Sizing for a 41 Rem Mag

[camotruck]

I just picked up a Ruger black Hawk in 41 Rem Mag. I'm slowly gathering supplies, and was asked by another member I I could size 44 Mag (.429) down to run in the 41. My thought was Sure but what happens to the lube groves. Has anyone tried this?

Camo

[littlejack]

.017-.019 is a lot to size a boolit down.
Yes, you can probably get them sized down. You won't have to worry about the lube grooves afterword though, there probably won't be any.
Jack

[mroliver77]

Fill lube grooves with lube first.

[Keyston44]

That's alot more trouble than just buying a inexpensive Lee mold.

Key

[camotruck]

.017-.019 is a lot to size a boolit down.
Yes, you can probably get them sized down. You won't have to worry about the lube grooves afterword though, there probably won't be any.
Jack

LOL That's what I figured.

77 What do you do pan lube then size?

[7br]

If you are using a lubra-sizer, run them through the .44 die first, then run through the .41 die.

[camotruck]

You know I would have never thought of that. One more reason to get a 44.

[HATCH]

Just buy a mold and the correct sizing die.
I love my 41 mag guns.

[fish0123]

I just picked up a Ruger black Hawk in 41 Rem Mag. I'm slowly gathering supplies, and was asked by another member I I could size 44 Mag (.429) down to run in the 41. My thought was Sure but what happens to the lube groves. Has anyone tried this?

Camo

I size my .314s for mosin nagant to .311 for 30-06 to avoid buying another mold. Even 3 thousandths takes more force to size than I would have thought. I wouldn't want to size much more than that off of a bullet.

[HATCH]

I have sized 45 boolits to 44 size.
It took major force and the end result was a slug. Thats going from .452 to .430
i didnt do it on purpose. I had a couple mixed in a can.

[oldfart1956]

Hey Camo, if you're having trouble finding the proper mold give me a holler. I've got a new (old stock) Lee 90462 double cav. sitting here. I live in Greencastle so not that far from you. I'm not very familiar with the .41 mag. so not sure this will work so you might want to do some research here first. It's the 175gr. tumble lube design, swc. Or you might want to put a post in the Wanted to Buy section down below the Swappin and Selling forum. Audie...the Oldfart..

[Gibbs44]

I agree that sizing them that far down in a lubrisizer of any flavor would probably not be the best for the components. I am of course pulling this off of my limited use of my Lyman 4500. If you absolutely had to do it, filling the lube grooves first and then passing them through a lee sizer on a press that could stand up to swaging might be OK. Anyway, good luck and post pictures of the finished product if you decide to go that route.

[canyon-ghost]

My Blackhawk is even tighter than .410 at the muzzle, I do need to size to .410 and not the more popular .413. Sometimes things work out in a direction I don't want them to.

Only have a handfull of Lyman 215 gas checked or a handfull of 220 grain Kieths poured up at the minute or, I'd offer you several hundred.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I am one of those who has done it. Back about 1983 I wanted to shoot some 240 grainers in my Dan Wesson caliber .41 mag and the only 240 grain mold I had was my .430 Lee mold left over from my sold off Super Black Hawk.
The boolits (Lee 240 SWC's) were cast from truck wheel weights. They were already lubbed to be used in the sold off Ruger.
I first tried nose first to get a better "entry" into the .411 sizer. That left fins off the base of the boolit as it was squished into the sizer. Grease grooves were compressed and just small little rings around the boolit.
Base first was possible only through carefully centering the boolit. Noses were mashed down to near WC shape. The base fins were eliminated but the boolit looked like it had already impacted something. Probably half were rejects as the remaining grease groves gave evidence that even being careful centering the boolit was not enough as the boolit would still be initially forced to one side or another.
The boolits that did look good shot reasonably well. But I also phoned in an order for a real Lee 240 grainer in caliber .41 mag.
Possibly "if" you were to chamfer the mouth of the .411 sizer to accept a .430 diameter the transition could be better controlled and rejects held to an acceptable number. Or an intermediate die in .420... But in the end a Lee caliber .410 mold is a cheap alternative.
I still down size a.316 220 grain RN to .312 when I need to. Or some .458 320 grainers down to .454 for the BFR 454 Casull. But that is a far cry from .430 to .410.
Down here in Arequipa I have used my bench vise to "bump up" Boolits from a .427 Winchester Mold to .433 for some fat throated 1892 SRC carbines. But that is a whole other tale.
Mike in Peru

[9.3X62AL]

Not a thing I would attempt in a Lyman 450/4500 or RCBS LAM. That is just too darn much force to apply upon a none-too-stalwart sizing system.

Any more, if I'm going to size a boolit down much more than .002" from as-cast diameter I size/lube it first in a larger die. E.g., I run the RCBS 325 grain FNGC for the 45-70 in my Ruger 45 Colt. These don't reach .459" in WW alloy, and barely get there in 92/6/2. The undersized-for-rifle castings get run through the .459" die first, and the lube grooves get filled. I change dies to the .454" H&I die, and run the sized boolits through to get their final 45 Colt diameter. Even with the lube in the grooves, the .004" reduction takes some OOMPH to accomplish, esp. the gas check size-down. These shoot quite well in the Ruger, though a little high. Lots of fun at 1100 FPS.

[Good Cheer]

Dive in and get the molds.
.41 is what other calibers wish they could be.

[9.3X62AL]

Dive in and get the molds.
.41 is what other calibers wish they could be.

LOTTA truth to that, for sure. The gunmakers get the dimensions correct in their 41s, just like in most 38 Specials and 357 Magnums. I suspect this has a lot to do with the 41 Magnum's rep for fine accuracy, and for its fans being so strident about its good work.

[Good Cheer]

You know, the only problem with a .41 is how hard it is to come up with 1885 Winchester chambered for it.

[Good Cheer]

By the way, I usually use a .412 sizer 'cause it happens to be there and works ok.

[GLynn41]

yep get the right mold-- .430 to .411 is a looong way down -- may work well -- I have .4 different .41s and all mine are .410-411