This article written by CBA member, by Paul W. Brasky of Kingston, NY, appeared in The Fouling Shot #170 July/Aug 2004 issue.
In preparing for the Seasonal Military Postal match several years ago, I discovered that the noses of my cast bullets were no longer nicely pointed, but rather were a bit blunt or rounded. Although this made little difference in my scores. the aesthetics of it bothered me a great deal. The problem was caused by sizing Lyman bullet #314299 from .3145" to .311", sometimes in several time consuming steps, and always with the wrong nose punch in my lube-sizer. (Did I mention that I'm thrifty?)
Coincidentally, Lee Precision had begun to offer it's line of press-mounted essentially "nose first" sizing dies, but as I had some concerns about whether they would apply gas checks and knowing no one who had experience with them, I was hesitant to try one. (Did I mention that I'm thrifty; well, O.K., cheap?) In the meantime, sizing from .314" to .313" to .312" to .311" was fast becoming intolerable. Having had enough, I purchased a .311" Lee sizing die kit and was immediately rewarded with perfectly sized, gas-checked, and undistorted bullets. Since then I've acquired several other (Lee] sizing die sets and heartily recommend them for one specific purpose, namely bullet sizing. Lubing, even with a close but-not-exact nose punch, is done as a separate step in a conventional machine; unless of course, you don't mind the liquid Alox "procedure."
As good as the dies are, they don't come in all sizes, and as luck would have it, the one you need may not be available. For example, I needed a .3245" die for my 8mm Mauser, but only .323" was available. Lee Precision will gladly make a custom die for you, but if the desired dimension isn't too much larger (-.003") than their standard offering, you can lap one out yourself. I'd read about the method on the now defunct Shooters Talk > Cast Bullets web site (It can now be found at http://www.castpics.net > "Research and Data.") and tried it. It worked perfectly, turning oversized bullets into -1 m.o.a. performers. I am indebted to my friend Rick Tunell for allowing me to share 1t with you.
You'll need a sizing die approximately .002"-.003" smaller than the desired diameter; a stiff steel rod at least 4" longer than the die itself and -3/4 the inside diameter of the die; wet/dry sandpaper or emery in 320, 400 and 600 grits; your favorite lubricant - WD-40, 3-in-1 oil, etc.; a towel; plenty of unsized cast bullets; and a micrometer. What you do is wrap the steel rod with the 320-grit paper so that it protrudes enough from each end to grasp with your fingers. Generously apply oil and roll the die back and forth using firm downward pressure on either a flat surface or your towel-covered leg. Check your work after every 30-40 back and forth strokes by cleaning the die (a quick wipe will suffice), installing it in your press and sizing a bullet. Measure its diameter and continue lapping until you are within -.0005" of your desired diameter. Use 400- and 600 grit oiled paper on the steel rod to polish the die to its final size. Once again, check your work carefully.
Depending on how much metal you need to remove and on how quickly you work, the job will take about an hour to complete: The results are well worth the time invested.
From time to time, it becomes necessary or even desirable to radically resize a cast bullet to fit a particular rifle's bore. By radically I mean as much as a .012" reduction. Why would you do such a thing? Curiosity is one reason since we've all read that resizing by more than say .005" distorts the bullet and significantly reduces accuracy. Haven't you wondered whether that bit of conventional wisdom is true? Another reason is that you may be searching for a bullet lo fit a particular bore and what you want isn't readily available, but you do have a likely candidate on hand even though it's too wide. For example, I needed a bullet for my 7.65x53mm Argentine Mauser which fitted it better than Lyman #314299. Having seen such a discussion on Shooters Talk > Cast Bullet site, and having corresponded with Rick Tunell, its principal advocate, about it. I was determined to see for myself whether it was true. I just happened to have a Lee .314" sizing die and a supply of LBT .326" cast bullets on hand as well.
Using my Lyman 450 lube-sizer, I lubed, applied gas checks, and sized to .326" 20 LBT bullets, making sure all lube grooves were completely filled (so as to support the driving bands when reformed). I next took a .314" Lee sizing die, screwed it into my press, smeared the .326" bullets with case lube (use no more than you would when resizing brass) and sized them down in one stroke to the smaller diameter. You'll need a strong press, a stronger workbench and a bit of muscle for this, but little else except an open mind. When loaded over 22 grains of Accurate Arms' XMP 5744, 20 rounds with the radically resized LBT (at .314" and seated to touch the rifling) shot identically to 20 rounds loaded with the same powder and charge, but Lyman #314299 (at .314" and seated to touch the rifling). Let me repeat there was no toss of accuracy with the reformed slugs. I've repeated this several times in the Argentine Mauser with bullets meant for the 8mm Mauser (Lyman #323471 and a Lee custom run of a 236 gr .. 326" bullet) but always with the same ' satisfying results.
As tor the conventional wisdom and the intentional "mistreatment" of cast bullets as described above, it's not how much you size but how that makes the difference. If you can't or don't concentrically resize cast bullets, accuracy will be affected. The very design and mechanism of lube-sizing machines such as the Lyman #450 and the RCBS Lube-A-Matic don't lend themselves to such radical resizing and will almost certainly distort the bullets because their noses aren't supported. The Lee press mounted sizing dies are strong, easily modified, supporting the bullet completely and sizing them concentrically. As such, they're quite useful when you're looking for a bullet to fit a particular bore, but no such mold 1s offered and you don't want to purchase a custom product While you can't reduce .50 caliber cast bullets to .243" with the Lee dies in a single stroke, you can reduce them, even those which have been heat-treated, by as much as .012" with no ill effects (so long as their lube grooves are first filled and gas checks, if any, applied in a standard sizing operation). @)
In preparing for the Seasonal Military Postal match several years ago, I discovered that the noses of my cast bullets were no longer nicely pointed, but rather were a bit blunt or rounded. Although this made little difference in my scores. the aesthetics of it bothered me a great deal. The problem was caused by sizing Lyman bullet #314299 from .3145" to .311", sometimes in several time consuming steps, and always with the wrong nose punch in my lube-sizer. (Did I mention that I'm thrifty?)
Coincidentally, Lee Precision had begun to offer it's line of press-mounted essentially "nose first" sizing dies, but as I had some concerns about whether they would apply gas checks and knowing no one who had experience with them, I was hesitant to try one. (Did I mention that I'm thrifty; well, O.K., cheap?) In the meantime, sizing from .314" to .313" to .312" to .311" was fast becoming intolerable. Having had enough, I purchased a .311" Lee sizing die kit and was immediately rewarded with perfectly sized, gas-checked, and undistorted bullets. Since then I've acquired several other (Lee] sizing die sets and heartily recommend them for one specific purpose, namely bullet sizing. Lubing, even with a close but-not-exact nose punch, is done as a separate step in a conventional machine; unless of course, you don't mind the liquid Alox "procedure."
As good as the dies are, they don't come in all sizes, and as luck would have it, the one you need may not be available. For example, I needed a .3245" die for my 8mm Mauser, but only .323" was available. Lee Precision will gladly make a custom die for you, but if the desired dimension isn't too much larger (-.003") than their standard offering, you can lap one out yourself. I'd read about the method on the now defunct Shooters Talk > Cast Bullets web site (It can now be found at http://www.castpics.net > "Research and Data.") and tried it. It worked perfectly, turning oversized bullets into -1 m.o.a. performers. I am indebted to my friend Rick Tunell for allowing me to share 1t with you.
You'll need a sizing die approximately .002"-.003" smaller than the desired diameter; a stiff steel rod at least 4" longer than the die itself and -3/4 the inside diameter of the die; wet/dry sandpaper or emery in 320, 400 and 600 grits; your favorite lubricant - WD-40, 3-in-1 oil, etc.; a towel; plenty of unsized cast bullets; and a micrometer. What you do is wrap the steel rod with the 320-grit paper so that it protrudes enough from each end to grasp with your fingers. Generously apply oil and roll the die back and forth using firm downward pressure on either a flat surface or your towel-covered leg. Check your work after every 30-40 back and forth strokes by cleaning the die (a quick wipe will suffice), installing it in your press and sizing a bullet. Measure its diameter and continue lapping until you are within -.0005" of your desired diameter. Use 400- and 600 grit oiled paper on the steel rod to polish the die to its final size. Once again, check your work carefully.
Depending on how much metal you need to remove and on how quickly you work, the job will take about an hour to complete: The results are well worth the time invested.
From time to time, it becomes necessary or even desirable to radically resize a cast bullet to fit a particular rifle's bore. By radically I mean as much as a .012" reduction. Why would you do such a thing? Curiosity is one reason since we've all read that resizing by more than say .005" distorts the bullet and significantly reduces accuracy. Haven't you wondered whether that bit of conventional wisdom is true? Another reason is that you may be searching for a bullet lo fit a particular bore and what you want isn't readily available, but you do have a likely candidate on hand even though it's too wide. For example, I needed a bullet for my 7.65x53mm Argentine Mauser which fitted it better than Lyman #314299. Having seen such a discussion on Shooters Talk > Cast Bullet site, and having corresponded with Rick Tunell, its principal advocate, about it. I was determined to see for myself whether it was true. I just happened to have a Lee .314" sizing die and a supply of LBT .326" cast bullets on hand as well.
Using my Lyman 450 lube-sizer, I lubed, applied gas checks, and sized to .326" 20 LBT bullets, making sure all lube grooves were completely filled (so as to support the driving bands when reformed). I next took a .314" Lee sizing die, screwed it into my press, smeared the .326" bullets with case lube (use no more than you would when resizing brass) and sized them down in one stroke to the smaller diameter. You'll need a strong press, a stronger workbench and a bit of muscle for this, but little else except an open mind. When loaded over 22 grains of Accurate Arms' XMP 5744, 20 rounds with the radically resized LBT (at .314" and seated to touch the rifling) shot identically to 20 rounds loaded with the same powder and charge, but Lyman #314299 (at .314" and seated to touch the rifling). Let me repeat there was no toss of accuracy with the reformed slugs. I've repeated this several times in the Argentine Mauser with bullets meant for the 8mm Mauser (Lyman #323471 and a Lee custom run of a 236 gr .. 326" bullet) but always with the same ' satisfying results.
As tor the conventional wisdom and the intentional "mistreatment" of cast bullets as described above, it's not how much you size but how that makes the difference. If you can't or don't concentrically resize cast bullets, accuracy will be affected. The very design and mechanism of lube-sizing machines such as the Lyman #450 and the RCBS Lube-A-Matic don't lend themselves to such radical resizing and will almost certainly distort the bullets because their noses aren't supported. The Lee press mounted sizing dies are strong, easily modified, supporting the bullet completely and sizing them concentrically. As such, they're quite useful when you're looking for a bullet to fit a particular bore, but no such mold 1s offered and you don't want to purchase a custom product While you can't reduce .50 caliber cast bullets to .243" with the Lee dies in a single stroke, you can reduce them, even those which have been heat-treated, by as much as .012" with no ill effects (so long as their lube grooves are first filled and gas checks, if any, applied in a standard sizing operation). @)