what sizer do you use for 38 sp?

[Charlie Horse]

The throats on my Taurus measure .357-.358. I ordered a .358 die for my lubrisizer.
Sound right? What size do you use?

[9.3X62AL]

That would be my selection. My Colt OMT gets .358", the S&W and Ruger will handle .359" and are so fed. I would only add that you size boolits in your die and sizer to confirm that the nominal diameter of the die corresponds to the sizing results realized by its use. A few dies produce results that might vary from their promised diameter.

[Charlie Horse]

I figure I could polish out the .358 die a thousandth or so if I had to.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I usually run my boolits about 0.002" larger than throat diameter. For some boolits I don't size at all. I have great results with 358091's dropping at .360" and fired w/o sizing. I lube them by smearing the lube on my palms and rubbing them back and forth with about a half dozen boolits between. Takes no time to lube a couple hundred. Granted they are a little messy when it comes to seating them, but overall its fast.

Ideally you need your boolits bigger than the throats, and throats bigger than bore. I think 0.001" at each step is very minimal and 0.002" would be preferable. I've never experienced or heard of problems with too large boolits.

[Treeman]

I occasionally size to .359. Mostly I shoot as cast. Depending on the mould and alloy that ranges from .357 to .361. Since they will all chamber in my guns it works out just dandy. (Throats on my revolvers are .3575 and .358)

[Four Fingers of Death]

My 586 cylinders mike at 357, the barrel at 3565. I used to size to 357, but now mosty just shoot as cast with LLA. I must go through this again and really tie down the most accurate system.

[USARO4]

What bullet are you using? I use as cast with the Lee TL designs, they fall out of the mould at .359. Tumble lube with LLA or JPW and shoot away. Quick, cheap and easy.

[Bret4207]

As cast if possilbe, that is if they'll chamber. Have .357,8,9 and .360 sizer dies. Haven't used anything smaller than .359 yet. Why mess with sucess?

[Charlie Horse]

I am trying to use the Lee TL WC as cast. They measure 360-1 out of my mold. They are just a bit too large for my guns to shoot as-cast.

[trickyasafox]

do you guys run these in 9mm too? i have been sizing to 357 for 9mm and wondered if you guys shot as cast in those as well?

[mooman76]

I shoot all pistol as cast any more and have not had a problem!

[9.3X62AL]

To call the process what it REALLY is, the "sizing" is a lot more about having a convenient way to fill lube grooves than getting the boolit at a given diameter in many cases. The Colt OMT won't abide a boolit fatter than .358", so that sizing regimen IS platform-specific........but the S&W and Ruger perk right along with the .359" boolits.

The "fatter is better" bit has its limits, though--the neck expander in the 38 die set migbt not open the case mouth to the "ideal" .002" under boolit diameter you need, and some unintended sizing could be occurring as boolits are seated in those cases. And them come the clearance issues within the chamber, and how they might differ between makes of brass. About the time it occurs to me that brass spring-back must be accounted for, I go to the fridge--grab a beer--and find a baseball game on one of the sports channels.

You can make yerself NUTS chasing these thousandths all over the loading bench. FWIW, I have all sizes from .355" through .359", then .361"--.363"--.365"--and .367".

[Bass Ackward]

To call the process what it REALLY is, the "sizing" is a lot more about having a convenient way to fill lube grooves than getting the boolit at a given diameter in many cases. The Colt OMT won't abide a boolit fatter than .358", so that sizing regimen IS platform-specific........but the S&W and Ruger perk right along with the .359" boolits.


Al,

Your lucky. Often sizing for me means the difference between accepting 2" or sub 1" groups at 25 yards.

.0005 can make a big difference on some designs. In fact, when I change mixes and use the same sizer, my improved performance, falsely believed to be from the change in hardness, is more a result of a diameter change resulting from the same sizer use, one way or the other. Because when I go back to the other mix whether harder or softer, and change sizers to get the "correct" size, performance is roughly the same.

So is it worth it to take time to size? I ain't goinna lie to ya, hell yes I do it. Once you get it right, it's just a step.

My experience has noticed some general sizing trends across several calibers and gun brands / types for what it's worth.

1. The slower the powder, the larger the bullet diameter is acceptable. And flip it, the faster the powder, the smaller I need to size.

2. The higher the pressure I run the smaller the diameter works better. Plus, the slower I go, the larger diameter is acceptable.

3. The harder the bullet, the smaller the size and the opposite tends to run true, the softer the bullet, the larger I can go.

4. The wider or stronger the front or first band is on a design, the closer to bore I need to size and visa versa, the weaker that front band, the larger I need to go.

5. The larger in bore diameter I go, the less sensitive sizing becomes.

Some of this appears logical especially when analyzed in general but will drive you nuts on specific situations.

Bore condition, lube quality and quantity appears to be the wild cards that makes or breaks the logic. And this does tend to make sense to me.

So I just size and try and analyze after the professor has spoken.

[Four Fingers of Death]

What bullet are you using? I use as cast with the Lee TL designs, they fall out of the mould at .359. Tumble lube with LLA or JPW and shoot away. Quick, cheap and easy.

I use an RCBS 158Gn Keith SWC, a Lyman BNWC and several CBE moulds, both traditonal lube groove and Lee LLA multi groove look alikes. They all seem to work ok.

I have picked up an old Ideal HBWC mould, I'm keen to try this one out. :D

[robertbank]

I have cast and shot thousands of 9MM sized to .357. I have found this to be the best size diameter for my 9MM guns which include:
CZ85
Tanfoglio Model "L"
STI Trojan
3 Hi-Powers

With the .38spl/.357Mag I size to .358. Seems to work OK. My K 38 shoots better than I can so who is to say a different diameter would work better.:mrgreen:

Take Care

Bob

[9.3X62AL]

Good points, Bass--but I would need to be able to shoot a lot better than I do to exploit the advantages your regimen enables.

[USARO4]

Trickyasafox, I size my Lee TL's to .356 when loading for a 9mm or .380. I do that just so they will chamber well and not bulge the case when I seat the bullets. I also use a fairly soft alloy of BHN10 so they will obturate when fired.

[Joel Chavez]

I use a Lyman 45 with a Lyman .358" sizer. It works great with my M64.:castmine:

[Charlie Horse]

After doing some research, I have found that only my Taurus has problems with unsized boolits. The chambers seem to be tight. Maybe that's what contributes to it's accuracy.
My S&W model 15 and my H&R 357 Handi-gun both chamber the unsized Lee 148g TL WC's without a hitch.

[Charlie Horse]

Tonight, I sized and loaded some of these wc's to .358". The loading process went much more smoothly and they fit the Taurus much better. Now I'm anxious to see how they shoot.