Lee .358 .359 sizing die

[161]

I'm sure this is an old question but I can't find it in a search. Has anyone used a drill and a patch jag to open up their sizing die? What did you use for abrasive? I just used some Remington X40 bore cleaner but wonder if something else would work better. I want to go from .358 to .359 for my 35 Rem. I know RD sell them but thought I try to make mine bigger.
Thanks

[Love Life]

use some 600 grit sandpaper wrapped around a metal bolt. Works like a charm

[Bret4207]

Like LL said, some abrasive paper on a cleaning rod, roll it across your thigh. I opened a .329 to .332ish in 400 rolls with 320 paper. Didn't take long at all.

[uscra112]

Better than a cleaning rod or a bolt - take a 5/16 dowel and cut a 1" slot in it with a hacksaw. This is the hardest part - keeping that slot straight !

Use with a long strip of wet-or-dry paper. Do this quite often on my lathe, to open up or just polish bores. Strip length is varied to get the right amount of compression in the hole. Properly compressed, 320 grit will remove metal very fast! Sometimes I use a strip of cloth as a spacer, wound together with the abrasive paper. Cloth compresses more, and slows down the cutting action.

Opening up a sizer, you may get a problem with lube getting around the lower punch, however. But what with the price of sizer dies, it's worth the risk.

What do you have to use as a gage to let you know you've got it right? (A .358 j-word will only tell you when you've gone too far.)

I'm lucky enough to have a lathe. Better to spin the work than the lap - no chance to make the hole oval.