.25 ACP boolit issues

[texassako]

Or rather Ranchdog's mold sale got me in trouble deciding to reload these itty bitty boolits. It casts a great looking boolit that drops at .256", and quick with the TL design and 6 cavities. I picked up my new to me Llama I wanted to load for and it slugged at .244"/.250" :groner: . Dummy rounds barely chamber with the boolit jamming into the rifling. I was hoping it would make for affordable mousegun shooting, but I guess I will dig out the Raven to run them through. Any affordable .25 ACP molds out there that drop a .251" boolit?

[Piedmont]

Couldn't you just get a smaller sizer? Or are you afraid the lube grooves will be wiped off?

[I'll Make Mine]

Sizing .005 off that boolit should still leave plenty of lube groove, especially if you pan lube before sizing. That'd be the sensible way to go, IMO, since you'll need the larger boolits for the Raven.

[texassako]

Couldn't you just get a smaller sizer? Or are you afraid the lube grooves will be wiped off?

Ranchdog's site says it can't be sized down that small plus I don't think it would help. The rifling lands would still be running into the boolit before it got to the case rim. The big meplat makes the nose of the bullet to fat for this gun.

[Poygan]

I tried sizing the RD down to .252 but that pretty well wiped out the lube grooves and leading resulted. I loaded the next batch tumble lubed and experienced no leading. This worked in a Beretta but they may not chamber for you.

[smkummer]

Try searching for Lyman's 252435. Works unsized in my Colt 1908 vest pocket.

[35remington]

The rifling lands running into the bullet is an overall length issue, not a diameter issue, assuming the diameter is .251 or .252.

Shorten the amount the bullet sticks out of the case until it chambers. After you size it to the right diameter.

[I'll Make Mine]

I tried sizing the RD down to .252 but that pretty well wiped out the lube grooves and leading resulted.

Pan lube before you size, and the incompressible lube in the grooves will keep them from disappearing.

[texassako]

Thanks for all the input. I will get a sizer to get them smaller in diameter and try seating them a bit deeper. They are already seated at the the top groove at .850" and I am not sure how much shorter they can go without bulging cases or reducing the case capacity.

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

I too have that mold in my inventory and believe it or not, I do sell some of them from time to time. I cast it from range lead, tumble lube with no sizing. Drops at just under .258", may come out smaller with harder alloy.

Several clients have had chambering problems with that bullet. I believe it is due to the wide variation in 25 ACP chambers and barrels. One client even told me about taking a Lee push thru in .243" and using a 1/4" drill to "open it up". He says it works. I cannot say because I havent tried it and have no reason to.

YMMV

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[texassako]

I too have that mold in my inventory and believe it or not, I do sell some of them from time to time. I cast it from range lead, tumble lube with no sizing. Drops at just under .258", may come out smaller with harder alloy.

Several clients have had chambering problems with that bullet. I believe it is due to the wide variation in 25 ACP chambers and barrels. One client even told me about taking a Lee push thru in .243" and using a 1/4" drill to "open it up". He says it works. I cannot say because I havent tried it and have no reason to.

YMMV

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets


I just tried that, but using a scrap of crs rod drilled out to make a homemade sizer to press them through. Actually worked pretty good but slow, they came out .253" after some polishing. Drilled out with just a 1/4" bit wiped the grooves off completely, and hardly any at .253". No luck on chambering them, they still catch where the rim should headspace. If they still had grooves at .251", I think they would work. I even tried seating them down to .810" and using the seating die to iron out the bulge. I believe it is just a case of trying to use the wrong boolit in the gun now, boolit to fill up sloppy tolerance in a gun with none.

[texassako]

I finally got around to making a real .251" sizer out of a Lee .243" sizing die. It sizes a lot better than my homemade one and the lube grooves stayed intact on most with the LLA lube on them. I still lose a few that go through the die slightly crooked or are out of round enough to lose the micro grooves on oposing sides. Another member here helped out with some 252435 boolits as well. Crimped on the top groove, the RD boolits leaves more case capacity than the 435. Interestingly, they all seat to the correct OAL with the die set the same even though they are different lengths and shapes. It feeds as well as the 435 by hand. Now I need a warm, dry day to try them out at the range. A pic of a Hornady XTP, RD, and 435. Also threw one in of the pistol and a sized boolit.