Reamed cylinder

[walker77]

I sent my cylinder off to have it reamed. My bore is .430 and they were reamed to .433 I wanted them reamed to .432 and all he had was .433 Do you guys think it will be ok?

[462]

Cast and size to .434". I think you were right to request .432", however.

[walker77]

where will i find a sizing die that big? The biggest i have found is .431

[Frank46]

Buckshot is the man for oddball and regular sizing dies. Frank

[walker77]

But do you think i did the right thing sizing the cylinder that size? Can i enlarge my current sizing die?

[Buckshot]

I sent my cylinder off to have it reamed. My bore is .430 and they were reamed to .433 I wanted them reamed to .432 and all he had was .433 Do you guys think it will be ok?

.............He didn't call you? I guess you should be happy that a .452" wasn't all he had :-)

But do you think i did the right thing sizing the cylinder that size?

I think that .432" would have been better, as that's pleanty for a .430" groove, but I doubt .433" will be a killer so long as you can get a slug that goes .433"

Can i enlarge my current sizing die?

Sure, but before you spend the time doing it do you have a mould dropping slugs that large?

..............Buckshot

[steg]

I don't know where you had the work done, but I wouldn't go back, A fresh sharpening on that reamer would have brought it into the specks you requested, and did they actually go oversize without getting your ok first?...............steg

[44man]

My SBH came with .4324" throats and it will shoot .430" to .433" boolits just fine but .432" works best. My bore groove size is also .430".
Your big problem will be how large your boolits cast. It does no good to buy a larger size die if the boolits are too small anyway. I had to make my own mold to drop .434" boolits for a Marlin so I am able to experiment in the SBH.
The RD molds were the best for size, made to fit the Marlin but they shoot like a house afire in my revolver.
I would not be making the boolits soft to bump up. Try water dropped and aged WW metal, they will grow in diameter as they age.
I never found a need to make the boolit a squeeze fit to the throats or larger. My .432" boolits group only a 1/2" or less better then a .430" boolit at 50 yards.
I would go ahead and try a boolit at .431" to .432" but the trouble is still what your mold will give you. You might need to Beagle it.
Factory molds are notorious for making boolits too small.

[NSP64]

My SBH has .431 throats and .4295 bore. I lapped my LEE mold and sizer up. Mold to .433, sizer to .432


I cast .359 for GF .38 spl (.356 bore and .357 throats). I shoot them unsized. She can keep them on a full size target @ 50 yrds. Good enough.

[fredj338]

If you have a 0.430" groove dia, why would you want to go to 0.432"? Polishing is more precise than reaming IMO, that is how I had mine done on my RBH 45colt. As noted, you will want to size now to 0.433". Lee ca make a custom sizer or you can have someone w/ more skill polish a 0.431" sizer out. Try a machine shop that does cly polishing & grinding (auto or aircraft).

[44man]

Lee dies only have a very short sizing section and it only takes minutes to lap one with a split rod wrapped with fine emery cloth.
I lapped 4 in a half hour and that includes testing on boolits and wrapping the emery to fit.
It will do no good if a boolit just falls through. They should at least touch the size die.

[Lloyd Smale]

what were they to start with. Ive found most ruger 44s good to go right from the factory.

[KCSO]

I use adjustable reamers in my mill to do cylinders and set them to the customers desire, but that is neither here no there. I have this problem also with a Rossi with an oversize bore. I had to lap and beagle a Lee mould to get 434 bullets and than I had to lap out a sizing die. Then I made anew expander plug for my loading die. Now the gun shoots fine.

[MtGun44]

I'd hold out for the .431 rather than .432 or .433. You will have a LOT less trouble getting
molds that size and you just need the throats .001 or .002 larger than groove diam, so
why not go with an easy to get size?

I hope he hasn't already just "done it".

Bill

[Changeling]

I'd hold out for the .431 rather than .432 or .433. You will have a LOT less trouble getting
molds that size and you just need the throats .001 or .002 larger than groove diam, so
why not go with an easy to get size?

I hope he hasn't already just "done it".

Bill

This is a "High Jack" sorta, if considered that please don't answer.

Hi Bill, something that has bothered me for a while now is the advice on boring/polishing the cylinder throats larger than the barrel groove, I thought I knew the what and why but now I am not sure.

As an example (45 LC) and keeping it simple because thats what I'm building. These are not my measurements. They are hypothetical.
They are for WW water dropped, witch would equate to BHN of 18>20 give or take.

Barrel groove: .451

Cylinder groove 451

I would suppose casting/sizing to .451 would cause a possible loading of the cartridge problem but I don't actually know, because I don't know how much forgiveness is necessary, IF ANY, to chamber a cartridge because of lack of experience in this area. It's easy for some people to say this or that, BUT, what is really IDEAL. I would think that the same size all the way through would be perfect. chamber to muzzle!
What is the smallest forgiveness factor necessary for cartridge loading (Even with a push fit). Is any needed at all?

[MtGun44]

Everything has tolerances. I would think that your .451 throat may wind up being just
a hair smaller than the .451 barrel and you may get leading. It is just a lot easier to
have the throats a bit larger and .001 or .002 will work fine so it is a ton cheaper than
getting a prefect match between the throat and barrel.

As to what is ideal - heck if I know. I do know that I have some .38 revolvers that have
.357 throats and I have shot .357 and .358 cast in them with great success and never
bothered to slug the bore. Seems like the .38s and .357s are much more consistent
than the .44s and .45s for some odd reason. Actually, I have never had any real problems
with a handful of Ruger and S&W .38 Spl and .357 Mags, except for an old beater
WW2 Victory model which may have oddball dimensions - never checked it.

Seems like having a slight interference fit with the boolit to the throat and then a
slight interference fit to the barrel works reliably. If you could get nearly perfect
dimensions the .451 everywhere idea should work with a .451 or .452 boolit. I have
never run into the situation, always either larger throats or smaller and I reamed up the
one case of very much smaller throats.

I certainly don't have all the answers, but I have shot a fair number of revolvers and
had some pretty decent results and certainly no leading in any of them. Stick to
conventional designs that have generous lube grooves, 'known good' lubes and
for heaven's sake don't make the boolits too small!

Bill

[walker77]

It wasnt a ruger, it was on a smith 629. The cylinder was .429 The barrel was .4305 I wanted .432 he said he didnt have it and said .433 would be ok. I am still getting leading. So i wonder if thats true. I sent it out to that cylindersmith.com From what i read on here, its not a good idea to polish they cylinder. Besides i was afraid i would mess it up.

[NHlever]

Yes, I have a nice .32 H&R Ruger SSM but the throats are quite a bit undersize (.310-.311) and the groove diameter is closer to .313. The only reamer I've found is .314, and I'm a bit cautious about spending the money for that, and having the throats too large rather than too small, and yet it is a lot to polish out too. Perhaps I'll try a standard 5/16" chucking reamer?

[walker77]

I decided to send mine to cylindersmith.com Because it was going to be the same price as buying a reamer, and i was sending it to some one that knows what he was doing.