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Thread: Sizing Purchased Red Painted Boolets?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    DonMountain's Avatar
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    Sizing Purchased Red Painted Boolets?

    I bought a bunch of ACME 78 grain cast lead round nosed bullets sized 0.313" for a 32 AUTO pistol. When I seated and crimped them they didn't fit in the chamber of the pistol as they are too large in diameter by about 0.002". So, I resized the already sized and lubricated bullets with a 0.310" die, resulting in a final size of 0.311", which loaded, crimped and just fit in the chamber, and shoot very well. Well along with the 100 bare lubricated bullets I bought a 500 count box of the same bullet coated with a red paint of some sort. And they have the same problem not fitting in the pistol. My question is, can I resize them like I did with the bare lead lubricated bullets, and if I do should I also apply lubricant in the groove?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    Those are powder coated bullets and yes you can size them like the other bullets.most of use here do

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  3. #3
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    If they're powder or HiTek coated and cured properly the coating should stay on if you resize them.

    Because these coatings lubricate and prevent leading, there's no need to fill the grooves with traditional lube, but for sizing a little temporary lube on the bearing surfaces helps to reduce the effort needed.

  4. #4
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    And.............. if sizing damages the coating then shooting them will not be a good idea anyway. anything a sizer damages will likely get deposited in the barrel and not be fun to clean out.
    Hick: Iron sights!

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hick View Post
    And.............. if sizing damages the coating then shooting them will not be a good idea anyway. anything a sizer damages will likely get deposited in the barrel and not be fun to clean out.
    Ok, well thats good to know. Since I don't have any pistols that take 0.313" bullets, I'll just go ahead and throw the box of them away since there are only 500 of them.

  6. #6
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    Try resizing first. What do have to lose. You might shoot a few to see if they actually leave deposits like Hick says. I have not had that problem with the few hundred that I have shot thru my 41 mag where the powder coating has been damaged when sizing. Then if that doesn't work melt them and make new ones or sell the rest of them here.
    Steve,

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  7. #7
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    I purchased some coated bullets that were oversize for my purposes. I resized them with no damage to the coating and they shot well. I'd surely try resizing them before I threw them away.
    Chuck

  8. #8
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    Did you plunk test them? Did you determine if the diameter is the problem or perhaps OAL? If the coating is not damaged by sizing, just shoot them...
    My Anchor is holding fast!

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by mdi View Post
    Did you plunk test them? Did you determine if the diameter is the problem or perhaps OAL? If the coating is not damaged by sizing, just shoot them...
    The uncoated ACME 78 grain cast bullets also measured 0.313" in diameter and did not fit in the chamber until I sized them all down in a 0.310" die in my LAM-II. Then the loaded rounds "plunk tested" just fine. But with no side play at all in the chamber. And they shot very well then. So I measured the powder coated bullets that obviously had come out of the same mold and they also measured 0.313" or a little more. I just didn't want to go through the trouble of loading a few just to see if they fit the chamber. Knowing the problem I had with the uncoated bullets. I had also adjusted the bullet seating depth so they just fit in the chamber, as the foreign made gun has an abrupt start of the rifling immediately in front of the chamber.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Minerat View Post
    Try resizing first. What do have to lose. You might shoot a few to see if they actually leave deposits like Hick says. I have not had that problem with the few hundred that I have shot thru my 41 mag where the powder coating has been damaged when sizing. Then if that doesn't work melt them and make new ones or sell the rest of them here.
    I was trying to avoid purchasing a mold to cast 78 grain, 30 caliber bullets since they are too small to see, right? So thats why I purchased these. I have purchased jacketed bullets for the gun that measure 0.311" in diameter and they load and shoot just fine. I prefer casting those 500 grain bullets for my 45-70 since they are big enough to handle easily. Even those 78 grain bullets, when I drop one on the floor I can never find it again.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
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