Tap through resizing die?

[Mr.P]

I know there are many good reasons to use a press for resizing but i recall someone here or at AGN mentioning They had a functional "tap through" set up for resizing where they use a die and a mallet (?) to tap slugs through without a press. 

Anyone have any tips for setting that up?  Trying to picture how it would work.

[triggertreat]

If NOE is out of the dies, I would get the bushings needed and use my bench top drill press and a punch or rod of the correct size to fit the chuck and projectile properly and use the press to punch them through the bushing(s).  If not sizing down too aggressively at one time this should work well, especially when lubed.  Also, with soft lead they are typically fairly easy to push though the bushings with just your hand, or with a small push tool.

[bduares]

I tap them through. I just hold the sizer in my hand with the larger opening facing up, put the slug into it nose first and insert the punch and tap it a couple of times with the little hammer. Slug falls into my hand that is holding the sizer. I repeat until I have 5 slugs in my hand and then dump them into my finished slug container and then do another 5.

[Greg_E]

Any LEE branded die can be used with a mallet, even the breach lock style. I've done it while I waited for a press. After getting the handheld press, I'm not sure that a mallet isn't the better choice. A table mount press is the best way, slow and even pressure will give you the most repeatable results. But whacking them works.

Only issue with the Lee dies is the number of sizes you can get, they revolve around common firearms sizes and if you have something in one of those sizes you are good. Finding a .252 from Lee will require them to bore a custom for you, or you use a flap wheel to hone it out yourself (if you can find the die in stock). Lee has a .251 and a .249 design in their catalog, but good luck grabbing one. Last week I tried to buy a .251 and between the time I had put it in my cart and the time I entered payment, it had been sold out.

[bduares]

I took my sizing die to Home Depot today and made a mounted slug sizer so I would not have to hold it in my hand. Total cost was less than $20. My die fit perfectly inside a 1/2" compression coupler so I started with one of those: 1/2" compression coupler, small piece of 1/2" pipe and 1/2" connector to fit it to the compression coupler. Two 1/2" pipe straps to mount it to something and a plastic tub to catch the slugs in.

[Mr.P]

That's great - nice solution.

[rsterne]

Perfect solution.... and cheap!!!!

Bob

[Greg_E]

That's pretty clever and should prove useful for the next person.

[JuryRigger]

Can't beat that-nice!
Jesse

[triggertreat]

Looks like a good workable solution you have come up with!

[Insanity]

Now that's thinking with your dipstick Jimmy.

[Mr.P]

Thinking with my dipstick only ever got me into trouble...

[Mr.P]

Well I got my Lee resizing bushings with pushpins. .249 for one barrel and .257 for the other. Here's what I came up with for an easy way to push through and resize.  3-D printed a little insert that holds the bushing and I just push slugs right through into the bottle.  Dont need a mallet or press. 

Thanks to all of you here who helped me out.

[Insanity]

Very nice I like the addition of 3d printing.

[JuryRigger]

Nice solution; I like it 
Jesse

[rsterne]

Awesome.... 

Bob

[Mr.P]

I resized a bunch of boat tails of your design (50 grain) which for some reason I have a much harder time loading in my AF breech than the 60 grain.  Maybe i has cast at a lower temperature the last couple times and they were a little oversized...

I have a 0.249 bushing so I resized a bunch to that diameter. It seems maybe a little smaller than I'd like but there is just a little bit of drive band left at that diameter. But it is possible to fully seat them with a moderate amount of force which is great.

I have a .250 bushing coming today so I will try that as well and see which Is better.

Kind of surprising - I tried to resize some NSA .250 slugs but it seems they are  actually closer to .249.  Barely any force needed to slide those through .249 bushing... or is that to be expected for a .001 difference?

The boat till slugs need a really solid push to get them through and I ended up using a mallet in the end.

Here's a photo of beautiful colors in some lead I was cleaning up a short while ago...

[triggertreat]

That's a neat die you came up with!  Use some cast lube like Hornady or Alox from Lee to help get the tough ones pushed through.

[rsterne]

I use Case Wax for resizing, if the slugs are a bit on the large size.... Some of the shorter NSA slugs are actually smaller than 0.250" because the nose ogive goes all the way to the base, they have no parallel section to ride in the rifling.... The NSA website mentions that for 33 gr. and lighter, IIRC....

Part of the issue with AF guns is that the chamber is made for pellets (even on the Texans), rather than being long enough for chambering slugs without extra effort.... A lot of guys shooting slugs with Condors, etc. ease or lengthen the chamber.... I designed some slugs specifically for all the calibers of Texans at the request of NOE, with a partially bore-riding nose of smaller diameter, but unfortunately they never reached production....



Above is the drawing for the .257 cal version....

Bob

[Mr.P]

I see... well, I just got .250 bushing and will cast some more and see how they do at this diameter. I hear you about the shallow leade but in my case it's more of a diameter issue because the longer 60 grains seat easily while the shorter 50 grains bruise my thumb.