GG resizing

[echo154]

I have a generous supply of precast .458/.459 - 535/540 grn 20-1- GG, bullets. They are pre-lubed with SPG. My question is.....I have a lee .451 size die and was looking at the .443 die for $16. Is it viable to resize .459 to .451 to .443 for PP?

[Red River Rick]

Why not buy some 0.443" slicks from BACO and see how they work before going thru all that trouble of trying to size those GG bullets down.
That'll save you a lot of frustration.

RRR

[echo154]

Yeah I know....the sizing die was cheaper though and I "over bought" Gas.:groner:

[GregLaROCHE]

I tried to size down to paper patch. It doesn’t work. It needs to be done in a lot of steps. You loose most of the lube grooves, not that it matters. My lead wasn’t as soft as pure, but still it’s best to get the right size mold or buy some boolits like was previously mentioned to try it out.

[echo154]

Thanks Fellers ....I kinda figured that, but thought I would throw the idea out to see. Good news for GG shooters...some 2000 era .45 big bore bullets will be coming up on the boards!
Regards Todd

[ian45662]

I tried it once and it was a big fail


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[echo154]

Good to know. looking
Good to know!.....gonna have to sell some
GG I got in the early 2000's so as to get some .442 / .443 slicks to experiment before I get a mould.

[fgd135]

I pretty routinely resize gg boolits for paper patching...usually .459" down to .451", usually pure lead but sometimes harder alloys. These for use in a few different old military BPCR. Also resize some .428" gg down to .422" for Russian Berdan IIs. No problems, good accuracy at the 100-300 yd ranges I shoot.

[semtav]

I have a generous supply of precast .458/.459 - 535/540 grn 20-1- GG, bullets. They are pre-lubed with SPG. My question is.....I have a lee .451 size die and was looking at the .443 die for $16. Is it viable to resize .459 to .451 to .443 for PP?

Depending on which rifle you have, you could just size them down to .452-.454 and patch to groove dia.

[Bent Ramrod]

I can get only about 0.003” reduction with a pass through the sizer; that is, if I want something that resembles the original boolit at the end. BHN is usually around 8-12. And the first pass needs lubrication in the grooves, to keep them undistorted and to overcome friction in the smaller dies on the way down.

My main efforts have been in sizing 0.313” diameter GG boolits to 0.310” and then to 0.308”, and shooting them as GG. You’d need to melt, dissolve or wipe the lube off before paper patching.

I’d estimate by this that you’d need five sizing dies to get your slug to diameter without distortion. That’s if the .30 caliber example scales to .45 without complications. Large boolits, IME, require more oomph to size down than smaller ones. Don’t use a Lyman #45 for this job.

[echo154]

Thanks Guys. think I'm gonna try to swap out some of my GG.