lee sells for their sizers. They are "as cast", not sized. Will get back here with range report later today. I am on duty at the local range, and might get a chance to shoot during watch, or else will have to wait till off duty at 1400.
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  • HandLoad
    RATS! Leaned the Gun against the car to get all the schtuff inside, and while I was doing something else, the gun fell over and crushed the Front and Rear Sights, damaging same... all screwed up. Ruined my range visit! Fooey!
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  • HandLoad
    $32 later, I am gonna have a few spare parts. Oh well.
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  • Fletcher Pastore
    Originally posted by HandLoad
    [the ones I am gonna shoot today are all lubed with the liquid ALOX that Lee sells for their sizers.

    I think you will find that the liquid alox is going to be useless as a black powder lube. Beeswax and crisco will work much better.
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  • Mobuck
    TC used to (maybe still does) make a little plactic thingy that screws on the tube of maxilube. You shove a maxiball in it and squeeze the tube and it applies lube in the grooves. Shooting w/o lubing will make reloading difficult. I have used the REAL bullet but not lately so I can't remember it's characteristics. But I do rmember them being hard to load in an old CVA Hawken I was using then.
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  • Mobuck
    I looked around and found my maxiball lube thingy. Still NIP so I broke it open and tried it out. Not as great as advertised. If you get the maxilube warm enough to flow w/o bursting the lubetube, it literally runs off the bullet. Finally warmed the tube, lubed some bullets, and set then in the freezer on a pan to set the lube. Soon as it comes out of the freezer, it gets slimy again. I'm thinking about adding some beeswax to some in a little pan and using a cutter.
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