bullet sizer (?) indentification help please

[papershotshells]

Gents,

Been away from the forum for a long (actually a VERRY long time), changed jobs and have been traveling for work. Back now, hopefully for good, and I need help identifying some pieces I picked up while on the road.

They appear to be bullet sizers, they're steel, unthreaded, have a small step visible just inside the bottom. They're marked 27, 32 and some others. They measure .620" diameter and 1.03" long. They came in several manilla envelopes apparently mailed from the Lyman Gunsight Corp.

I THINK these are sizers for cast bullets, maybe for some sort of vintage Lyman handheld (?) push through tool, but I can't find any reference to anything like them in all of my library. A Google image search hasn't turned up anything either, so hopefully someone here recognizes them and tell me what they are. I have quite a few of them.

Hopefully the photos are helpful, even though they were taken with my phone.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Papershotshells

 

[Mike / Tx]

Well they certainly look like sizing dies, but sort of like powder bushings as well. The holes DO look a bit big for powder though.

 

[papershotshells]

Mike,

I at first thought they may be bushings too, but them being stepped inside lead me to think otherwise.

What mostly leads me to think they're sizers is that the ones marked "27" measure roughly .278" I.D. at the smaller end (best I could measure with calipers) and the ones marked "32" measure roughly .321" at the small end (again, as best as I could measure).

Hopefully someone has seen these in the past and can provide some input.

Papershotshells

 

[WCWV]

I don't know, but looking at your pics if they were bullet sizing dies they should have some lube holes on the sides. ???

 

[papershotshells]

WCWV,

I would think so too, if they were meant for a lube/sizer type press, but I think maybe these are for a type of "push-through" set up like the Lee bullet sizers available today.

On a whim, I sent an e-mail to Lyman last night to see if they had a clue (I'm 99%+ sure these are Lyman due to the envelopes they came in with Lymans name and address AND the corresponding part #s on them). Even if Lyman doesn't have official records on this stuff anymore, maybe an older employee might recognize them.

Papershotshells

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Looks like an old lyman shell resizer!

 

[papershotshells]

Mystery solved

After a couple of e-mails and sending pics to Lyman, I finally received an e-mail today from Lyman positively identifying these "dies".

Turns out they are actually bullet alignment sleeves for seating dies made by Lyman in the 1970s. These were called "precision alignment" dies and were apparently made with replaceable/changeable sleeves that are marked as to caliber.

I've never even seen a Lyman "precision alignment" die in over 25 years of handloading. I guess I'll be on the lookout for one, just to see how they work, plus I like to collect old reloading gear.

Papershotshells

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Turns out they are actually bullet alignment sleeves for seating dies made by Lyman in the 1970s. These were called "precision alignment" dies and were apparently made with replaceable/changeable sleeves that are marked as to caliber.

Well shucks..i woulda never guessed that.