Eureka!!

[HABCAN]

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And there you have it. Lyman 429244s, 50 of them sitting on the windowsill cooling from the convection oven and then waiting for the sizer. So?? That Lyman mold has not been in use for over twenty years. Why? Cuz whatever I did, trying to make them harder and harder as advised by Lyman, (even unto water-dropped linotype!) they STILL leaded the barrel of my S&W 29-2 unmercifully!

Today I decided, WTH, try it again. MY 50/50 alloy in MY pot in MY Lyman mold casts boolits @ .427"!! I'll bet that 29 bbl. was .429"! Thanks to the gurus here I have learned that SIZE, not HARDNESS governs 'leading'. So, these pretty green guys were just whizzed through the .427 sizer before coating and finished in the .429 after. Bet they'll be the cat's perjammers in the Pietta .44-40s (.427 bbls.)!!! Will report.
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[OS OK]

Nice job HABCAN...I've been sizing to exact barrel size for my .45 ACP and .45 Colt since I've been PCing. No lead and fine accuracy, well I say fine...they shoot as tight as I can muster them freehand, don't have a ransom rest to try.

Now your fun really starts, huh?

[Yodogsandman]

You still haven't slugged your cylinders or bore in the S&W? Hope it all works out for you.

[HABCAN]

Yeah, and like you we found that we HAD to size LEE C452-200-RF et al to .451" or they wouldn't chamber in the Norinco .45ACPs. My Colt 1911 will eat anything thrown at it but these Norries are particular!

[OS OK]

I wonder if that Norinco just needs a gentle taper on the lands and grooves?

[HABCAN]

Yodog..........that S&W has been 'gone' for over 20 years. And at the time, who knew??

OS.............there are quite a few, and they ALL need '.451"', LOL.

[runfiverun]

it's in the nose.
my norinco does just fine with 452 diameter.
it however prefers the lyman 452430 in Remington brass with a slight roll crimp bumped on the case mouth.
the sights suck anyway but that particular load keeps the holes the closest together in that pistol.

[OS OK]

My my...how we learn to pamper our play things just to get them to perform! I suppose that's one reason why we handload, huh?

[kungfustyle]

+1 on checking the cylinder and bbl. I had a 357 that I had to borrow a reamer for and now NO LEADING!!!!!!! Up to you, but you know what the definition of insanity is? Keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Best of luck to you.

[Hickok]

Habcan, my S&W Model 29-3 has .433" cylinder throats, so your M29-2 may be large also.

[HABCAN]

HAD, guys........HAD! As I said, that 29 went away over 20 years ago long before 'we' knew any of the real 'size matters' stuff, and followed Lyman's advice blindly trying for HARD. Now we DO know, and besides, we're playing with Pietta .44-40s now and they ARE built to exacting specs, K?