Head Tomcat
08-16-2022, 02:55 PM
Guys,
I recently bought a Star lube/sizer and will be using it to make .38 Long Colt heel-base black powder cartridges. I will be firing these through a Uberti 1851 Colt Navy using a Kirst converter system. My question is what size lube/sizing die do I need for this setup?
Here are the critical dimensions I am seeing:
The throats for all six Kirst cylinder bores came right in at .3760” using gage pins. One was a little tight but the pin pushed out a very small burr and now all cylinder throats are the same. I will say that is pretty good machine work from Kirst!
I carefully slugged the bore of the Uberti 1851 Navy and it came out at .3703” using a Brown & Sharpe micrometer which reads to .0001”.
What Star sizing die should I order given these numbers…a .372” die which puts me at .017” over the bore size?
The lead heel-base RN bullets I have are unsized and currently at .376” with one external lube groove. Finally, I am not a competitor and will be strictly using this as a dedicated cartridge conversion revolver for plinking and weekend target shooting.
Many thanks for your thoughts as I could use some ideas!
The Olde Tomcat
I recently bought a Star lube/sizer and will be using it to make .38 Long Colt heel-base black powder cartridges. I will be firing these through a Uberti 1851 Colt Navy using a Kirst converter system. My question is what size lube/sizing die do I need for this setup?
Here are the critical dimensions I am seeing:
The throats for all six Kirst cylinder bores came right in at .3760” using gage pins. One was a little tight but the pin pushed out a very small burr and now all cylinder throats are the same. I will say that is pretty good machine work from Kirst!
I carefully slugged the bore of the Uberti 1851 Navy and it came out at .3703” using a Brown & Sharpe micrometer which reads to .0001”.
What Star sizing die should I order given these numbers…a .372” die which puts me at .017” over the bore size?
The lead heel-base RN bullets I have are unsized and currently at .376” with one external lube groove. Finally, I am not a competitor and will be strictly using this as a dedicated cartridge conversion revolver for plinking and weekend target shooting.
Many thanks for your thoughts as I could use some ideas!
The Olde Tomcat