A question of size...

[Bill In SC]

Well... I have been lurking a little, and done a lot of reading here on the board. After a 8 year break, I pulled the casting gear out of storage. :-D

What I have learned, is that it appears the most important part of sizing for revolvers is the throat diameter on the cylinders. With that little bit of knowledge and wisdom, I grabbed my trusty 686 and a brand spanking NIB Super Blackhawk out of the safe.

Using a "Telescoping" gauge, on the 686 I came up with .357 on all 6 chambers. On the Ruger, I came up with .431 on all 6. I measured each cylinder 3 separate times to verify the measurement. The .357 on the Smith seems fine, but I'm a little sketchy on the .431 on the Ruger. I was expecting .430.

Grabbing an assorted lot of bullets that I had cast and ran through the sizer, I came up with this. The 38 caliber bullets that were ran through a .358 Lyman H&I die measured .3576. The .44's that were ran through a .429 die measured out a .4285.

So... looking at the numbers, I suspect that I'm under sizing. I have a .359 and .430 die set on the way. I think I'm on the right track for the .38 caliber, but I'm wondering if I should go on up to .431 or possibly .432 on the .44 caliber Boolits.

With all that said... What is your thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

All bullets are cast from COWW's... I'm a cheap old fart. :-D

[tcbnick]

I run a .4324 sizer for my 44mag SRH and have no problems and it shoots great

[paul h]

Most importantly, how do the guns shoot? Sometimes I've gone down the old road of trying the fix things when measurements weren't "ideal" The only measurement that matters is group size. If the guns shoot well, don't sweat it. If you have problems, then you know where to start looking.

I would not size the .357 bullets any larger, if anything you might run into problems with loaded rounds not wanting to chamber in the cylinder, but that depends on the bullet design.

The 44 does sound like it could be an issue, but shoot it first and see how it shoots and if you have a leading problem.

[462]

My .44 Specials, with .432" cylinder throats, leaded until I sized to .433".

For my .357 Magnums, with .357+" throats, I size to .358".

Your results may differ, as each gun is an individual.