casting pistol bullets

[450 racer]

I am starting to cast hard lead for the first time and was planing on lee sizer dies but was told on another site that if I buy the right diameter mold ie .410 for 41mag I don't need them can anybody else confirm this or am i being bs'd

 

[Enigma]

Load a dummy round with (no powder and) an unsized bullet, and see if it will chamber in all six chambers in your revolver. If so, you should be perfectly fine shooting them 'as-cast,' after lubing them, of course.

 

[GP100man]

All the Lees I have throw a tad "fat" but would work unsized .

More importantly is there not undersized !!

I`ve only had 1 revolver that had tite enuff chambers that demanded .429 boolits . A S&W 29-2

 

[Bucks Owin]

Good advice and don't get hung up on "hard lead" as you mentioned 450 racer. Full tilt .41 mag loads will be served just fine with WW alloy fitted to throats. (Not necessarily groove diameter)... :wink:

I had a .44 that was .4285" at the muzzle but grouped .430" WW bullets with very fine accy and scant leading..(Which I blame on the lube I was using in it's 10" barrel)

 

[mikld]

Lee's T/L bullets are designed to shoot as-cast, but you need to know your gun's measurements. Most important is cylinder throat diameter; you don't want any bullet more than .0005" smaller than cylinder throats. To get the "right" diameter of bullet as the mold maker specs, you'll have to know the alloy and temp it was cast at (and/or be lucky.).

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654 This is a popular and easy to make tumble lube. If you use straight alox, thin it with mineral spirits so it goes on easier (thinner) and dries faster.

 

[RugerSP101]

I am starting to cast hard lead for the first time and was planing on lee sizer dies but was told on another site that if I buy the right diameter mold ie .410 for 41mag I don't need them can anybody else confirm this or am i being bs'd

Myself, Im a safety nut so I just size regardless.
The Lee microgroove bullet mold I bought said no resizing, but frankly there were enough bullets that seemed a bit more snug than others going thru the sizer. Probably me not letting them cool down enough before dropping them out of the mold, but I just feel like sizing them insures that Im getting a bullet the right diameter in every case.

 

[gregs45auto]

With the Lee sizer, you also get a bottle of lube. I cut down a plastic milk jug, add bullets and lube, then stir. I have several Lee sizers and am pleased with them. hth greg

 

[450 racer]

just loaded a test round in a lyman 410426 mold and it chambed perfect in my 41mag blackhawk I will be ordering molds for 38/357 44 and 45cal soon and see if it all works out if not then get size dies