sizing question

[madmike]

I am just beginning into the whole casting thing i have ordered some molds and anxiously waiting for them. My question is i plan to cast for my 40s &w and my 45 acp do i have to size the boolits or can I just cast them put on some lee liquid alox and load. I plan to put my calipers on them I bought lee molds one is the tumble lube one is Truncated Cone they are suppose to be .401 and .452 how much bigger can they be without a problem or being unsafe. thank you for any help you can share.

[454PB]

Welcome to the forum!!!!

If the cast boolits are not too big to allow chambering, you would be alright to load them without sizing. You really need to slug the barrels on your pistols.

[black44hawk]

You will likely get this answer more than you would like: load some up and shoot them, note the results, adapt.

Your setup sounds good. I am sure you are aware of Lee tumble lube mold designs, right? they are designed to be lubed and loaded without sizing.

[truckmsl]

If the bullet is too big, you'll have trouble chambering it.

I have loaded .401 and .358 Lee tumble lube bullets both as-cast, and sized. I pretty much size both now for consistency and roundness. Try it both ways and see what works best for your guns. I use a Lee sizer for the tumble lube bullets and it works fine, but my moulds throw bullets close to nominal size, so I'm not sizing down much.

[Pavomesa]

The answer is it depends on the diameter your mold casts. If they are close enough, they will work fine. If they are too large, you're going to have chambering issues. Too small and the case may not grip.

It's best to size your bullets but not always a necessity. Plus with sizing, you'll get better lubrication on your bullets.

Try what you've gotten and see how it works but start planning now to get you a lube sizer in the future and you'll be a happy camper.

[madmike]

So they should be ok if they chamber. I think i understand how to slug the barrel dont you just push the boolit through the barrel and mic them how many thousands should it be bigger or does it just depend on my gun. the other die I bought is not the tumble lube it is just the Truncated Cone do the same rules apply thanks again for all the help

[mooman76]

Yes they should work and the bullet needs to be slightly larger than your bore includig rifling to be accurat or you won't get a good ingraving. Whe you get ready to load, load one bullet and chamber it before making a bunch and finding out they don't work.