Sizing conicals

[Mad Professor]

I have a few fast twist barrels and was wondering about sizing conical bullets. I've never tried this and have no one with hands on experience to ask.

What sort of equipment will I need to get?

I have a RCBS press and most things for loading cartridges. Can this be used with the proper dies?

I also have a good set of vernier calipers for measuring bore/bullets.

Any advice on getting started on this would be appreciated.

 

[Mad Professor]

Whoops! Should this be in general forum?

If so can a Mod. move it?

 

[Stantheman86]

I'm just gonna hand size.....I'm setting up a casting area in my shed when it gets warmer out, tonight I hand dipped 50 minie balls in hot pure Beeswax.....but now I need to size them. Having .10 of Beeswax is no good for loading, and i can't pound beeswax caked bullets down a bore......so I'm gonna hand size them with push through sizers with the beeswax in the grooves.

Then I can roll them into 1861 Pattern cartridges.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Lyman 450 lubrisizer.
Get the dies you need for the size you want.
I have had mine for years, works great on everything cast, including roundball.

 

[Idaholewis]

Your RCBS press is Perfect! Lee makes Push Through sizers, They have The most commonly used sizes and also Make Custom sizes. NOE Bullet Molds also makes a Bullet Sizing Die, Theirs is unique in that it uses Bushings and they can be changed out. I was gonna go with NOE 3 Years or so ago but they did not have the Body size Bushings that i needed. This is something i do a LOT of, if you need further help Feel free to ask

https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/bullet-sizing-kit/

Lee Custom
https://leeprecision.com/custom-lube-and-size-kit/

NOE Push Through Sizer (Bushing Setup)
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=104

How I Customize a Push Through Bullet Sizer, This Video was a part 2 Series of my Paper Patching Video, But is the EXACT same process for a Grease Groove bullet. In short, I prefer to order a Push Through Sizer a Little Small, That way I can slightly open it to get a Custom fit per Gun

 

[Grenadier1758]

So much depends on the barrel, rate of twist and depth of the grooves. It also depends on the conical.

T/C Maxiballs and Lee REAL conicals are sized by the barrel as part of the loading process.

Other conicals may require a paper patch.

Tell us more about your barrel, caliber, depth of groove, rate of twist and what bullet you are planning to use.

 

[nkbj]

Lee Precision, Tennessee Molds, S&S... there's a few different sources for some pretty fine sizers.
Some to push through by hand, some to fit the threads on reloading presses, some to fit the sizer company presses. Different ones work better for different purposes.
For paper patches Lee and TN are real good.

 

[rmark]

I use the Lee push through dies, usually with a half beeswax/half olive oil soft lube that the cast bullet has been dipped in. You may need to size in steps using more than one die if the mold casts large.

For the Pedersoli Tryon Creedmore .451 I have one mold that casts .452 and I can size in one pass to .450. Using a different mold that casts a bit large at .454 I size first to .452 then to .450.(I'm sizing a bit under size for ease of dirty loading, out to 100 yards) The soft lube doesn't support the lube grooves well so they are pressed a bit thinner than as cast.

 

[ZUG]

I have a few fast twist barrels and was wondering about sizing conical bullets. I've never tried this and have no one with hands on experience to ask.

What sort of equipment will I need to get?

I have a RCBS press and most things for loading cartridges. Can this be used with the proper dies?

I also have a good set of vernier calipers for measuring bore/bullets.

Any advice on getting started on this would be appreciated.

This is how I do mine: I made a nylon size die that will size and true up the minie skirt. It will size only a few thousands but that is all I need because my Lyman mold will drop pure lead bullets very near my bore size. Here is a couple of pictures to show you what I mean:

 

[Mad Professor]

Thanks everybody!

The barrels are GM 1-28" twist, 28" length, in 50 and 54 cal. One of the 50s is 15/16" in a TC hawken, the other two are 1" in TC renegades. I've got all of them to shoot decent with buffalo bullets and/or hornady GP (see avatar).

I've watched the "Idaho" guys take things out a lot farther than I usually shoot and was wondering about bullet upgrades , paper patching included.

The rifles already have Davis triggers and Lyman SML57 peeps.

I'm still taking all this in before jumping ahead.....