Can anyone point me in the right direction to where I can find the sizing die I need. Ive got a bunch of 54 cal Lee REAL bullets that are kind of tight when loading in my kibler colonial. Im thinkingbif i sized them to a .538 they would load a lot easier. Also I do not have a loading press, so something I could use by hand or on a table is what I need.
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Sizing Die
- Thread starter ThompsonNC
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Lee REAL bullets are not intended by design to be sized. The bottom lands are a little under bore size and the top land is larger than bore size, intended to be engraved upon loading. Sizing would defeat the design purpose.
Curious, are you using pure lead (BHN of 5 or so) or something harder? Anything other than pure lead will be harder and cast slightly larger, possibly creating loading force issues, particularly in a bore intended to be loaded with patched roundballs.
Yes pure lead, the bottom land is what i have trouble getting started in the muzzle about the first 2-3". After that it slides all the way down easy and smooth.
I've never used them since I'm a round ball shooter but I think that REAL is an acronym for Rifling Engraved At Loading which seems to me to indicate that they might be a little hard to get started, especially if the bullets aren't very soft. I wonder if a coned muzzle might be a "REAL" help?
The Lee REAL is around 1/2” long. If it’s 2-3” down the bore I don’t see the problem??? Maybe just me not understanding. Measure the bore with a gauge pin if you want to know the exact size and go from there. You can order custom sizing dies at about $50 a pop, but suggest you know what you need/want first, unless you want to order a range of dies.
Are you having problems with patched roundballs loading, the intended projectile for your barrel?
No issues at all with prb, just when starting the lee bullets
I thought that too. Ive been wanting to have mine coned for a while now anyways.
I’ve have cast and shot Lee REAL bullets in a number of calibers. If cast from pure lead (check your lead hardness, should be right around a BHN of 5) they load pretty easily in most barrels after that initial smack to get them started, though I’ve never found them to be all that accurate. It may be telling if we knew what actual diameter you found your bore to be with something like gauge pins, otherwise everything is just a guess. I wish you luck on your quest, and hopefully someone with more insight in how to size a projectile without knowing the actual bore diameter will come along.
Are the Lee bullets designed to bump up and fill the grooves when they're fired?
I thought Colonial barrel didn't have enough twist to stabilize those? Don't know; just asking?
Yes.
Ive had pretty good results with them.
www.lodgewood.com has a push-thru hand sizer die of 0.536" for only $18 that you might be able to carefully hone larger.
https://www.lodgewood.com/Push-Thru-Sizing-Die_p_491.html
www.northeasttradeco.com has a push-thru sizing die (needs a press) for $2 at that 0.538" size.
https://www.northeasttradeco.com/online-store/PUSH-THROUGH-SIZING-DIES-c22315045
FWIW I have a simple Lee 'C' press I could sell you cheaper than you'd get anywhere else ....
The Lee REAL is not all that long of conical relative to caliber, and many have found it to shoot fairly accurate out of slower twist bores intended for roundballs. I’ve never gone out looking for Lee REAL molds, but I have picked a number of them in different calibers over the years. I have never found them to be the most accurate projectile out of any particular gun, but they were more than accurate enough for most hunting scenarios.
It’s just something you will have to try with your particular gun if you want to know.
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I started shooting R E A L bullets after reading an article by Phil Spangeberger in Guns & Ammo right after they came out. I shot them a lot when deer hunting with a 45 caliber rifle. I also shot the 50 and 54 caliber bullets. I have never had an issue with loading but my rifles were all by mass production manufactures. You didn’t mention the actual bore diameter of the rifle in question. Does the lower portion of the bullet go in easy or is the bottom section also difficult to insert? It could be you have a tighter than normal bore.
I’d recommend a .530 with .18 patch.
Works great in my Colonial .54.
Buy a Callahan mold and recast your lead.
Works great in my Colonial .54.
Buy a Callahan mold and recast your lead.
Joe Wood, maker of coning tools, does not recommend coning the muzzle of any barrel that shoots conicals. This is due to gas cutting at the base of the bullet.
If you have a brass rod about a foot long that will fit the bore, drop it down then take the real bullet and start it in the muzzle and tap it in till it's flush with the muzzle. Then turn the rifle muzzle down and shake it up & down. The brass rod will knock the bullet out. Then you can mike the bullet to get the actual bore diameter.
I have sized about six bullets that way to see how they shoot in my rifle, just line the lands & groves when loading with the bullets lubed.
I have sized about six bullets that way to see how they shoot in my rifle, just line the lands & groves when loading with the bullets lubed.
Curious how you mike a bullet diameter with seven or so grooves in it to determine actual bore diameter for sizing? Photographs if you don’t mind.
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