Any way to upsize bullets?

[Jimmydaux]

Ive been shooting some cast projectiles from a friend that are sized for 9mm. They measure out at .3565 and are supposedly a hardness of 18-19. I slugged both my barrels and they are right at .357. They seem to shoot just fine for plinking, but Ive been dealing with leading which just seems to be a cleaning inconvenience more than anything else. Is there any way to up size bullets or can you just downsize them? I am going to try some alox and see if that helps the leading. Is there any way to make these shoot with less leading or are they undersized enough that I will have to deal with leading no matter what?

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I am sure there is a way to "squish them" a little to bulge them out...which woud probably require the correct top punch and a vise. I am no expert by any means though...just an idea. It would probably distort the boolit if not done properly, but i don't know the proper way. Experiment with it. You could probably squeeze it, and then push it thru the right size die to get it to the size you want. Good luck...I'm sure the real experts will show up here soon to give you better advice! :-D

[pdawg_shooter]

I bump mine up in my reloading press. I machined a flat on a 7/8 14tpi bolt I screw in the top and use a flat ended insert in place of my shell holder. You can gain .004/.005 without distorting the bullet. I follow with a trip through a push through die to size them.

[kawalekm]

You could swage them up in a jacketed bullet swaging die. Here are some lead hollowpoints that I made from lubed lead bullets.
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/kawalekm/swagingcastbullets.jpg
The set on the left is a Lyman 358477 SWC. The right hand set is a Lyman 358495 bullet. Final diameter is .357".

[JIMinPHX]

I think that Paco Kelly used to bump up .22 rim fire slugs by mashing the loaded cartridge a little. I think that he even sold a little gizmo for doing it at one point. I believe that he claimed that it gave him much better accuracy in older guns with worn bores. Personally, I would not do that with a live round, but I see no reason not to do it with a lead boolit alone. kawalekm seems to be getting very good results.

[Leftoverdj]

Ive been shooting some cast projectiles from a friend that are sized for 9mm. They measure out at .3565 and are supposedly a hardness of 18-19. I slugged both my barrels and they are right at .357. They seem to shoot just fine for plinking, but Ive been dealing with leading which just seems to be a cleaning inconvenience more than anything else. Is there any way to up size bullets or can you just downsize them? I am going to try some alox and see if that helps the leading. Is there any way to make these shoot with less leading or are they undersized enough that I will have to deal with leading no matter what?

You're on the right track. A coat of LLA is cheap and easy and seems at times to compensate for very slightly undersized bullets. If it works, it works, and if it doesn't, you're out a few minutes time and 50 cents worth of LLA. I believe that where the gap is small and the pressure low, LLA can act as a gas seal.

I'm all about cheap and easy. A few hundred cast bullets are just not worth an investment in equipment. Most casters would just throw them in the scrap bucket and recast w/ a mould that is more suitable. Swaging is certainly viable IF you happen to already have the appropriate swaging die, but it sure ain't worth buying that die to salvage a small quantity of bullets. Bumping up and sizing back down sounds interesting and might be worth trying to get a really odd size, but curiosity would be the only reason I would try it for something as common as .358.

While it does not apply in this case, a GC seems to be able to make up for a slightly undersized bullet. If the GC is sized to the correct diameter, you can still get acceptable performance from bullets a thou or so undersize.

[Old Ironsights]

I think that Paco Kelly used to bump up .22 rim fire slugs by mashing the loaded cartridge a little. I think that he even sold a little gizmo for doing it at one point. I believe that he claimed that it gave him much better accuracy in older guns with worn bores. Personally, I would not do that with a live round, but I see no reason not to do it with a lead boolit alone. kawalekm seems to be getting very good results.
Did and still does. http://leverguns.com/store/acurzr.html

[Jimmydaux]

Well ill see how things go with the alox first. I really want to avoid purchasing the equipment if possible, even though I should just bite the bullet and start casting my own stuff. Thanks for the input!

Jeremy

[TAWILDCATT]

you have a sizing die the right size.put die on flat plate.put bullet in and put nose punch in hole and whack with hammer.hit light till you get the feel.a good machinist can figure all kinds of things out.I was a job shop machinist for 10 yrs.
:coffee: [smilie=1:[smilie=1:

[Echo]

+1 for TAW - a good whack has improved many sticky situations. There are probably a dozen or so jokes to be made from that...

[Bret4207]

I've "bumped" boolits before. I just use the sizer die of the diameter I want and use shims between the handle and frame to adjust the "bump". If the nose is long at all it'll mash before anything happens unless you ahve a good fitting top punch. I took a 30 cal boolit dropping .310 to .313+. Used an RCBS sizer and straight ACWW.

[Edubya]

I have used a sizer die w/decapper punch removed and a case with a HBWC pushed in up-side-down to hold the RN bullet in a single stage press. The soft lead HBWC protects the bullet nose from deforming and the case held in a case holder on the piston kept it going in a straight line into the sizer die. I set it to the last half inch or so of the piston stroke, and it bumped them consistently .001. I considered doing this with 9mm bullets to make for some interesting .38 special bullets. I guess that you could modify a small tube cutter (serrate and dull the cutter wheel) for a cannelure groove cutter.
Just some thoughts.
EW