Sizing issues. Ugh!

Ian

Notorious member
Sizing pretty hard bullets down .004 is going to be hard on everything.

This is why I would cast, check and size, then PC and resize. I would probably use softer bullets too but that is just me.

Not just you, I use the softest alloy I can get away with; tin and antimony are a lot more expensive than soft scrap lead. Besides, I can get reasonable accuracy at jacketed velocity with relatively soft bullets just by coating them. Unless I made or bought a mould specifically sized to allow for PC and only a light, final size after coating, I have to reduce the bullet diameter in two processes (before and again after coating). Rifle bullets get checks seated and crimped, then run through a puh-through sizer, coated, and run through a form die which sizes the bands and lightly sizes/uniforms the nose. I try to do all my sizing as soon after casting as possible.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
I had a reply ....
Alloy response in PC is muddy water at best .
All of our AC alloys aren't having parallel results in PC vs grease .
Our HT alloys aren't having parallel results either .
The scientific test of adhesion is " hit it with a big hammer if it doesn't flake or split your golden" .
PC is just thin jacket easier to get good results with than paper and cheaper than swage dies .

Going fast and driving fast ain't the same thing .
I find too often that we tend to lump all of the basic minimum needs together as a guide for everything. The needs of a32 long in an 1885 Colts ain't the same as a 327 last Tuesday S&W especially at best performance. Honestly 460 S&W shares a groove and rim with a Colts and is fully capable of matching 45-70 TD and a little bit but needs pretty much end there .

Ya don't put a J2 Jeep on a race track and you don't drive GT308 up a rutted 30 yr old fire break .
 

Michael

Active Member. Uh/What
Update.

Heated up 50 slugs last night, lost track of time and they spent close to an hour in the oven at 400-ish.
Sized and gas checked half at .339 through Lee push through and the other half at .340 through a NOE. Then not being happy that I did not enough variables already I ran a dozen of each through a .330 nose sizer, which didn't do much except the last 3/16" in front of the forward driving band. A little smear of case lube on every other one and they slid right through the sizing dies and no new words were invented.

In re-reading Ian's post #10, now wondering if I may of over cooked them. But then I have no recollection what so ever if I quenched them or not when I PC'd them almost 2 years ago. Will let them sit for a bit and re-shoot them, reckon I can always heat em up and quench if need be.

Thank you for everyone's input.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
hour in the oven at 400-ish. Not a problem. My standard. I WD after cooking, usually. The long cook time alloys the Sb 'spiders' to decompose. If not WD, they eventually return.
I can always heat em up and quench if need be. Works fine if the alloy has 2% SB. Otherwise a waste of time.