What sizers should I acquire?

[Dunross]

I'm putting my bullet casting outfit together and need to decide what sizers I should pick up beyond what I already have.

What I presently have are Lee push-through dies in .311 and .314 and NOE sizing bushings in .314, .359, .430, and .452.

What I will be casting for are an SP101 and Henry BBS in .327 Fed Mag which I'm given to understand runs around .313/.314 in throat diameter.

I also have a couple of .32acp autos which I have read needs about .312.

In the .38/.357 area I have a Marlin 1894 with MicroGroove rifling which I believe wants .359 or .360 for best cast fit, plus Ruger and S&W revolvers. I'm hoping I can make them all happy with .359?

For .30 cal rifles there is a .30-30 Marlin with Ballard rifling, a couple of .308s, and an 03A3 in .30-06 so .309 or .310?

For .44 I have a GP100 in .44 Special so .429/.430?

and for .45 I have a 1911A1 and an M45 Firestar which both seem to like the same size so .452 for them?

NOE has some of the missing sizers back in stock so I want to get an order in before they run out again. Now if they would just get their sizing body dies back in stock!

Thanks for your advice.

[mdi]

Measure your guns to find the diameter of bullet needed..

[metricmonkeywrench]

Slugging the bore and getting the appropriate one is the norm however the goal for gathering the collection for multiple guns, would be to have -1 from nominal and +1 or more. So for a .38 you would want a .356 .357(Nominal), and 358. Some guns with documented histories may want something more, for instance my Marlin 30-30 Microgroove (.308 cal) does better with .311 or .312 sized bullets instead of the +1 .309 (.308 bore) i use in my 30-06.

[Jniedbalski]

My thirty cal rifles all like .311 sized bullets. My beretta 32 acp likes .311 also

[ryanmattes]

What he said. Since you don't know what each gun likes or what you may need in the future, it's best to set up with +/- .001 from nominal. And some calibers overlap, so if you load both 9mm and .38/.357, and have different brands of 9mm and both older and newer revolvers, you might want to look at .3555-.3590 just to cover all the potential possibilities.

The extra sizes also come in handy for stepping down sizes if you want to do stuff like use a .38 mold that drops large to.load for a tight 9mm. Sizing down more than 2-3 thou at a time will tear up the driving bands and leave fins, but in steps you can get good results.

Sizing dies are cheap, better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.

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[Mk42gunner]

Actually, you can probably make what you have work, unless you just want new toys (read tools).

I went a long time lubing my .30 cal rifles in a .313" H&I die then running them trough a Lee .311" before I had the extra cash to get a .311" H&I die. I have never seen the need for smaller dies for my rifles.

Robert

[Conditor22]

I know this doesn't help BUT---measuring the slugged diameter will only give you a starting place, different guns like different sizes --- slugged diameter to .003 over; also depending on velocity, powder speed, boolit weight, alloy and if you have GC or PC

[44magLeo]

On some rifles the throat area is what you need to match. On my marlin 1894 the throat is very generous. Needs .433 or a it more even though it slugs at .430.
Your Marlins my be the same.
Bolt guns seem to have closer throats, so sizing to bore diameter +.001 or .002 over will probably work fine.
I might suggest taking a fire case from each gun and measuring the ID of the neck and size .001 less than that. This should be small enoug to chamber easily. Just have to check seating depth for what ever touchs the rifling/lead is correct.
With boolits this size, even if larger than bore size work well because the boolits are sift enough to size themselves for a perfect fit.
With the neck of the case just a .001 or .002 less than the chamber at the same place will help center the boolit in the barrel. This may improve accuracy.
It seems to work well in my rifles. One being aan 1891 Mosin Nagasnt in 7.62x54R, another a bubbaed Mexican Mauserin 7x57.
Leo

[mdi]

My "standards" are; revolver bullets are sized to the same diameter as the cylinder throats. For semi-auto pistols and rifle (bottle necked) I go a starting point of .002" over groove diameter, larger if necessary but still chambering. Various "formula" work for some people, and this method for determining diameter is a good starting point for ever gun I own. K.I.S.S....

I like reloading and casting so a little more time spent with a specific task is good with me. I do size differently for guns of the same caliber, no big deal. I have 4, 9mm pistols that use 2 different diameter cast bullets (.357" and .359"). I have 5, 44 Magnum guns that I use two and sometimes 3 different diameters (.431", .432" and .433"+). And yes, I have several Lee push through sizing die with about half that I have customized.