how oversize can i go?

[chevyiron420]

guy's, i have lapped out my 358-158 rnfp for my 38S&W. i have it out so it casts boolits .361-.362 now. my barrel slugs .362 and my caliper show the same on the cylender throats. i have no sizing die for it and am trying to shoot as cast. my question is, how far should i go with the mold? leave it as is? go a little more? because the boolits are a little out of round they are a tight push thru the cylender throats. how far oversize can i go?-phil

[MtGun44]

Your limit will be what you can get to chamber. This can be adjusted
somewhat by trying different brands and/or lots of brass. If you have
problems chambering a round with a .363" boolit seated, you may find
that another brand of brass has thinner neck walls and will chamber
properly.

Bill

[Bret4207]

What are you shooting it in? If it's a Webley or Enfield or heavier framed Smith or Colt it's one thing. If it's one of the old lightly built revolvers try not to get too much over bore size as the light barrel and frame don't take kindly to the battering the really oversize boolits do. You can actually crack a forcing cone and frame. .001-.002 with soft alloy in a tip up Smith would be as far as I'd go.

[chevyiron420]

folks, its a smith&wesson regulation police. its a solid frame, and its tight. the barrel is slender and its a 5 shooter. the cylender to outer wall is not real thick, but i dont have anything here at the house to measure with. if i lapp a little more to get the boolit out to .362, its going to be at least .363 near the parting line of the boolit. i want it to not suffer leading issues because its to loose, or to tight.-phil

[BABore]

If it's slightly out of round now, and bigger at the parting line, Beagle it. I did this on my first mold and after Beagling it came back round again.

[Bret4207]

I'd try it at this point. The S+W RP is a nice little revolver. In 38 S+W it should be a nice woods walking gun. A cylinder full of that boolit backed by 2.5 gr Bullseye should tell you if it need to be bigger.

[chevyiron420]

thanks, thats exactly where im at, 2.5 bullseye. im now waiting to get to the range to test it and also my new load for my 32 h&r mag.-phil