.40 cal 175gr sized to .358

[ghh3rd]

I just moved and while digging through my loading stuff found a box with a couple hundred .40 cal 175gr Lee TL boolits that I had marked "Remelt these". I couldn't remember why, until I measured and found they are sized to .358 -- now I remember using the wrong sizer about a year ago.

I just checked my Lee 2nd Edition loading book and found a load for 173gr lead boolits --- 4.9gr - 5.4gr of Accur #5 that give about the same FPS with a pressure increase from 14,600 for the 148gr boolits with Bullseye to 16,500 for the 173 gr lead boolits with Accur #5.

Am I thinking correctly that my "mistake boolits" will perform safely with the 4.9-5.4gr Accur #5 load in my snub? If so, I wonder how the point of impact will change?

[edited to ask about how far to seat these boolits]

Thanks - Randy

[ghh3rd]

Nobody ever sizes a .401 to .358? I think I'll give it a go, and report back.

[fryboy]

i have the mold but never sized them down that far , what u didnt state when u asked for a seating depth was what caliber/cartridge u'd be stuffing them in ,the action would also play a part , if a revolver u will be limited by cylinder length , in a lever action such as a 357 marlin 1895 the lifer and rifling come into play ,in a encore/contender ditto on the rifling , what i did size down was the lyman 452374 HP mold to .430 the sizing gave me problems in the 44 mag but makes a wicked hollow point for the 44 special and 44-40 ( just never had much luck with accuracy at the mag levels with it is all ) had to size and lube to 452 first or i lost most my lube groove squeezing them down , happy experimenting amigo !

[NSP64]

I have never sized that far down. well maybeeeee .451>.430 lets see thats only 21 thousandths. Nope never that far. Mine didn't shoot worth a hoot.

[fredj338]

I can't imagine there weoul be any grooves left, even going to 0.390"! I've sized down 0.459" slugs to 0.452" & had quite a bit of deformation of the lube grooves.

[HammerMTB]

Are you kiddin' me?
I have that Lee mold, casting those 175's at .404-.405
Just sizing them to .401 gives a tiny tail at the boolit base, when I use the Lee push-thru sizer.
With what you're doin' you could make 'em paper patchers!
I'm not suggesting it, just commenting....
That's a lotta size down!

[Elkins45]

I don't see how a bullet that oversized ever made it into the sizing die. I think I would have noticed how much force it took to squeeze one down that far!

[troy_mclure]

Are you kiddin' me?
I have that Lee mold, casting those 175's at .404-.405
Just sizing them to .401 gives a tiny tail at the boolit base, when I use the Lee push-thru sizer.
With what you're doin' you could make 'em paper patchers!
I'm not suggesting it, just commenting....
That's a lotta size down!

mine are right at .401, and 1 in 10 or so drop smaller, enough to slide right thur the sizer.

[ghh3rd]

These are the .40 cal boolits that I sized down to .358. They are all about 173gr. The grooves must start off pretty deep to still have some left.

I think I'll experiment with them in the .38 snub with the 4.9gr - 5.4gr of Accur #5 that I mentioned originally and post back.
24235

[DLCTEX]

Something is strange here. I've tried sizing 460-350 RB boolits yo 457 and wiped out the lube grooves a lot worse than that. That should have taken them down to the size of the nose at the top drive band.

[ghh3rd]

Something is strange here. I've tried sizing 460-350 RB boolits yo 457 and wiped out the lube grooves a lot worse than that. That should have taken them down to the size of the nose at the top drive band.

That's why I weighed them, to be sure they were my 175 gr .40's. The only .38 mold I have is the 148 gr wadcutter. This .40 mold must have some very deep lube grooves. If this works out, I may have a 'convertible' .40/.38 mold :-)

[NSP64]

I think I would measure them again. I have a .401 lee tl mold and the area just forward of the front driving band measures .378. Your photo shows there is a step down from the front driving band. If they were sized .358 there shouldn't be a front driving band.

[Elkins45]

Something is strange here. I've tried sizing 460-350 RB boolits yo 457 and wiped out the lube grooves a lot worse than that. That should have taken them down to the size of the nose at the top drive band.

Yeah, the tumble lube grooves aren't nearly that deep. Sizing from .401 to .358 should leave a hugely misshapen smooth cylinder.

I have a Lee .358 push thru sizer and I have some of the 10mm 175 gr TL bullets. I'll try to see if I can even manage to squeeze one through the die and I'll take a picture of it if I do.

[Elkins45]

OK, I'm back from the basement. I took a .401 bullet lubed with LLA/JPW and attempted to drive it thru a Lee .358 push thru sizer using my RCBS Reloader Special 3 press (compound linkage).

I leaned on the press handle with both hands until the top of my reloading bench began to flex and I could feel my tendons starting to hurt...and the bullet didn't even enter the die. The front driving band had a bit of the lube rubbed off but it didn't even go far enough into the die to stick. I popped it loose with my fingers.

I'm not sure what you have in that picture, but I can say with confidence that they are NOT .401 bullets that have been sized to .358. A standard lubrisizer would snap the linkage before it would take a hard alloy bullet down that far, and the result certainly wouldn't look that pristine. Plus, unless you normally size bullets with a four foot length of pipe slipped over the handle, you would have stopped after the first one!

I think you need to measure those bullets again.

[afrance]

Before you completely condemn that Randy could not have sized .401 bullets to .358 you may want to re-try your test with a slipperier lube. While the percentage of reduction is different, I experimented with sizing an old Ideal 8mm (.324) to .310 with LLA and nearly broke the press and lost most of the lube grooves (similar to your experience).

However, when I switched to a Darr lube concoction I found it significantly easier and much more of the lube grooves remaining. The boolit was a lot longer and it definitely wasn't as easy as .312 to .310, but it was possible with a Lee Challenger press.

Alan

[Tom W.]

I just tried it with my Rockchucker and lubed the boolit with Imperial sizing die wax. I couldn't get it to enter the Lee .358 push thru die. I wish I could have, because I have a lot of those boolits cast and loobed, with nothing to shoot them out of......yet.

[9.3X62AL]

Such a try is well outside my experience, and I have 3 pistols that dote on my Lee 175 TC castings--so, not reason to squeeze them down.

Elkins45, that is a fine-looking pup in your avatar photo.

[steg]

Looking at those boolits, especially the bases, if they were sized down that far their would be a skirt on them, but they even show a little rounding of the edge at the base, I dont think those boolits were sized down at all, if they were even sized............steg

[miestro_jerry]

On occasion I resize some 458 elephant/buffalo jacketed bullets to 452 to use in my 45 Win Mag Contender. That takes a lot of effort to do that.

Jerry

[David2011]

A commercial caster I know said his air powered Star sized some .429 boolits down to .401 without even hesitating. He didn't do it intentionally- got some .44s mixed in with the .40s.

David

[troy_mclure]

i couldnt even get it on the first driving band.

[chris in va]

I size .362 down to .358 and it takes some force, couldn't imagine doing what the OP indicated.