.500 or .501 ?

[spallmaker]

I plan to buy a sizer die and punch for the SW500 revolver and
wasn't planning to slug my barrel. That being said do most size to .500 or .501?
I would lean to .501 but I wanted to check into the group.

Thanks..Steve

[Cosmic_Charlie]

It's a bit of a gamble buying tooling before you know your revolver's geometry. Smith's tend to have tight throats though. You could try a jacketed bullet in The throats to give you an idea. What you want with a cast boolit is a close pass through fit in the cylinder throats.

[oley55]

No experience with the S&W 500.

While you do not need to slug the barrel, you really should know the diameter of the cylinder throats. If the barrels wants .501, but the cylinder throats are .500 your cylinder throats will size the bullets down to their dimensions. Checking all will tell you from the get go if your revolver can handle cast bullets or not.

IMO slugging or pin gauging in advance can save you a lot of money and frustration.

edit: I type too slow and am too wordy. Cosmic Charlie said it better with fewer words.

[stubshaft]

.501" for the three of mine.

[cwtebay]

I would lean towards larger - but I am really not sure why you wouldn't want to slug your bore? It's very straightforward and simple (not to mention how much information is gleaned). I would also use a pin gauge on the rest as the above have mentioned.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[imashooter2]

Too large generally causes fewer problems than too small. This assumes that too large will still release the boolit on firing.

[Edward]

501 is what I size to , at least that's what my sizer says and my BHN lead is 14-15/Ed

[Petander]

I use .501" , sized after Hi Tek coating , in my 4" (actually 3") 500. I used to have the long barrel too,right then when S&W 500 came, same size trad lube.

501" was the only sizer I could find back then,it still works.

501" always shot very clean for me. I load hot, 325 to 600 grains.

[gwpercle]

Size them .501" ...
What mould(s) do you have and to what diameter do the boolits drop ...
the Lee C501-440-RF should drop at .501" ... size to .501" would be perfect ...
the less sizing you have to do ...the easier the job becomes !
Gary

[DougGuy]

Forget the barrel, it doesn't even matter, you want a good slip fit in the cylinder throats.

A note about this slip fit. Most cast boolits will grow some as they sit and age harden, depending on how much antimony is in the mix. Long heavy boolits like what the 500 uses and the 480 will grow an amazing amount, you can size to .500" and in 6mo they are .5015" so don't leave them sitting too long after sizing.

[Petander]

Forget the barrel, it doesn't even matter, you want a good slip fit in the cylinder throats.

A note about this slip fit. Most cast boolits will grow some as they sit and age harden, depending on how much antimony is in the mix. Long heavy boolits like what the 500 uses and the 480 will grow an amazing amount, you can size to .500" and in 6mo they are .5015" so don't leave them sitting too long after sizing.

Yep I melted a bunch of 20 years old ww/lino (50/50) bullets that once were .501... super hard and all too large to even load,not to mention chamber.

[blackthorn]

My thought is; it has been put forth that slugging the barrel on a revolver is unnecessary, and therefore a waste of time. My thought is that we are talking about a revolver here and there is a very real possibility of there being what I have seen referred to as "thread choke" where the barrel was screwed into the frame. If there is indeed thread choke, and that choke is smaller in diameter than the bore going forward, the bullet will be sized down and that opens up the threat of gas cutting and likely the attending leading. No??

[DougGuy]

My thought is; it has been put forth that slugging the barrel on a revolver is unnecessary, and therefore a waste of time. My thought is that we are talking about a revolver here and there is a very real possibility of there being what I have seen referred to as "thread choke" where the barrel was screwed into the frame. If there is indeed thread choke, and that choke is smaller in diameter than the bore going forward, the bullet will be sized down and that opens up the threat of gas cutting and likely the attending leading. No??

Most definitely. The easiest and fastest way to check for thread choke that I know of (and you can do this at the gun store BEFORE you buy one too!) take a plastic cleaning jag and patch it tightly into the bore with linen patches or paper towel, etc, push it toward the frame and observe how much force is required to keep the jag moving. Any change in resistance means a change in the diameter of the bore.

If you can shove one completely through the bore and there is no change in resistance? Jump for joy, there is NO choke! If the jag slows down a bit and goes through, that is a mild choke you are feeling. If it stops completely and you are tempted to beat it through, this is a SEVERE thread choke.

Notes: I have seen more than one Old Model SBH that has a noticeable bulge in the barrel at the barrel/frame junction. This is the result of how Ruger used to face the end of the barrels before they torque the barrels into the frame.

Ruger models with the super deeply impressed "Lawyer Warning" on the side of the barrels exhibit a very noticeable and visible series of ridges inside the barrel that corresponds to each word impressed into the outside of the barrel. You can "feel" these ridges with the jag patched into the barrel as described above.

[dogmower]

.502

[Cosmic_Charlie]

With medium loads in my Smith's I size close to groove diameter and get fine results ( bhn of 10 and conventional lube ). The throats on my Smith's are close to groove diameter.

[spallmaker]

Thanks for the input
I'm going with .501.