Boomer Mikey
08-06-2006, 02:26 AM
BUMPING-UP Bullet Size
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Rossi_1892_Rifle-2.JPG
I special ordered a Rossi 1892 .44mag Rifle a few years back for long range side match duty and loved the way it shot Bear Creek .430 240 grain SWC’s with one exception – leading. I didn’t shoot many rounds in side matches but cleaning the beast was a drag. I finally got around to slugging the bore in that Rifle and guess what? .431 bullets in a .4329 bore is a recipe for leading! A little fire lapping to clean-up the rough spots should produce a .433-.4335 bore; however, none of my dozen or so .44 moulds will produce .434” diameter bullets, even with linotype.
After placing my order with the 44-444 fat bullet group buy and ordering a custom .434 sizer die from Buffalo Arms I started wondering if I could “BUMP-UP” existing bullets to .434” diameter in the RCBS lubricator-sizer as it was the strongest on my bench.
The custom die arrived today so I started tinkering and found I could bump-up the Speer 240 grain SWC to .434 easily (BHN8). Then I tried the beloved Bear Creek 240 grain SWC’s; yes, they bumped-up ok (BHN11) and I liked the shape of the nose when using an RCBS #421 nose punch better than the original. Then I tried a 300 grain RCBS 44 SWCGC cast from linotype (BHN22). It did bump-up; however, the strain of doing 5 bullets pushed the handle beyond its limits.
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Rossi_1892_Rifle-1.JPGhttp://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Bumping-Up_Bullet_Size-9.JPG
I removed the taper cut into the sizing die punch for flat bases and re-enforced the handle by welding some 1/8” mild steel stock to the handle and continued the testing of more bullets in my inventory. The results are as follows:
Speer .44 cal 240 grain SWCPB (BHN8) (actual weight 240.5 grains)
Original diameter .431 New diameter .434 Original length .730 New length .668
Original meplat .250 New meplat .290 Nose punch RCBS #421
Original nose to crimp groove length .325 New nose to crimp groove length .290
Bear Creek .44 cal 240 grain SWCPB (BHN11) (actual weight 242 grains)
Original diameter .431 New diameter .434 Original length .730 New length .695
Original meplat .280 New meplat .300 Nose punch RCBS #421
Original nose to crimp groove length .330 New nose to crimp groove length .315
Lyman .44 cal 240 grain FNPB (BHN22) (240.5 grains linotype .432 as cast)
Original diameter .432 New diameter .434 Original length .711 New length .685
Original meplat .280 New meplat .300 Nose punch RCBS #636
Original nose to crimp groove length .370 New nose to crimp groove length .350
Lyman .44 cal 275 grain FNGC (BHN22) (282 grains w/gc linotype .4325 as cast)
Original diameter .4325 New diameter .434 Original length .806 New length .790
Original meplat .295 New meplat .310 Nose punch RCBS #636
Original nose to crimp groove length .425 New nose to crimp groove length .410
RCBS .44 cal 300 grain SWCGC (BHN22) (297 grains w/gc linotype .431 as cast)
Original diameter .431 New diameter .434 Original length .905 New length .875
Original meplat .275 New meplat .310 Nose punch RCBS #636
Original nose to crimp groove length .425 New nose to crimp groove length .395
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Bumping-Up_Bullet_Size-1.JPGhttp://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Bumping-Up_Bullet_Size-2.JPG
Left top - RCBS 44 300 SWCGC, Left middle - Lyman 44 275 FNGC, Left bottom - Lyman 44 240 FNPB.
Right top - Speer 44 240 SWCPB, Right bottom - Bear Creek 44 240 SWCPB.
2 Bullets on left side of each set are original size for comparison.
I controled the length and diameter of the swaged “bumped-up” bullets by lowering the depth rod until the bullet wasn’t compressed at all and raising the depth rod half a turn at a time until I got close to the desired size, then fine tuned the depth adjustment. Adjustment was very repeatable. Best results were obtained with a nose punch a little larger than the original. Gas checks seat and size-up with the bullet perfectly.
Now I have a great selection of bullet weights for my Rossi 1892 Rifle and no additional expense of several molds and keeping a hundred pounds of bullets in stock for just this rifle.
Now I need a .444 marlin to test these over sized bullets with as well!
Boomer
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Rossi_1892_Rifle-2.JPG
I special ordered a Rossi 1892 .44mag Rifle a few years back for long range side match duty and loved the way it shot Bear Creek .430 240 grain SWC’s with one exception – leading. I didn’t shoot many rounds in side matches but cleaning the beast was a drag. I finally got around to slugging the bore in that Rifle and guess what? .431 bullets in a .4329 bore is a recipe for leading! A little fire lapping to clean-up the rough spots should produce a .433-.4335 bore; however, none of my dozen or so .44 moulds will produce .434” diameter bullets, even with linotype.
After placing my order with the 44-444 fat bullet group buy and ordering a custom .434 sizer die from Buffalo Arms I started wondering if I could “BUMP-UP” existing bullets to .434” diameter in the RCBS lubricator-sizer as it was the strongest on my bench.
The custom die arrived today so I started tinkering and found I could bump-up the Speer 240 grain SWC to .434 easily (BHN8). Then I tried the beloved Bear Creek 240 grain SWC’s; yes, they bumped-up ok (BHN11) and I liked the shape of the nose when using an RCBS #421 nose punch better than the original. Then I tried a 300 grain RCBS 44 SWCGC cast from linotype (BHN22). It did bump-up; however, the strain of doing 5 bullets pushed the handle beyond its limits.
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Rossi_1892_Rifle-1.JPGhttp://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Bumping-Up_Bullet_Size-9.JPG
I removed the taper cut into the sizing die punch for flat bases and re-enforced the handle by welding some 1/8” mild steel stock to the handle and continued the testing of more bullets in my inventory. The results are as follows:
Speer .44 cal 240 grain SWCPB (BHN8) (actual weight 240.5 grains)
Original diameter .431 New diameter .434 Original length .730 New length .668
Original meplat .250 New meplat .290 Nose punch RCBS #421
Original nose to crimp groove length .325 New nose to crimp groove length .290
Bear Creek .44 cal 240 grain SWCPB (BHN11) (actual weight 242 grains)
Original diameter .431 New diameter .434 Original length .730 New length .695
Original meplat .280 New meplat .300 Nose punch RCBS #421
Original nose to crimp groove length .330 New nose to crimp groove length .315
Lyman .44 cal 240 grain FNPB (BHN22) (240.5 grains linotype .432 as cast)
Original diameter .432 New diameter .434 Original length .711 New length .685
Original meplat .280 New meplat .300 Nose punch RCBS #636
Original nose to crimp groove length .370 New nose to crimp groove length .350
Lyman .44 cal 275 grain FNGC (BHN22) (282 grains w/gc linotype .4325 as cast)
Original diameter .4325 New diameter .434 Original length .806 New length .790
Original meplat .295 New meplat .310 Nose punch RCBS #636
Original nose to crimp groove length .425 New nose to crimp groove length .410
RCBS .44 cal 300 grain SWCGC (BHN22) (297 grains w/gc linotype .431 as cast)
Original diameter .431 New diameter .434 Original length .905 New length .875
Original meplat .275 New meplat .310 Nose punch RCBS #636
Original nose to crimp groove length .425 New nose to crimp groove length .395
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Bumping-Up_Bullet_Size-1.JPGhttp://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/9030/medium/Bumping-Up_Bullet_Size-2.JPG
Left top - RCBS 44 300 SWCGC, Left middle - Lyman 44 275 FNGC, Left bottom - Lyman 44 240 FNPB.
Right top - Speer 44 240 SWCPB, Right bottom - Bear Creek 44 240 SWCPB.
2 Bullets on left side of each set are original size for comparison.
I controled the length and diameter of the swaged “bumped-up” bullets by lowering the depth rod until the bullet wasn’t compressed at all and raising the depth rod half a turn at a time until I got close to the desired size, then fine tuned the depth adjustment. Adjustment was very repeatable. Best results were obtained with a nose punch a little larger than the original. Gas checks seat and size-up with the bullet perfectly.
Now I have a great selection of bullet weights for my Rossi 1892 Rifle and no additional expense of several molds and keeping a hundred pounds of bullets in stock for just this rifle.
Now I need a .444 marlin to test these over sized bullets with as well!
Boomer