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gknarf
12-22-2013, 04:22 PM
If my cast bullets will pass thru the throats of my SRH cylinders, do they need to be sized...or can I just load em up and shoot em?

gray wolf
12-22-2013, 05:24 PM
Simple answer is yes you can. Is it the best approach ? probably not.
To avoid leading and many times for the best accuracy we should know the groove diameter of the barrel. This is done by slugging the bore with a SOFT lead slug or a dead soft fishing type Egg sinker. Your SRH cylinder throats are probably close to .432
but you will only know that from doing the above slugging.
Our cast lead bullets should be .001 to .002 over the barreled slug diameter. Ideally the cylinder throats should be larger than the slugged barrel sample. So we slug the throats also. I shoot cast WW alloy in my SRH and size them to be just a snug fit in the cylinder throats. They are .4318 so I size to .432 this gives a snug push through fit and my accuracy is very good and I get no leading. If your barrel slugs at .429 you could get away with .430 bullets, a lot depends on the hardness of the bullet and the powder type and charge as to the bullets bumping up a little to fill the bore.
It's best to know the dimensions of your pistol and act accordingly for proper bullet fit.

462
12-22-2013, 06:27 PM
As you asked -- load and shoot them. Only your gun and target will give you the answer.

For what it's worth, my revolvers lead if the boolit is less than .002" over their cylinder throat diameters.

427smith
12-22-2013, 08:53 PM
I've cast and shot over 100,000 rounds in the last 45 years and GRAY WOLF is right. I shoot .431 dia in 8 different revolvers., bores vary from .429 to .431. My advice is, shoot some targets. If your gun shoots 4 or 5 inch groups @ 25 yards usually the boolit is to small and or the throats are to small. All problems are fixable. good luck