Well that was an interesting reloading mistake/discovery.

[Lance Boyle]

I have been working on a SWC accuracy load for practice. I’ve had a Lyman 358446 mold and just started working with an NOE 360477 mold. I wasn’t getting anything all that great or better than Hornadynswadge SWC.

I had recently got some AA2 as MtGianni recommended. I started with 3.6 grains in a Federal .38 case and did some test batches with .358” and .360 sized. Ho hum off the bench. Not terribly surprising.

Then I loaded another step up with 3.8 grains of AA2 in a .38 Federal case. Same .358” and .360 sized bullets. Only this time I saw that my .360 sizing didn’t hit the front band, there’s no lock nut on the threaded stem on the Lyman sizer. So I sized some more fully hitting the front band. i shot three lots of ten figuring I’d shoot the ones with the unsized front band.

sized 0.358”

sized .360 completely

the sized .360 and the front band unsized. remained about 0.362”

 

[Lance Boyle]

All I can think of is the unsized band in a ,38 case in a .357 chamber got a straighter start.

Edit, I see the pictures are upside down. FYI they were shot at 25 yards off the bench despite using 50 foot targets.

 

[Dan W. Cady]

When shooting a revolver and many other firearms there seems to be a worry by some folks about oversize bullets. If the cartridge with OS bullet fits the cylinder without resistance the forcing cone (That area at the breech end of the barrel) will make sure it travels down the barrel and without raising the pressure. Many cast bullet shooters have found that sizing is detrimental to accuracy and use special size dies large enough to only add lubricant to the bullet.