.401 on the nose, now what?

[rtracy2001]

OK, so this evening after work I decided to slug the barrel of my P944 (40 S&W). The slug was tight the whole way and came out at exactly .401.

Not unexpected, but troublesome just the same. My budget mandates a Lee mold and sizer kit, (or something in that price range) but both items only come in .401 diameter (i could enlarge the sizer). My Lee mold for the 357 mag drops slightly oversize at .3595 vs the listed size of .358, but judging by the posts here, similar performance cannot be guaranteed.

I wold like to get a mold that drops at about .403 or so, and then size the boolits down to .402 if necessary. (I think that is the best route is it not?)

Any suggestions?

[Leftoverdj]

RTracy, the large majority of Lee moulds cast oversized by a thou or two which should work for you. There is a remote chance the mould you get will cast right on .401, but it's uncommon. If you have to, you can enlarge the mould, either by stainless steel tape or by lapping the cavities. Considering relative prices, it's a good gamble.

If you can possibly scape up the money, go for the six cavity. They are far better made and last much longer. If you absolutely must settle for the two cavity, you'll probably wind up replacing it in a few years, but it will have paid for itself in the first couple hundred bullets.

In either case, read and follow the directions and the Leementing thread carefully. Even the two cavities are not bad moulds, but they do have their quirks and can be easily ruined by failure to lubricate.

[Shiloh]

I've cast many thousands of boolits through my six banger. Still drops good boolits.
It drops at .402+.

Shiloh

[truckmsl]

My Lone wolf barrel slugs at .401, which is normal according to Lone Wolf. The Lee six bangers will usually cast over .401 assuming you're getting good fill out. Before you lap your Lee sizer out to .402, try the .401 boolits. I was casting tumble lube boolits and sizing to .402 with good success, but decided to go to conventional sizing/ lubing. The .401 wa the only sizer die I could find for my lubrisizer. The .401's are working fine. Just a trace of lead at the beginning of the rifling after 200 or so rounds with no affect on accuracy.

[rtracy2001]

RTracy, the large majority of Lee moulds cast oversized by a thou or two which should work for you.

Well, that is good to know. with all the posts complaining about undersized molds, and the headache of "beagling" a mold, I assumed that it was quite common for the Lee molds to cast undersize.

I hear you all on the six cavity vs. the two cavity molds. I wish I had purchased the six cavity for my .357. i won't make that mistake again.

Ray

[truckmsl]

Actually, beagling a mold is quite simple and works very well. It can be done in a matter of minutes, and is reversible.

[sqlbullet]

I only size down if they don't function in my action as cast. My Witness 10mm using the .401 175Gr SWC TL from Lee requires I run them through the die or they are just a nudge tight.

If I could skip the step I would. In the end, I am saying that I don't personally agree with the concept of cast .002 over and size to .001 over.

[truckmsl]

I only size down if they don't function in my action as cast. My Witness 10mm using the .401 175Gr SWC TL from Lee requires I run them through the die or they are just a nudge tight.

If I could skip the step I would. In the end, I am saying that I don't personally agree with the concept of cast .002 over and size to .001 over.

There's probably a lot of guys shooting semi autos with match barrels that agree with you on this.

[rtracy2001]

The Lee 6 cavity molds definitely fall within the budget, but which one?

TL401-175-SWC or 401-175-TC ?

I will most likely tumble lube with LLA as that is all I have right now. Has anyone had any feeding issues with the SWC in an autoloader? I have read here that the tumble lube will work on other boolit designs (though probably not quite as well)

I will use the boolit exclusively for target shooting/plinking in my Ruger P944.

[truckmsl]

The TC boolit can be tumble lubed or conventionally lubed, so if you decide tumble lubing is not working for you down the road, you won't have to buy another mold. Both are good in the .40. For me, the TC mold drops boolits a lot easier than the TL - the boolits just fall out on their own.