Sizing down 44mag to .415

[Matt3357]

I know a 44mag SWC is .430 inches. I need a bullet .415. Is it possible to size down a 44 mag SWC 7.5mils all the way around to .415? How many steps? Please keep in mind I will have to buy the custom sizes from Lee at $30 a pop.

Thanks,
Matt

[targetshootr]

I jammed a boolit in a die last year when a mold dropped 44s at .440 instead of .433. It'd be cheaper and less trouble to buy new boolits.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I know a 44mag SWC is .430 inches. I need a bullet .415. Is it possible to size down a 44 mag SWC 7.5mils all the way around to .415? How many steps? Please keep in mind I will have to buy the custom sizes from Lee at $30 a pop.

Thanks,
Matt

Many years ago a reloading writer, Bob Milek IIRC, sized .44 boolits to .41 and, .41s to .357. He reported good accuracy from the greatly squeezed boolits. Be sure to size AND LUBE the .44s at .430 +/- before you size smaller to prevent collapsing the lube grooves.

[Leftoverdj]

Matt, be a lot easier to lap or shim a mould for the .41 Mag up. Many of those moulds already cast at .412-.413. You could also have Mountain Molds make a custom mould to your specs cheaper than buying a series of custom sizers.

That's not even considering whether you can size a bullet down that far without wiping out the lube grooves.

[beagle]

You can try beagling a .41 mould for trial but I'd also suggent a custom mould of the proper diameter if you'll use many of these.

Pretty big squeezedown from .429" to .415". Maybe it can be done but there will be a lot of distortion to your bullets./beagle

Matt, be a lot easier to lap or shim a mould for the .41 Mag up. Many of those moulds already cast at .412-.413. You could also have Mountain Molds make a custom mould to your specs cheaper than buying a series of custom sizers.

That's not even considering whether you can size a bullet down that far without wiping out the lube grooves.

[mooman76]

I'm with leftoverdj. get a .41 mould and adjust it or maybe with a little luck it will drop big. If you call one of the mould companies sometimes they will work with you and eithe have or look for a fat mould.

[fredj338]

Matt, be a lot easier to lap or shim a mould for the .41 Mag up. Many of those moulds already cast at .412-.413. You could also have Mountain Molds make a custom mould to your specs cheaper than buying a series of custom sizers.

That's not even considering whether you can size a bullet down that far without wiping out the lube grooves.

I agree. You can certainly size a 430 down in steps, but you'll likely lose the greas grooves. I have sized 340gr down to 0.424" for my 404jeffery in two steps; 0.428 & 0.424, they shot fine, but not much grease groove left.

[Matt3357]

Thanks everybody for the informed answers. You guys never cease to deliver. So it sounds like if I lube them before I try to resize them it might work to keep the grooves. I could use this as a temporary solution until I can find a die that'll work out for me. Many of you mentioned lapping out a die, how can I do that with my lack of a machine shop? Could I just use a bullet cast from it and some lapping compound? I mean I only need to go out about 4mils from a .411 bullet. The more I sit here and think about it, I think I would be better off buying a lee 41 mag SWC mold and lapping it out to .416 then sizing it down to .415. Thanks guys. I'll update when I come up with something.

Thanks,
Matt

[sqlbullet]

I will be really surprised if you have any grease groove left after a trip like that.

[Matt3357]

Ok so I have decided to buy a mold and lap it out. Any thoughts on how to do it?

Thanks,
Matt

[mooman76]

Do a search here ov lamenting. I think there is a sticky on it. You might also try putting something in the wanted to buy section for a fat .41. Someone might have one.

[Edubya]

Leementing:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=32584
EW

[Matt3357]

Just read on it for about an hour. Thanks for the link. I think I am going to ask for a bottom pour pot for Christmas and get a lee mold and see about Leementing it out. For now I have been reading about paper patching to get my .41 bullets up to .415. Thanks for all who posted.

Thanks,
Matt

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I read the article years back about squeezing boolits so I tried it. WW is a tough push. 50/50 not to bad. If you have an intermediate sizer die about .422 it will help. I tried nose first and base first. Nose first centered much better But you must have a flat plug on the base of the boolit of the proper size or it gets distorted. Base first ends up more shootable but the nose becomes a wad cutter IF you push with a flat punch. Be carefull the boolit is CENTERED in the size die.
Grease grooves get rather shallow. You can tumble lube though to add a bit more lube.
So yes you can do it. 20 years ago there were few 260+ grain .410 molds. Today the world of 41 mag is much brighter.
Me ... I would get out the lapping compound and OPEN up a Lee mold. Aluminun works easy & fast and Lee molds are cheap in case you get all wobbled out in a cavity.

[mroliver77]

Just for grins I sized down some .452 rnhp sized and lubed boolits to .431 in one step. I did it nose first with a flat full diameter punch.Lube groove was somewhat smaller but still plenty of lube for my SBH. Lapping a size die out a few thou is not a big deal or Buckshot will make you a custom size very reasonably.
Jay

[sqlbullet]

You haven't mentioned what weight bullet you are after. Can you get a .410 mold in a weight and bullet stle you want?

If so, enlarging that mold a couple thousandths will be the way to go. Chances are a .410 mold will drop .411-412 right from the get-go. That only leaves you needing to gain .003.

I have a similar problem. I would like to have a 200-210 grain mold in SWC for my 10mm. I will be either buying a custom mold at some point, or getting dies to step a .410 down.

[Onty]

I need a bullet .415. Is it possible to size down a 44 mag SWC 7.5mils all the way around to .415? Thanks,
Matt

I think that much better idea is to bump up 41 boolit on .415". All you need is a .415" die and flat nose punch with some sort of stop so all boolits will be pressed on the same height.

Look how, it's done on 22LR ammo:

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco.htm

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco2.htm

http://www.leverguns.com/store/acurizer.htm