I do not understand? You push from the base, with or without gas checks, so how do you deform the nose. I understand there is the weight of 2, maybe 3 bullets still in the die above the new bullet but it doesn't really take any force to push the already sized bullet out of the way.

The only place I seem to get a lot of excess Alox lube in the die in the sizing operation. Usually I do a few hundred at a time and when I'm done I've learned to clean the lube out of the sizing die with brake cleaner. Does the lube build up deform the sized bullet?

My 230 45 caliber bullet is the softest I re-size, around 9 hardness. My rifle bullets with gas checks are closed to 12 (or above).