Being a bit of a frugal fellow,I made a like die for my press using a oversize hex broach.
Had I thought of it I would have tried calaloo method. Alot less time involved.

New guy here. There seems to be no place to introduce myself so I'll just jump in. Clamp a 1/4 inch (7/16 head) bolt in a vice with the head projecting up a small distance from the jaws. Take a 7/16 arch punch and heat the cutting end red hot then drive it onto the bolt head. You have a hex wad punch that is perfect for your Whitworth bore. I have used one for years and and it has served me well.

I'm looking forward to spending time on this forum. I have a Whitworth and am thinking about getting a Gibbs.

If anyone is seeking a hex wad punch to fit in a press, see the advert at: http://www.lrml.org/technical/index.htm

David

paulbehe wrote on Dec 28^th, 2010 at 12:58pm:

you are correct Paul. filling the grooves with lube before sizing does help keep them from closing up when going down that far in size.

Pat....The .458 bullets are already lubed with alox in a .459 sizing die and stored away. When I need a few to size down to .450 I just pull a few from inventory and go to it. I just thought of something. Maybe having an incompressible semi-solid already in the grooves keeps them from smearing during sizing? At any rate, being pre-lubed makes them easier to resize.  I don't use any type of wad in the Rigby or the Gibbs. I got better groups without them.    cheers    Paul

Paul,

Do you lube with Alox before or after you size?  I think I already know, but I hate to assume when a simple question will remove all doubt.

Also, I can't remember if you use a lubed wad when you load and I'm too lazy to go read your other posts and find out:)

Pat

Crank....sorry for the tardy response. The as cast diameter of the Lyman govt. is .458+. I size them down to .450 in a basic RCBS single stage press. The alloy is 30:1. They come out looking surprisingly good without undue effort on the press arm. As I have mentioned before, they are lubed with alox which I have found to be an excellent M/L lube, [cleaned between shots of course.] Even with the grease grooves reduced, the bullet still has enough lube to leave a faint "lube star" on the muzzle. For those of you who don't know what a "lube star" is, I will explain. When a lubed cast bullet leaves the muzzle of a rifle, there is a faint outline of lube left deposited on the muzzle. It actually isn't star shaped, but does show, more or less, the outline of the lands and grooves as the expanding gasses blow sideways out the muzzle at the instant the bullet exits. If the "star" is perfectly round and uniform, it indicates that there is a good crown on the muzzle and the bullet carries enough lube. It can easily be checked by simply looking at the muzzle after firing. It wipes off easily with your finger. However, if the star is out of round it indicates a damaged or poorly crowned muzzle, or a bullet that came out tipped slightly allowing gas to escape on one side of the bullet the instant it exits the muzzle. If there is no lube star, the barrel might be too long for the amount of grease carried by the bullet,  the style of bullet you are using doesn't carry enough lube, or you're just using the wrong lube for your application.  Leading near the muzzle could result in these instances. Hope you didn't find this too long winded.  cheers   Paul

Hi Rob,
  I'm in Powell River B.C. on the Sunshine coast  about 70 miles North of Vancouver.

Gerald Bergeron forwarded me one of Joe's emails to day regarding the attachment of a sling to the P-Gibbs in a way that would conform to international competition rules.

It's added to the end of previous set of Joe's emails.

If you have any emails from Joe with info not already contained in the list please forward them to me.   And, keep on adding them.


Pat

Bob,

Peter Dyson will sell you a hex die for the Whitworth.  It's one you bang with a hammer.  I bought one and am happy with it, but I did have my gunsmith re-grind it to even out the plane of the cutting surface.  It will cut thick or thin wads of whatever material and really is no trouble to use.

Pat