New guy with a question about sizing

[phil2007]

Hello,
I have been visiting this site for a few weeks and just started casting.I have a Lee 2cavity mould C358158.I have cast twice with it and I think I have had good results.But I think the bullets are too big.When I seat the bullets the seating die shaves lead.About a third of the cartridges don't chamber easily in the cylinder(S&W model 10).Also I can't push the bullet through the cylinder throats with a pencil.I have a few commercial cast bullets that will.Anyway,the bullets are hard to load because of the lead shaving in the seating die.The instruction book says not to shoot them if they don't chamber easily.so I guess I need a sizing die.I was thinking of a Lee sizer in 358 but I thought a while back I read here where someone on the board makes them and sells them.Does anyone know who does that?Also if I can chamber the bullets by pushing them in the cylinder will it hurt the gun to shoot them?Any help would be appreciated.Thanks,Phil

[MT Gianni]

Welcome here. First you need to know what you size them to. If you have access to a micrometer, and you should, you can push lightly lubed oval sinkers through your cylinders and bore to determine what size you need to resize your boolets to. Are you lubing with lee liquid alox [LLA] now? If, for example, your cylinder throats are .3585 and your bore is .3580 you are in ok shape as you can size to 359 and have the cylinders size the bullet and the bore resize it. If the bore is bigger than the throats accuracy is a lot harder to come by. You also need more flare on your bullet seating die. Lyman makes an "M" die, RCBS makes one as does Lee and a tapered punch or needle nose pliers can bell the case mouth just enough to prevent lead shaving while you seat.
Hang in there and enjoy the path you are headed on. Gianni.

[phil2007]

Gianni,
Thanks for the quick reply.I am using a lyman die set and I guess it's the M die expanding die.It has the 2 step expander.I think the bullet is too big for the seating die because it even shaves lead on the band above the crimp groove.I think the die is shaving lead(not the case}.In the Lee sizers I found on the net it looked like they just went up to 358 so I just thought thats what I needed.I will see if I can find someone with a micrometer next week and chek my chamber throats.I have a few commercially cast bullets and I can push them through my cylinder bores with moderate pressure with a pencil.I guess it would work to measure one of those?I don/t have any problem loading those with my dies.

[9.3X62AL]

It would be interesting to find out how wide your castings are. If the seating die is shaving lead--and this is a possibility with fat boolits--sizing may be the route to success. My own Lee C358-158 throws them at about .360", and this will just fit in the bullet alignment sleeve in my RCBS seater die. Boolits at .361" will drag a bit, and at .363" things stop right up.

It is VERY tough to fit boolits to a firearm without the services of a good micrometer. Harbor Freight is your friend.

[wiljen]

I suspect that the sizing die that comes in the dies set is not the M die. It (the M die) is a specialty die that is used specifically to flare the case mouth when using cast bullets. I haven't seen lyman package it in standard die sets. I have the Lee Universal Expander die that was about $12 at midway and use it for all my cast loads. It flares the neck enough that I can load a bullet a few thousandths over-sized without shaving lead. I'd get a Lee Universal expander or a lyman M die and try that before I tried sizing the bullets, it may just be that the flaring die in the standard set doesn't open the mouth up enough to prevent shaving the bullets during seating.

Wiljen

[SharpsShooter]

Also if I can chamber the bullets by pushing them in the cylinder will it hurt the gun to shoot them?Any help would be appreciated.Thanks,Phil

If you force them in the chamber, you could encounter problems. You need a bit of space to allow the case mouth top expand and release the bullet when fired. It is possible to create an elevated pressure situation

SS

[Buckshot]

............phil2007, welcome to the board! Do as Mt Gianni suggested and force a fishing sinker (usually pure lead) through the chamber throat and then measure them with at least a dial caliper. You want to size them to that, or a thousandth over.

Your loaded cartridges should slide easily into the chambers ( for the reason SharpsShooter suggested). You should also slug the barrel is possible. I think the S&W M10 has 5 groove rifling but you can get close in measureing the grooves. Ideally, the chamber mouths should be .001" or a bit more then the grooves in the barrel.

..............Buckshot

[Bass Ackward]

Phil,

Looks like, from reading your stuff, you are analyzing. Good.

I have had Lyman dies that are very rough in the seating area. I suppose there could be a burr up there which could be felt with a patch on a close fitting rod or dowel. The burrs or sharp edge could actually be leading into the seating portion itself which should have a slight taper to allow an unaligned bullet sitting on top of the case to guide up into that area. Lead would certainly be shaved if that is the problem.

I had to work on one set myself and I did it with a wooden dowel and 320 grit paper by hand. Took less than 5 minutes if this actually IS the problem. You can even turn a little taper on the wooden dowel too that is larger than that seater portion but still fits in the die. That will knock off the sharp edge entering that area.

[phil2007]

Thanks everyone for the replys and advice.
I just got back from a friends house where we measured a couple of the bullets with his dial caliper.The best we could tell they measured .363 measuring the band.When we measured them down the length of the bullet we got .365.
I still have to get some egg sinkers and measure the groove and throat diameters of my gun .I'll try to get that tomorrow.Thanks again for the help,Phil