resize bullets from lee molds

[rp85]

hello;

tried to search this question but the "search" feature would not work.

noticed most, if not all, bullets from my lee 9mm mold and 357 mold are the corrrect diameter. if going to tumble lube in the first place, do many folks simply skip the sizing of the bullets step???

thanks for any input

rp

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

To me it seems the boolit is never the exact right size after I slugged my barrel (and cylinder throats, if the case may be).
So I size most of my boolits.
But a rare few are the correct size,
then I'll tumble lube those once or twice without sizing.
I have one Lee 45 TLTC boolit mold that drops at .4535 to .4540
and is just perfect for my Ruger BH in 45 colt.
that's the only one I can think of right now.
Jon

[mdi]

Yes, many don't size. One of my molds drops .44 caliber boolits right at .431" which is just right for my S&W 629 with .431" throats. Non T/L design but I alox or 45-45-10 them and they work just fine...

[mark718]

I have two 125gr LRN 6-cavity Lee molds. I use them for USPSA pistol shooting, so I go through over 1,500 rounds of 9mm per month. I started out sizing everything with a push-through sizer but have since quit doing that... especially for my practice ammo. I just found it wasn't worth the time.

Here's a result from my last accuracy practice session:
Ammo:
125gr LRN - Lee mold
4.2gr WSF
1.095" OAL
Crimped & Seated in one step... so there was some scraping of the lead.
Tumble Lubed with JPW/Alox mix.

With the above ammo, I was able to shoot a 3" group, rested at 25 yards... that's plenty accurate for my purposes.

For my match ammo, I'll size everything and seat / crimp separately. But honestly, I couldn't tell you of any difference in performance.

[prs]

For the most part, lead boolits are readily sized by the gun so long as the boolits are not too large to fit the brass or chamber.

prs

[Chihuahua Floyd]

I have 1 44 Mag Marlin that is picky about oversized bullets. If it chambeers the least bit hard, the brass will not extract.
And I have shot 45ACP which will not chamber slightly large rounds.
So I size everything that goes into a case.
CF

[beex215]

i never sized any of my bollits and they shoot pretty well. i believe my 9mm mold drops around .358 and my 45 mold drops at 458. those work good enough.

[williamwaco]

If you measure 100 of them, you will find five or six that are significantly larger than the rest. They are fine to shoot but they will probably cause your 9mm to jam. In your .357 you will just not be able to seat them in the chamber.

[ScottJ]

My most successful cast mold to date is a Lee 358-140-SWC. It drops them .3585 to .359.

I pan lube them with NRA formula and load over 8.5gr Accurate No. 5 yielding about 1100fps out of a 4" barrel.

I've shot them by the hundreds out of my model 66 and 28 and never have to scrub lead out of the barrel.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Oh, I forgot to mention,
one good reason for sizing is uniform seatablity, uniform neck tension.
if your mold is near the correct size,
and you cast at a uniform rate, sizes should be fairly consistant.
if you have varying consistancy in sizes,
that's a great reason to size them.
Jon

[HammerMTB]

I don't care to size, so if I can avoid it, I do. Several of my Lee molds cast a boolit that needs no further sizing. All work fine that way. I have found that I need to lube twice with 45/45/10. Once was not enough.

[RobS]

I use to never size plinkers for my 45 auto when I used the Lee TL 452-230-TC design. It worked well but I did have a few that would drop larger and hang up now and then again when cycling. If a person was only going to use the loads for practice or plinking then it is probably not a problem. For competition, hunting, or defense I would size them all for uniformity.

[armoredman]

I size every boolit, no matter what mold it comes from. Just cast my first from a great Lyman 356402...they all dropped clean and clear at .362. Needed extra lube for sizing.

[res45]

I guess I'm blessed I only size two bullets down about .001" out of ten different ones I cast,mainly because they shoot better in those guns sized. The pistol and rifle I originally bought those two molds for shoot them just fine as is.

[Sonnypie]

Right now I only cast and shoot two calibers, .452 ACP and .308 Cal in my 30-06.
I size both and for good reason, consistency.
And by sizing, some slide through easily, and occasionally some take more oomph.
But when I've sized each and every one, they all are consistent.
And I can expect each one to fire the same, without pressure inconsistencies because #1 shoots like it should, #2 is a tad fatter and takes a smidgen more pressure to get it going down the bore, #3 is a tight one and takes a bit more pressure, #4 slides easy, #5....
You get the picture?

If I am going to choose a certain primer, a certain powder, a certain charge, make sure my cases are as right as I can, etc. etc. etc.
...why would I want to just put a lump of lead I don't really know the size of on all that care and consideration?

So I take the time to run every one through a sizing operation.

...Then I miss anyway. :wink: :lol:

[mpmarty]

I don't see any sense in purposely deforming a boolit by sizing it. If it casts as I want and fits the chamber it gets used as is. No sizing required.

[armoredman]

That's it - none of the molds I use has ever dropped a boolit as described. Case in point, this is a freshly sized boolit from a Lyman 356402 mold.


http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/casting%20stuff/124grainLymanConical.jpg

It dropped at .362, a TAD thick for 9mm, so I sized it to .356.

[Ben]

Occasionally you'll own a mold that drops a perfectly ( well.....very close to perfect ) round bullet that is " on the money " , as to diameter that you need. This is fairly rare however.

More often than not, the bullet will be slightly out of round or will be over sized or even worse under sized.

Ben

[williamwaco]

I don't see any sense in purposely deforming a boolit by sizing it. If it casts as I want and fits the chamber it gets used as is. No sizing required.



Marty, I have owned many (40 to 50) molds over the years, mostly Lyman, and Lee. A couple of SAECOs. (I have never owned a mold by any of the custom makers you see in the group purchases on this board. I am sure they are much better than my experience indicates.)

Of all the molds I have ever owned, only two would cast round bullets. They were an H&G and a Ballisti-Cast.They both cast bullets that were round within about .0003"

The mass market molds do good to cast round within .0015 to .0020. Variations in roundness of up to .003 are not unheard of.

I believe that "deforming" a bullet from an oval to a circular shape is probably a good thing to do. In practice, I size every single bullet I fire, even 9mm and .38 special plinkers. That adds up to many thousand per year.

I agree however that it is not necessary to just load plinking ammo.