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Thread: Sizing .410 cast bullets to .401

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Sizing .410 cast bullets to .401

    I was wondering if sizing the Lee 410 195 swc bullet down to .401 diameter would be to much sizing? Looking at shooting it out of a 10mm XDm as a bear load.

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master
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    That much reduction would probably eliminate or greatly reduce the lube grooves. You may want to look for an alternate lube, like powder coating or Alox.
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  3. #3
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    Plenty of people have certainly done it. My mold casts .410", and .405" on the front band, so it's not sizing that much.

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    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    Plenty of people have certainly done it. My mold casts .410", and .405" on the front band, so it's not sizing that much.
    Thanks for the numbers, to bad Lee doesn't have a data sheet with there mold specs like other makers do, or at least I don't know of one. I'm going to give it a go and see how it works.

  5. #5
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    Definitely lube before sizing, whether it's wax, alox, or powder coat. Consider a .405" sizer as an intermediate step. A push through sizer works better than a Lyman style.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muddydogs View Post
    Thanks for the numbers, to bad Lee doesn't have a data sheet with there mold specs like other makers do, or at least I don't know of one. I'm going to give it a go and see how it works.
    This might help; https://leeprecision.com/files/instr...lletLength.pdf
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    Last edited by mdi; 02-05-2020 at 12:51 PM.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    Definitely lube before sizing, whether it's wax, alox, or powder coat. Consider a .405" sizer as an intermediate step. A push through sizer works better than a Lyman style.
    I'll try running them through to Lyman sizer die first, if that doesn't work then I'll try sizing them through the Lee 401 push through before lubing in the sizer. If all else fails then I will pick up a 405 push through, might just have to get me a NOE die then. Hope I don't have to deal with a push through die and the 45/45/10 lube but if I do then so be it.
    I've stayed away from powder coating so far.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by mdi View Post
    Thanks for the link. While it has some interesting numbers I guess I never needed to know the distance from parts of a bullet to it's nose.

  9. #9
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    Before I got my molds for it, I resized quite a few 41 magnum bullets to .403 for use in my 401 Powermag. These are a 410459 220 SWC, a 230 grain FP and a 280 grain LBT WLNGC. All sized with a Lee push through .403 die. Even though the 280 grain looks like the crimp groove is almost gone, there was enough left to get a good crimp. I had no bullet jump with it and it shot very well in the 401. I ended up having LBT make a 240 grain WLN for my 401. If you are using a taper crimp in the 10mm you won't need to worry about a crimp groove. Sizing to .401 shouldn't be a problem.

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  10. #10
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    Tip !
    When sizing down a boolit more than .002" :
    Don't use a super hard alloy .
    Don't water drop harden and then try to size.
    Size as soon as possible ...the same day or the next day... boolits begin to age harden soon after casting .

    Soft boolits are much easier to size down than Hard boolits ...much easier !
    Sizing to an intermediate size is also helpful than going down .009" all in one fell swoop .
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by gwpercle View Post
    Tip !
    When sizing down a boolit more than .002" :
    Don't use a super hard alloy .
    Don't water drop harden and then try to size.
    Size as soon as possible ...the same day or the next day... boolits begin to age harden soon after casting .

    Soft boolits are much easier to size down than Hard boolits ...much easier !
    Sizing to an intermediate size is also helpful than going down .009" all in one fell swoop .
    Gary
    Ya well unfortunately I'm looking for hard bullets and was planning on water dropping COWW lead. Guess we will see how it goes. Guess I should pick up a NOE .403 or .404 die and bushing.
    Last edited by Muddydogs; 02-05-2020 at 04:42 PM.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by mart View Post
    Before I got my molds for it, I resized quite a few 41 magnum bullets to .403 for use in my 401 Powermag. These are a 410459 220 SWC, a 230 grain FP and a 280 grain LBT WLNGC. All sized with a Lee push through .403 die. Even though the 280 grain looks like the crimp groove is almost gone, there was enough left to get a good crimp. I had no bullet jump with it and it shot very well in the 401. I ended up having LBT make a 240 grain WLN for my 401. If you are using a taper crimp in the 10mm you won't need to worry about a crimp groove. Sizing to .401 shouldn't be a problem.

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    I'm going to taper crimp.

    Tonight I'm going to slug the bore to make sure its .401 though I do get some leading in my .40 and would really like to shoot .402 bullets but dang a .402 lube sizer die is kind of expensive as lube sizer dies go.

  13. #13
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    Don't try and fix problems before they happen. I do this too often myself. Chances are things will work out fine. It is quite easy to lap a sizer out .001" with nothing but emery cloth and a wood dowel. A hand drill makes things easier too. You can water drop bullets. Soft bullets are easier to size, but quenched bullets do not immediately harden. Size them the same day, and you will be ok. I regularly size down .005", which is no big deal. Sizing down .008"-.009" is not going to be that much more difficult.

    I would lube before you size down heavily though. There are two reasons for this. One, it lubes the die, which makes things much easier. And two, it keeps the lube grooves from collapsing. You can try sizing without lube in the grooves, but I would still use something like case sizing wax to lube the bullet.

  14. #14
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    Do you have a 0.410 lubesizer die? You should size and lube to 0.410 before sizing smaller. The presence of the lube will help retain the lube grooves, plus the lube will ease the friction of sizing.

    I would size and lube to 0.410, size to .405 or 0.406, then final size to 0.401 or 0.402.

    0.004 or 0.005" is a lot for a Lyman sizer, especially with a hard bullet. I would size immediately or at least same day if possible.

    It would be another step, but 0.002-0.003" is a doable sizing step, maybe even for a lyman.

  15. #15
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    I have sized 0.412" bullets to 0.401" in 2 steps. I did not lube as these were for a sabot muzzleloader load. They were relatively soft, range lead, air cooled. It nearly wiped the lube grooves out. If looking to shoot as a lubed bullet, I doubt there would have been enough lube.

  16. #16
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    Those 280 grain bullets were a hard bullet (16 BHN) and many years old. They sized with not a lot of difficulty from .412 to .403 with a Rockchucker press. I did use a little Hornady Unique lube. Great lube and I like it better than Imperial.
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  17. #17
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    It can be sized even with hard alloy. I stick to the .002 each step rule for boolits over .30cal. It would be best to lube for sizing. You may have a difficult time getting PC to stick with all the lube pressed in. There won’t be much grease grove left, so Alox would be the best way to go.

  18. #18
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    Slugged the pistol barrel and I do believe its .401 which kind of puts a spin on things as I will need a bigger die then the .401's I have in stock but less bullet sizing over all.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muddydogs View Post
    Slugged the pistol barrel and I do believe its .401 which kind of puts a spin on things as I will need a bigger die then the .401's I have in stock but less bullet sizing over all.
    .402" is a regular size that many use in 10mm. I wouldn't discount .403" either. You can buy them right from Buffaloarms, or you can lap your .401".

  20. #20
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    Think about getting the setup NOE sells. After you buy the original die, you can buy all sizes if inserts inexpensively. They work great for me and others. Here’s a link.

    http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.p...v4ev4j1lqs1kb0

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