Up-sizing Cast bOOLITS?

[Madisonian]

Is it possible and reasonable to up-size a slightly undersized boolit?

I'd like some .358 95 grain boolits for my 38 Short Colt loads, but I can't find a mold. I have a lot of 95 grain .356 lead boolits for .380 ACP loads.

I was thinking, what if I made a perfectly fitted top punch that encapsulates the entire round nose portion of the slug, and then just squished them to expand them the couple of thou' need, then ran them through the .358 sizing die?

Thoughts?

[gunther]

the various iterations of the Lyman sizer may not be stout enough to do this. A Lee .358 sizer die in a regular reloading press would be better.Make a long nose punch and do one at a time, nose first, and tap the top punch after each upstroke. Then lower the ram and use the long top punch to push the bullet out the bottom of the sizer die

[country gent]

It can and has been done but requires a loading press and special die set up with an ejector tie in to the ram.

If I was making the set up I would make the ram/pusher convex so that it resulted in a cup based bullet. This would be machined from 1" X 1" x 4' bar stock to fit the ram. This would allow 2 threaded rods to tie in up to the ejector on the die and operate it on the down stroke. The convex head would form / push the bullet more from the center out

With the die made to size there would be no need to resize if the bullets are lubed before this operation, this would need to be done to keep from distorting the grooves

[Stopsign32v]

Wouldn't it be easier and more economical to buy a correct/custom mold and melt them down to make them correctly?

[Maven]

Madisonian, It's called bumping as in bumping up CB diameter and custom dies used to be available to do it. However, I think I'd experiment with Beagling the mould before I tried more drastic (read expensive) measures.

[rancher1913]

also you can do several layers of powder coat. I used 3 layers to do exactly what you want just because I wanted to see if it would work. after the last coat I sized to the final dimension. never fired any, just wanted to see if it could be done so ymmv.

[charlie b]

In the old days.... I seem to remember someone who 'knurled' the bullets to increase dia slightly. The method was to use two fairly coarse files (not rasps) and 'roll' the bullets between them (they should be same cut of file). I never tried it so don't know if it works or not.

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[Madisonian]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I should probably find a mold.

[Rich/WIS]

Colt revolvers were known to be a bit tighter borer wise, have you slugged the barrel in your revolver.

[Three44s]

Here’s something:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/HowTo/Bumping%20up%20a%20bullet.pdf#:~:text=Bumping%20Yo u%20will%20often%20hear%20the%20term%20“bumping”,I t%20may%20or%20may%20not%20work%20for%20you.

Three44s

[Conditor22]

+1 on powdercoating, the easiest way to increase the diameter.

Lee has a TL356-95-RF (I don't know what it drops at if you cast it soft and cold)

You could also polish the mold cavities to make them bigger

they also have a 356-102 RN

https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/hand-gun-bullet-molds/

[FredBuddy]

Powder coating works great, and in the OP's
case, one coat may be enough. Cheap, too.

[zarrinvz24]

Colt revolvers were known to be a bit tighter borer wise, have you slugged the barrel in your revolver.

That is no joke. I’ve roughly 7 .38/357 Colts and they all slug at .3550-.3557. Very tight.

[gwpercle]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I should probably find a mold.

I think you might be on to something .
One of the mould makers should be able to put you on a list .
I was at Accurate Moulds earlier and there was a notice of a 10 week back log ...
That's an odd size mould , might be one in stock .
Look at NOE www.noebulletmolds.com they 3 or 4 different 358" - 360" light weight boolits that are in stock . There is a 101 grain wadcutter and a few others that might fill the bill .
Check them out ,
Gary

[Schreck5]

+2 on the powder coating idea. I have used as many as 4 coats (3 + 1 clearcoat). Probably not ideal as far as accuracy goes, but it worked for me iwhen I was in a pinch.

[Madisonian]

Colt revolvers were known to be a bit tighter borer wise, have you slugged the barrel in your revolver.

I haven't, good idea!

[Madisonian]

Here’s something:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/HowTo/Bumping%20up%20a%20bullet.pdf#:~:text=Bumping%20Yo u%20will%20often%20hear%20the%20term%20“bumping”,I t%20may%20or%20may%20not%20work%20for%20you.

Three44s

Thank you! Interesting article. Near the end there's this:

"It is a makeshift operation and usually, you end up with more damaged and mangled bullets that good ones that you create." :)

[Madisonian]

I just bought a Lee 358-125RF mold. I would have preferred an RCBS, Ideal, Lyman, or other cast iron mold, but this is what was available. There were lots of factory 38 Short Colt cartridges with 125 grain bullets, albeit round nose, not round/flat like this one, but it should be fine. It has a grease groove and a crimp groove, just as I wanted.

Cheers,

jv

[Three44s]

Thank you! Interesting article. Near the end there's this:

"It is a makeshift operation and usually, you end up with more damaged and mangled bullets that good ones that you create." :)

Ouch! Losing a bunch of cast slugs is no fun!

I was looking for some posts from another member who passed away several years ago, James Evitts rings a bell? I did not locate his work or posts, maybe somebody else remembers him
.

Three44s

[JSnover]

For .002" I'd lap the mold so they drop at .358" They'll size down to .356" easy enough if your .380 needs them sized.

[Thumbcocker]

Beagle the mold. Cheap, effective, reversible.

[Dusty Bannister]

Previous thread on Beagling a mold, and picture.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?94568-how-do-you-beagle-a-mold&highlight=Beagle

[Rizzo]

I'd like some .358 95 grain boolits for my 38 Short Colt loads, but I can't find a mold. I have a lot of 95 grain .356 lead boolits for .380 ACP loads.


Is this theoretical or have you actually cast some bullets from that mold and they are not .358?
If you haven't cast, do it and see what they come out as.

For instance, I have cast some from a .358 mold and found that some were .360+ and needed to be sized down.
EDIT:
You said you have some .356 bullets.
I assumed that you cast them yourself.
After re-reading your post it appears that you did not.
Anyway, good luck to you.

[bangerjim]

PC will add 2-3 thou on boolit diameter. Easy way to do up-sizing without messing up your mold!

[richhodg66]

Easy enough to lap out an aluminum mold. I wouldn't go the nail polish route, but it might work, I've never resorted to it.

[Madisonian]

For .002" I'd lap the mold so they drop at .358" They'll size down to .356" easy enough if your .380 needs them sized.

That's a good idea. Would you lap just the driving bands, or the whole thing? (I don't know much about this stuff.)

[ndnchf]

Check out my video on an easy way to increase bullet diameter.

https://youtu.be/ziBZeUS1DCI

[rbuck351]

I have an old Swag o Matic that I use to bump up cast boolits or to just uniform them and make the bases very flat with sharp edges as well as changing the nose profile.

[JSnover]

That's a good idea. Would you lap just the driving bands, or the whole thing? (I don't know much about this stuff.)

You could lap only the bands if you want, I've lapped three molds of mine and just did the whole thing. Consider that you're only opening each cavity by .001" In .380 or .38 short Colt, neither the boolit nor the barrel will care if you do the nose or not.

[Tar Heel]

Bumping up bullets won't work for the 38 Short Colt. The cartridge uses a heeled bullet with a rebated base like a 22LR. An excellent source of these bullets is Old West Bullet Molds (https://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/shop/ols/products/38-caliber-150-grain-heel-bullets) to get a heeled bullet of proper diameter. You will also need a special crimping tool to crimp these bullets. A bullet mold can also be procured from the same source. Yet another source of heeled .375" bullets is Eras Gone Bullet Molds (https://www.erasgonebullets.com/store/product/-36-colt-cartridge-works). Have fun!

287517

[rintinglen]

A lot depends on the gun your shooting them from. If this is an antique Colt, the boolit diameter you need will very likely be MUCH larger than .358. An 1877 Lightning of my acquaintance had a .375 bore. The 1892, 1894, 1894 etc. DA Army Colts had three different nominal bore diameters. Until you know what you need, keep your wallet in your pocket.

[rbuck351]

By making my own dies for my Swag o Matic I have made heeled boolits for a 32 S&W long that had way oversize cyl throats at .321. It can be done but getting a heeled boolit mold for a Colt 38 short with normal throat size would be a lot easier.

[parson48]

I've "beagled" several Lee molds to slightly increase diameter. Used to be a lot of discussion here on that method.