can you re-size jacketed bullets?

[mozeppa]

say you have a whole bunch of makarov bullets at .364"

and 38 s&w is .361"

can you push those thru a lee sizing die down to .361?

[5Shot]

Yes. It can be done with rifle bullets too.

[country gent]

You can try it We did some for a double rifle years ago. The big issue is the difference between lead and gilding metals spring back the Jacket may loosen to the core just sizing down. We sized them down then reswaged the exposed lead (nose) to swage the bullet and core back up tight. This way the core was still tight in the jacket.
depending on how many the Lee die isn't really very hard and the force and jackets hardness will wear one pretty quickly, along with the increased force and wear on the press.

[BrassMagnet]

Easier to just trade them for cast in the proper size/weight.

[Texas by God]

I have sized .228" Sisk .22 Hi Power bullets to .224" many times with a Lee die sucessfully. I use RCBS case lube for this. Using the same method I have sized .264" bullets to.257" with no core damage. I would not want to size down any farther than that, however. Your project should be no problem. Best, Thomas.

[Bent Ramrod]

I made a die to size 6.5 mm bullets (0.264") down to 0.260" for a .25 Remington rifle with an oversized bore. I used a Rockchucker press and set the punch length and die height so the bullet went through the die at about the last 25 degrees of handle travel. I used Imperial Sizing Wax or Corbin Swage Lube. Both seemed to work.

If there was any core/jacket separation, I didn't notice any evidence of it. The bullets shot as well as the expensive custom DKT 0.260" bullets I had used for proof-of-concept.

[TNsailorman]

In most cases I would have to agree with BrassMagnet, a sell and buy would be much better. First off, sizing dies are not cheap and to get a proper die it would have to be custom made by Lee or other sizing die manufacturers to your bore diameter needs. And you might need more than one die if going down more than .005" in diameter. Core separation might also rear its ugly head depending on how the core is glued/swaged to the jacket. If the bullet does spring back a little, it could mean the core is separated a bit, maybe not enough to make a major difference but I sure wouldn't want to bet a nice shot on a trophy animal or my life on it. Lead bullets are no problem in sizing down, I have done this on several occasions with zero problems. Jacketed bullets are a whole different ball game. Yes it can be done but takes effort and expense, more than it would be worth except in the case of super rare and obsolete calibers. my experience anyway, james

[KCSO]

Yes with a big press and Imperial die sizing wax. This is how I make 318 bullets from 323's.

[mdi]

Yep. Sizing down .003" will be no problem, just make sure you lube them first. I resized some .323" jacketed bullets to .318" and they were pretty tough to push through my Lee die, but they were round and consistent...

[Skipper]

Lee case sizing lube works pretty well for this; washes off with hot water.

[Texas by God]

My resized Sisk 63gr bullets are MOA accurate and kill stationary deer handily.

[Jcduff936]

I don't think I would try it in a low pressure handgun, however factory 7.62x39 ammo is made with .310 and .311 bullets. Many American made rifles in this chambering use .308 barrels. I haven't noticed any signs of high pressure or accuracy problems out of the two that I shoot. They see plenty of .308 and .310 bullets every year. Just my $.02.

[sharps4590]

I have a very tight bored 9 X 57 and take .358's to .354 quite easily. I made my own die and it is neither expensive or difficult. I do know one box of custom sized jacketed bullets will just about buy a sizing die so how much a fella shoots a particular rifle could have an influence.

[Kraschenbirn]

In the early '60s, I recall resizing (dirt cheap) 7mm Mauser pull-downs to .277 to feed a .270 Win. using a swaging die made for me by an industrial machinist who was also my BSA rifle team coach. Was in high school and had spent all my spare funds on an M70 (read too many Jack O'Conner articles?) and couldn't afford ammunition. Was my first experience at serious reloading; Harvey (team coach) taught me to form brass from milsurp '06 and assemble pretty decent ammo using those swaged pull-downs, and milsurp powder.

Bill

[fredj338]

I make practice bullets for my 404 Jeffery, 0.423", by sizing down 300gr 44amg bullets. taking them from 0.429" to 0.427" then to 0.423". It seems to be about the max without deforming the bullets. They shoot about 2" @ 100, plenty good for practicing offhand, 50-100. I second the big press & Imperial.

[nicholst55]

A few years back the machine gunners were buying dirt-cheap .310-311" pulled tracers and resizing them at .308". Not sure what kind of accuracy they were after, since they were using them in bullet-squirters to begin with...