Resize??

[Jebus35745]

Bought a bunch of .38 DEWC cast by someone. Some at the base measure .360-.361 or .357 and are made of a lead I have no clue of the hardness. There are 4000, what a tedious job. If I shoot them unsized and they are .004-.005 over what they should be, is there any dangers of getting high pressures?? They will be lubed with allow. Larry

 

[pasound]

Most casts I see are .357-.360. Rim Rock, Missouri, even Berry's Plated. Load them for target plinkers. You should have no problems.

 

[Fishinfool]

If you load them as standard pressure target loads, I don't think you will have any issues.

I own several .44 mag and .45c revolvers with over sized throats that I cast lead bullets well over bore grove diameter (.003 or more) with no pressure issues using normal mid-range load data.

Larry

 

[colt_saa]

Unless you are loading them at 100% MAXIMUM pressure for the cartridge you are shooting them in, say 35,000 PSI if we are talking 357 Magnum, then there is no way a little pressure bump (if one occurred) could hurt anything

It is a LEAD wadcutter. Your loads are probably putting them midrange pressures

 

[reddog81]

You’ll probably get better accuracy if all are sized the same, but I wouldn’t worry about any small pressure variations causing any issue. Sizing 4,000 is better than having to cast and then size 4,000.

 

[Jebus35745]

I didn’t figure there would be a big pressure spike and forgot to mention they will be loaded with 3.0 gr of 231. Shoot a lot of double action and want light loads with the revolvers. The load mentioned will cycle the model 52 without beating it up. Thanks for the replies so far, hope more people chime in.

Reddog81, couldn’t imagine 4000 cast & sized. Larry

 

[Warren Sear]

There will be no measurable increase in pressure with lead bullets a few thousandths over-size. If the loaded ammo will fit into your cylinder, you are good to go.

 

[6string]

Hi Larry,

What a great reloading experiment you have on hand!

Sort them by size.
Load them the same otherwise.
Shoot and compare!

The sorting will go quickly if you use a revolver cylinder. Put the ones that fall through in one pile, and the ones that don't in another. You can subset from there if you want.

A quick way to estimate hardness is to place a bullet of questionable hardness and another of pure lead in a vice with a steel ball bearing in between. Tighten the vise just enough to dent an impression in both. The difference in the diameter of the round dent made by the bearing is in direct inverse proportion to the relative hardness on the BHN scale. Lead is BHN 5 while WW is roughly BHN 9. The dent in the lead would be approx twice the size as that in WW.

Best Regards,
Jim

 

[Jebus35745]

Hi Jim, great idea. I have a couple cylinders to use and seems faster then a lube sizer. Gonna lube some of different sizes and sort some like you said and see if any big differences. What a relief knowing they are OK basically as cast. Larry

 

[rockquarry]

I called Lyman several years ago regarding pressure increases with cast bullets that were oversized and was told by one of their ballistic guys that pressure increases were negligible. However, I'm pretty sure he was speaking of small increases such as .002" or .003" that we sometimes encounter.

Shooting oversize bullets in an S&W revolver is generally fine if the loaded cartridge will chamber without difficulty unless you're using really stout loads.

In a lot of Colt revolvers, the bores are tighter than S&Ws. While oversize bullets may not be dangerous in these guns, they may quickly cause a serious leading problem and poor accuracy. Some Colts will do okay with .358" bullets. I've used bullets slightly larger than that, but many such revolvers will do better with .357" bullets.

 

[mikld]

How well do you know your gun? Do you know the cylinder throat diameter? ("drop through", "push through", "snug" or "loose" are not measurements) Bullets larger than the cylinder throat will be sized down as they pass, but will quite often leave a lead "spray" on the cylinder face and frame. Bullets smaller than cylinder throat diameter will likely lead the barrel...

Bullets .003"-.004" oversize probably won't be noticed, and swaged down by the throats, and more than likely be safe...

 

[6string]

One thing I should have nentioned in addition to above (post #8) is that, in the process of loading these bullets, they are likely to be sized down once they are seated in the cases.
The degree to which this will happen depends primarily on two factors:
1) The hardness of the bullet

2) The inside diameter of the prepared case

Regarding the second point, the case mouth diameter will depend on the dimensions of the resizing die and the expander/flare die plug. Carbide dies resize strictly via the little carbide insert whose size is dictated by the smallest likely needed diameter factoring in SAAMI cartridge specs, the thinnest case walls likely encountered, and smallest diameter bullets likely to be used.
In other words, they're ideally suited for .357" jacketed bullets!
(If you've ever noticed a reloaded cartridge that visually resembled a Coke bottle, you have already seen the evidence of this.)

Larry, I would suggest one more little experiment.
Load up a dummy round, then pull the bullet using an inertia type bullet puller and check the diameter. And, I'd carefully check it at the heel and tip of the bullet!
I think you'll be surprised! (Hint: brass is harder than lead!)

Larry, if you have more than one way to resize 38s (maybe you have an older steel size die or Lee Loader?), that is another useful resource to add to the experiment.

By the way, in Phil Sharpe's original 1937 edition of his Complete Guide to Handloading, he lists the diameter of every bullet for each variation of all commonly available cartridges from all the major manufacturers. (Whew, that's a lot!)
For the 38 Special, lead bullet diameter specs ran from .3575" to .359", with the majority between .3585" and .359". Makers included Western, Win, Rem, USC, and Peters.
If you're using a S&W revolver from this era, that's what they were designed around.

But, again, this is a wonderful opportunity.

Jim