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Thread: Simple question: 45-70 to size or not to size after PC?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by physeptone View Post
    Because that's the size Lee make Yes, I would open it up a bit



    Great, thanks for the heads up, never tried Titan



    Brilliant, thanks for this advice - that's what these forums are for.
    I can easily make the lead this way (I thought I would need a ball mould in a calibre I would never use)
    The only issue is obtaining a brass rod here........
    I have slugged a lot of guns with a hard wooden dowel. We are not talking about POUNDING on the dowel but tapping. I use an unsized cast boolit and oil the barrel with gun oil generously and start the slug nose first with a small plastic mallet. With the rifle held securely and the base tapped in almost flush with the muzzle, I take a piece of dowel about 5" long to get the base of the slug started and when 4 inches is in the bore, switch to about a 12" piece the go to a 16" piece and so on until the slug comes out the chamber end. The idea is to not have a lot of unsupported dowel outside the barrel. Another person really helps to steady the gun or put it in a padded vise. A 3/8" wooden dowel is .375 and a 7/16" is .438 and if they are made correctly, they wont cost you a lot to buy several. I have heard all the horror stories about wooden dowels splitting but in many years of doing this I have never split one and I only use oak dowels. Just remember to take the short piece of dowel out and replace it with the longer pieces and never try to drive the shorter one with the longer. In your Marlin, if it has the Ballard, or non-microgroove rifling, I am betting that the .459 sizer is going to work for powder coating and Track of the Wolf does ship to NZ.Attachment 290611 Here is a 3/8" oak dowel with a .40 S&W case on the end that fits in the barrel of my Marlin 45/70 just right.
    Last edited by murf205; 10-21-2021 at 01:24 PM.
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master


    GregLaROCHE's Avatar
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    As everyone has been saying you need to slug the bore. It’s not that hard. I’ve heard some people use fishing weights to push through that are normally soft lead. After you get that measurement, you should cast and PC the boolit for the mold you have. You may get lucky and and not have to size at all. If the boolit PCed is not large enough you can try giving it another coat of PC or looking into beguiling the mold. Otherwise, you may need a new mold the correct size.
    This is the best way to get the maximum potential from your rifle and without leading. There are different opinions on how much to oversize the boolit. Use the search box to help decide what you want to do. PCed boolits are very forgiving and as long as it can easily chamber the round it will probably work, but to get the best out of the rifle you should do the measurements.

  3. #23
    Boolit Master
    Petander's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by physeptone View Post
    I have the Lee 405gn RNFP mould, brand new.



    The question
    What is likely to happen if I use unsized PC'd projectiles?
    What size does it drop? If you get like 459 I'd coat a bunch and shoot first.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master mehavey's Avatar
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    Really dumb questons:
    1. What size are your bullets now dropping from the mould -- unsized ?
    2. What size are your PC'd bullets -- unsized ?
    3. Have you actually loaded/fired an unsized PC'd bullet ?

    (FWIW: I'm shooting 0.459" and 0.460" out of a Marlin GBL)

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check