Lee 1oz slug bump die

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
So I want to take my 1oz Lee slugs and bump them up to full bore diameter. I have already made a new core pin for the mold to get rid of that drive key. Now it is just a hollow base.

I have a 18mm drill bit to get the hole roughed out before I final bore it. I am shooting for 0.730"-0.733" for final size of the slug. Then I will be powder coating them.

The Lee slug is weird. The base is around 0.01" smaller than the front half. They did that because of its fitment in the shotcups.

I have a punch made up for the ram of my press. But now I have to get some steel ordered or make a call into my old work place to see if I can get a couple of pieces of drops. And then just turn the threads onto it and bore it out. I thought my press had a 1 1/4-12 thread adaptor. But it is 1 1/2-12. It is a rcbs rock chucker. I have a few pieces of 1.25" round bars I got from Keith b. I was hoping to use that but nope.

What steel should I order if I have to? Or should I just order a piece of threaded rod and use that for the die?

I already made a die for testing if this will work. I just used my bench vice to squeeze everything together. I over shot the size and they bumped up to 0.746"
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I just had a run around with that mold. (Mine was POS) I finally got it to drop good slugs but not before almost ruining the thing!! I made a couple videos Id like to try the 7/8 but hesitate after the issues with the 1oz...

Im interested to see what you come up with.

CW
 

Ian

Notorious member
1144 stress-proof works ok if you don't have the means harden and draw it back it properly.
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
Yah but that mold throws over a 650gr bullet. This is coming out at 476gr. Sometimes it is the journey, not the destination point that matters
 
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Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I took out the die adapter out of my press and measured it. I can't remember where I seen it that it was supposed to be 1.5x12, but it was 1.25x12. So I had some blanks already to use.

Man, 3 hours to get the die body threaded tonite. Now I see why some of you buy the die blanks from Keith. But this is a 1.25-12tpi.
 
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Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
Got everything made and is sizing the slug to 0.730". But I have a problem with the hollow base being sized off center. But it looks like the base pin in the mold might be the problem. The slug base is slightly off center out of the mold.

There is no way these will be accurate with the amount they are off. So I think I will make a cup that will slip over the ram, then i can make the punch or pin that goes into the base of the slug. So the pin and cup are one unit. The way I have it now the punch is just like a shell holder that slides into the ram.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Copy the base pin to make a sizing punch, or find a way to use the mould pin itself.
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I made a new core pin for the mold. It's heating up right now to cast a few slugs for swaging. We will see if that cures the off center hollow base. I think the other pin was tilting in the mold causing it to be off center.

This is way easier to make than the base pin for the swage die. When I get it worked out I will put up some pics. Really easy to make if you know what you are doing. For me it takes much longer!
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
The piece sticking out of the die is the knock out pin. It sticks out about an inch. Just a light tap and the slug comes right out.

I need to do some polishing now. It works. That was the hard part
 
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Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
First 100 yd group. 31gr Herco, BP gs, flex wad, 2 0.125" nitro cards then roll crimped. This better than any load I tried with the regular Lee slug at 50 yds.

For some reason my chrono does not like shooting slugs. It gives me weird readings. Like 4 of these were in the 800 fps range then one went 1295 fps. My shoulder says they were the 1295 fps not 800. I get weird readings every time I shot shot shells over it.

Anyone else have something act like that? Or heard of something like it?


20210905_220312.jpg
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
Are you picking up the wads? I had a problem with in line muzzleoaders. The chronograph was picking up the sabot.