How to shave down cast bullets constantly and efficiently

[tsafa]

Does anybody know of a way to shave down lead cast bullets consistently and efficiently? Is there any specialized equipment for this?

My S&W 500 mold casts the bullets a bit to thick. After crimp, the round will not chamber easily. i can see a slight bulge imprint on the case from the bullet. I do not have this problem with factory .500 bullets. I need a good way to shave .500 lead down to .480

It would also be useful if I could shave .454 down to .45

[Nate7667]

First you need to slug your bore to see what you need to size to.

.501 seems to be the common size to go with on the 500S&W, so im not sure why you need to drop down .020"!
You may have other issues going on.

Then you need to size your bullets when using cast lead, more so when casting your own.
You can buy/order dies that will drop bullets within a .001" of the size you need and avoid sizing altogether.

But you need to look at
http://www.midwayusa.com/bullet-size...rs/br?cid=8666
And
http://www.midwayusa.com/bullet-lube...es/br?cid=9172

dont forget your gas-checks too

[hornady]

As a general rule cast bullets should be sized .001 to .002 larger diameter than a Jacketed bullet of the same caliber. If you did find a way to swag .500 bullets down to .480 you would most likely swag almost the entire grease groove out of the bullet. I would say before you do anything drastic, Try loading a couple without a crimp. Cast bullets are swaged or sized with a sizing press and what is known as an H&I die. Lee makes a sizing die that works with a standard press. But it is highly unlikely you could squeeze a hard cast bullet much with either.

[tsafa]

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I will try to find a few videos on You Tube regarding this process. I expected that the bullets would be ready to go straight from the mold.

[cephas]

Knowing the bore dimensions is good advice. I'd add another very important factor and that is the cylinder fit. The cast should have some resistance but be able to be pushed through the cylinders.
For sizing handgun cast I've found the Lee push through sizers work well for me.

Also these folks have a good handle on it all: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...olver-accuracy

[DucatiRon]

I cast bullets for a living. Bullets are almost never GTG straight from the mold. Most are all oversized so the can be resized and lubed w/o the lube squirting out around the bullet. You definately need a caliper or at least a .500 or .501 sizing die from Lee to make the bullets the correct diameter.

[Gunsnwater]

I recommend a micrometer for bullet diameter. Calipers are good for length measurements.

[dkf]

One of the cheapest ways to size bullets is a push through sizing die on a reloading press. Lee sells push though sizers and NOE has one with interchangeable sizing bushings. Often times cast bullets the right size for your guns cylinder throats and barrel bore may get swaged down or need too much force to be seated. In that case you need a slightly larger expander to expand and flare the case before seating cast bullets. My jacketed and cast loads in .44 for instance do have a slight bulge on the brass, it is normal. My cast bullets for .44mag are all sized .432". You can also use bullets as cast with no sizing if they are close to the size you need.

[bamboomaster]

I cast bullets for a living. Bullets are almost never GTG straight from the mold. Most are all oversized so the can be resized and lubed w/o the lube squirting out around the bullet. You definately need a caliper or at least a .500 or .501 sizing die from Lee to make the bullets the correct diameter.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And for those on a budget, order the sizing die.

Cut two six inch lengths of 2x4.

Clamp them together in a heavily-anchored vice, and using a drill with the correct bit size (the outside diameter of the sizing die + around 1/16 - 1/8th of an inch larger), drill through the center "seam" of the two pieces of wood - so you effectively have a semi-circle on each side.

Unclamp the vice and test the sizing die fit between the two boards. If loose, wrap the die one or two times with scrap leather and re-insert into your vice.

Now, taking a lubed cast bullet and a rubber mallet, use a short brass rod of similar diameter and one or two light taps ought to push it through the die. Many of these dies have a larger opening at the top that tapers to the correct size to facilitate feeding. Do not attempt to re-size in this manner without first lubing, otherwise it will be a job to move the unlubed bullet through the sizing die and you'll probably end up distorting the most important part of the bullet (the base) for all your trouble.

Try to catch the bullet with your free hand as it comes out of the sizing die and lay it in a pan or other container behind or below the vice. You don't need dents on your otherwise PERFECT castings!

I use this procedure for a .45 Creedmoor muzzleloader that shoots a 475 grain bullet (with seven lube grooves), drops from the mold at .455, after cooling gets pan-lubed with my own secret brew, and finally gets resized to .452 (.003 inches). While certainly not up to commercial speed, I can resize about 200 previously lubed bullets in just over thirty minutes. And that's enough for me to shoot most of the summer with this particular rifle.

Hope this helps.

Just want to let you know that re-sizing a bullet cast for the S&W 500 (while they're usually resized after casting to .501) all the way down to .480 is gonna create a real accuracy problem if you're shooting it in the S&W 500 - the bullet won't even touch the lands and not only will your accuracy suffer, but so will your self esteem if you shoot it with friends!

Why do you want to load a .480 bullet in a case made for S&W 500 (sized to .501)? Is there some other project going on?

[tsafa]

Thanks everyone for the great advice and video. I have been casting bullets for my cap and ball revolvers up until now, which size themselves as you seat them. I had no idea of the bullet sizing process that was required for cartridge ammo. I had only guessed the bullet size might be .480. I will have to go through the process of figuring out what my exact bore size is and will buy a bullet sizer and dies. This thread has been very informative.


Can someone give me some info on gas checks? and what that is all about? Thanks.