Cast bullets slightly oversize

M

Montana Pete

Guest
I have loaded several brands of factory cast bullets in my .44 Magnum over the years. By far the majority are sized .429. However, I did get one box a while back sized at .431.

These created one problem in that when seating them, the case rim shaved little slivers of lead off of the bullets. I corrected this by adjusting my belling die to bell the case mouths slightly larger.

However, I have sometimes wondered why the company (LaserCast) ran this box of bullets slightly oversize. Is there a reason for this?

They seem to shoot fine, once I solved the "shaved lead" problem by adjusting my belling die.
 
Most jacketed bullets for use with .44 Magnum are sized .429 or .4295. It is normal and correct for cast lead bullets to be sized .001 to .002 larger. They seem to lead less and shoot more accurately this way.
You did the right thing by just putting a little more bell on the case mouth until the bullets seat without shaving lead.

Scott Roeder
 
Most of the cast bullets that I've made and shot, worked better slightly over slugged bore diameter...like .430, .431.
Pick up a Lyman reloading and bullet casting manual for a lot of good info.
Mark
 
cast boolits website has some great info. www.castboolits.com

As above, cast runs .001 to .002 over jacketed.

E.g., I run .452 cast or .451 jacketed in my 45 ACP.
 
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