bullet size

[TREERAT]

do harder bullets tend to shoot better sized smaller than softer bullets, closer to bore size or 1 thou. over vs 2-3 thou. over for soft. is this correct?

[BABore]

do harder bullets tend to shoot better sized smaller than softer bullets, closer to bore size or 1 thou. over vs 2-3 thou. over for soft. is this correct?

The term you are look for is "groove size". For a 358 Winchester, nominal groove size is 0.358. Bore size is 0.350 to 0.352". For best sucess, you really should slug the barrel and know for sure what it is.

It's normal to size a thou or two over groove size. How fast and hard you push the boolit can make the correct size another variable. Same goes for hardness. Slug the bbl, go a thou over, and try the loads with both air cooled and water dropped boolits. If your not happy, size bigger and repeat.