I have a newfound interest in my Winchester Self Loading rifles as of late. I cast for them, and have purchased vintage and new production jacketed soft point bullets ($$$$$$), but am wishing to dive into sizing down 0.410" jacketed or semi-jacketed bullets to 0.406" and 0.358" to 0.351".
I plan on using a hydraulic press for this process (to save both my RCBS press and my body!) to push these projectiles through a piece of Jadco QT Plus drilled to an appropriate size. The QT Plus is 1.25", my pieces are irregular leftovers from a buddy - largest is approximately 16"x24".
Questions are:
- Is it necessary to undersize to 0.405" (or what size?) to account for spring back?
- Is it necessary to anneal these bullets prior to sizing? Would it help at all? Or will that affect the jacket integrity?
- Is using the next bullet as a follower to push the first bullet in line likely to distort the bullet? Or possibly cause problems with the jacket / core interface? Would it be better to push through in a single push?
- Does speed of the push affect the final product? I am thinking in terms of heat (The press I have available can exert its pressure quite quickly if desired).
- Would it be necessary or beneficial to cool the working surfaces as I go? I'm thinking of water is all.
My plan is to get the piece cut and drilled by the same friend that gave it to me, and will likely need to purchase appropriate bits for the job. I do not have any efficient means of cutting or drilling this. Then I plan on making them in long runs to minimize the number of trips to the press location.
I would appreciate any help with my questions and please feel free to tear down my ideas if something seems impractical or flat wrong. I am very inexperienced with this entire endeavour - so apologies if that shows!
Thank you!
p.s. I think there is a thread on this somewhere..... I'll be darned if I can find it though!!!
Mods please move this if I posted it in the wrong section.
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