Too much time on my hands....

B

Beagle333

New member
In the interest of making my 30-30 bullets fit without engraving heavily, I may finally have this figgered out. Of course I size the whole thing down to .310, but that is just the driving bands and so the nose is still too big.
So......

Right = a .3015 nose bullet.(before)
Left = a .300 nose bullet. (after)
ideal-sizer010_zps496dc48f.jpg


Here's how I'm doing it.... a nose sizer in my lubesizer. It holds captive, a .300 (or whatever size you want) Redding nitride-bushing, inside the die. The top punch shoves the bullet down to whatever depth you like (just set the bottom punch to stop somewhere short of the .310 driving bands, I stopped a little short of the crimp groove) and the upstroke pushes the bullet back out with a nice shiny .300-exactly nose! Now, I'm thinking I can coat some bullets and size the bands with the Lee push-thru sizer, and resize the nose with this die. I used lubed bullets for the first pics because that's what I found first when I started rummaging for test bullets.
ideal-sizer001_zpsf35a2d7f.jpg


A closer pic of the die/bushing....
ideal-sizer005_zps8f53df31.jpg


Shove 'er home.... ('bout this far in there)...
ideal-sizer003_zpse5492a40.jpg


And up pops a nose sized bullet. Now to PC a few (the next chance I get) and see how this works. There is no lube involved here.... there are no holes in the side of the die... I just don't tighten the pressure screw when I use this die, even though the tube is full of CR. :D
ideal-sizer004_zps881da252.jpg
 
Last edited:
This is the reason I was interested in sizing the nose.... They are dropping a little over .301 as cast, and so they're engraving pretty good, and if I want to play with my powdercoating, I am surely going to have to shrink em a bit.
HR001_zps82588537.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice job! Had close to the same issue with my 35 rem., a wee bit shorter on the powder and a bit more seating depth fixed me. From the looks of yours that wasn't going to happen... Good fix. You'll have to let us know how they fly.
 
Before.... nose is .3015
lube003_zps6668130d.jpg


After.... nose is .300 exactly. I'm lovin' it!:D
ideal-sizer013_zps0edfe4b7.jpg


I could have sized it all the way through the crimp groove, but I don't think it matters. It is well past cleared of where the rifling starts. It should just touch the rifling now.
 
Last edited:
Must be retired. Enjoy it. I wonder if you could get the chrome looking powder coat and call them silver bullets for hunting werewolves? :eek: :D
 
Not retired..... I wish! :rolleyes: I'm a young feller... not even 50! I got two jobs. But with it getting dark early now..... there's not much to do in the evenings, but play indoor games. ;)

I got a bazillion bullets that I've been casting all spring/summer, just waiting to be loaded. :)
 
I sure am glad your working all of these things out for me....:D

I have a couple of 03A3's, a SMLE, and well you know after I get any of those spittin lead, how that goes for the rest. I already have molds in 6.5, 7mm, 308 and .311'ish calibers. I just haven't found time to work on them yet with what I have been having fun with in my revolvers.

You had also be careful playin those "indoor games", many times that has resulted in one of those " honey guess what" surprises...:eek:

That might cut out on you being able to come out here and play, just sayin;)

Oh and please tell me you have powdered the behind on that new rig already, yes? You've had it now for what a week or two? I would have already had at least a hundred rounds through it by now. I mean some things are simply more important than sizing bullets....
 
Got a question Mr. Beagle: will that Redding bushing trick work as well in a RCBS Lubsizer? I wouldn't mind pushing back those 311041s I use. Not that I'm having problems. I'd like to see mine a little more stock'yer also. Like yours.
 
This die is supposed to fit in anything that uses a regular Lyman size/lube die.... so I'm pretty sure it will work in RCBS too. I think the regular dies will work in both. I don't have much lube/sizer experience though, this is my first one. :)
 
I cast the RCBS 30-180-FN. The nose is too large for my 94 Winchester but worked fine in a VZ24 which Kimber barreled. My 700 Remington '06 will take the nose of this bullet perfectly when inserted at the crown. I might have to borrow that die.
 
I might have to borrow that die.
Click to expand...
After I size this bucket of bullets here, I'm gonna send it out to get the top drilled and tapped and some socket head screws put in to hold the top to the base. It is designed for a 450 or 4500 and this old one has no top nut to hold the die in there. It is working just perfectly, but after a few times of installing/removing it just as a pressed fit, I'm worried that it's not going to stay on its own.
But when I get it back and test 'er out... we'll talk. :D
 
I did find my Lyman 311440 will fit the Model 94. The nose will drop right in the crown. The RCBS 30-180-FN will group about 1 1/2" for 3 shots with 22 grains of 3031 but it is a jam fit & I don't like putting the needed pressure on the lever.
 
Hold the phone!!!!!.....

Okay..... forget pan lubing! This is great! I can't believe I didn't discover one of these sooner! I melted a stick of Carnauba Red from lsstuff.com and poured it into the reservoir, then I put a nice little 35 watt desk lamp right up against it for about half an hour (til it was pretty warm to the touch), because CR sticks are about as hard as your average long candle when cool.
ideal-sizer030_zpsea5e1e72.jpg


Then I stuck a bullet on the little plunger and....
ideal-sizer022a_zps6c6ef814.jpg


with one magic pull of the handle, up pops a perfectly lubed bullet, ready to go 2700 fps (according to the bag of lube sticks).
ideal-sizer023a_zps6ef2fb35.jpg


I did 5 different styles and it did the single fat groove ones...
ideal-sizer027a_zpse6e292e7.jpg


...just as easily as the 4 groove RanchDog designs. I used two sticks of lube over 5 hours (while watching football) and made several lubed bags of bullets and probably did enough bullets for at least 2 years of shooting the .30-30! :D
ideal-sizer028_zpsbbeab62f.jpg
 
Oh my gosh Beagle your killin me.... :D

I took the week off to be in the woods starting Sat thru Wed to chase down some hogs and deer. Here I now sit waitin on the Dr to open up so I can get a shot in the arm to feel better, but I think your little "DISCOVERY" has probably worked faster. Your great bud. ;)

Tell me about that bullet?
Click to expand...

Shoot me a note on what alloy you might want some of those in and I will include a bunch for you with that little thing we were discussing about those 41's other day on CB's...

I have the same mold sitting within arms reach and haven't even tried it out yet. Might as well heat up the casting pot, I ain't gonna be chasing nothin round in the woods.:(
 
Last edited:
Something about 12-13 BHN will work for me. In fact if it's 9 to 22 BHN I'll make it work. Don't need but a few. I can size & lube them. I have the Lyman 311440 but would like to look at some of those. They differ somewhat from mine.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top