Sizing .410 cast bullets to .401

[Muddydogs]

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

I've got a shopping cart with the die body and a few .40* body dies in it as well as a couple expanders in the .40* sizes.

[rockrat]

Suggest you try the size/lube @.410 first, then try and run them thru the .401" push thru first, before you do anything else. If it works, your good to go, if not, then go another route.

[mdi]

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.

In the photo below that link is an explanation of the mold dimensions, via the part/mold number. In the pic the bullet when cast with the same alloy as Lee used is a gas checked, .308" diameter, 230 grain, round nose. But slight variations in the weight and as cast diameter occur often because of alloy, temperatures and method may differ from what Lee uses...

[Muddydogs]

In the photo below that link is an explanation of the mold dimensions, via the part/mold number. In the pic the bullet when cast with the same alloy as Lee used is a gas checked, .308" diameter, 230 grain, round nose. But slight variations in the weight and as cast diameter occur often because of alloy, temperatures and method may differ from what Lee uses...

Not sure if I'm missing something or not. What megasupermagnum posted was band dimensions and I refereed to other mold makers that have a spec sheet showing what the band, lube groove and other aspects of the bullet dimensions are. Are you saying that Lee has a sheet like this and I'm just not finding it?

Now this is a spec sheet though NOE's new site makes the pic hard to see, hope they fix that. https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop...m1-2-cavity-pb

[megasupermagnum]

Not sure if I'm missing something or not. What megasupermagnum posted was band dimensions and I refereed to other mold makers that have a spec sheet showing what the band, lube groove and other aspects of the bullet dimensions are. Are you saying that Lee has a sheet like this and I'm just not finding it?

Now this is a spec sheet though NOE's new site makes the pic hard to see, hope they fix that. https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop...m1-2-cavity-pb

For the most part, Lee molds drop the diameter the number says, most .001" over that, I have a few .002" large. I've only had one out of about 20 drop .001" small. It would be nice to at least see that the front driving band is undersized. What's odd is my 452-252-swc, which for all purposes should be the exact same bullet scaled up to 45 caliber, has a full diameter front driving band.

CNC's are an amazing thing.

[Muddydogs]

All my Lee molds drop at size or .001 over also.

[Muddydogs]

Well I cast up some .410's last night which dropped about .411 with air cooled COWW lead. About 30 minutes after casting I ran a few through the Lyman lube sizer .401 die just to see what happens. Well that much sizing sure produces a nice shinny bullet with large driving bands and not a whole lot of room left in the lube grooves. Didn't find the force needed to run a dry bullet .010 over sized through the lube sizer die was all that much more then sizing normal sized bullets.

About that time my Midway order showed up so I went about getting stuff set up to load the 200 grain XTP's. I'll mess with the lead bullets more once I get the right sized sizer die I need.

[Wayne Smith]

If you have lube in the lube grooves it holds them open. Lube is essentially uncompressible. Lube first and then size to your hearts content - well, maybe not quite! But lube first and you will maintain your lube grooves.

[megasupermagnum]

Yep, lube first, and all should be fine. If this is to be a low-volume bullet, I've had great luck dip lubing. I melt some wax lube in a double boiler, hold a bullet by the nose, and dip the lube grooves into the wax 3 times. I then use an expanded fired case to cut the excess off. It's a pain, but it is way easier than pan lubing. I also drill the primer pocket out to fit some kind of stick through to eject the bullet.

[Muddydogs]

Sounds like it would be a good idea like suggested above to lube size at .410 first then size down to .403. I don't really want to dip or pan lube these as I get enough of that mess with .50 and .54 conicals I cast.

I ordered a .403 lube sizer die from Buffalo Arm's today, supposed to take 3 to 4 weeks since its a made to order item.

I didn't realize that lube in the grooves would help hold them open, thanks for that tidbit.

[mdi]

Not sure if I'm missing something or not. What megasupermagnum posted was band dimensions and I refereed to other mold makers that have a spec sheet showing what the band, lube groove and other aspects of the bullet dimensions are. Are you saying that Lee has a sheet like this and I'm just not finding it?

Now this is a spec sheet though NOE's new site makes the pic hard to see, hope they fix that. https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop...m1-2-cavity-pb

Have you ever thought about contacting Lee?