Sizing one Bullet to fit several guns.

[ggraham]

I am looking at your 170 LFN, intending to cast with WW.  I have several 30 cal. rifles, the largest bore slug measured .313, the smallest .308.  Can I reasnonably cast for the larger and size down to the smaller?  Is .005 too large of a step?  Can it be done in several stages with intermediate dies?  How large of a step is reasonable?  I assume I should size unhardened bullets with gas check seated, would this prevent me from hardening the bullets later?
 
Geoff

[Veral]

  It won't hurt the bullets too much to size them .005, but probably the spread won't be that large if you keep bullets fat as possible so they will still chamber, which is the best way to size anyhow.

  What I like to do for customers like you is to have you send in throat slugs from all the rifles, so I can make a bullet which suits all of them if possible.  Normally I can give a near perfect fit to most, and a decent fit for the worst, all in one mold.  But I do have to be given the reins so far as bullet weight.  When making a mold for several guns I cut the length to suit the shortest throat, and diameter of the base to fit the largest chamber, with diameter of the nose drive band to suit the largest groove diameter.

  If the customer mandates that weight not go below a fixed minimum, I may not be able to fit all guns with one bullet, but we can comunicate on the options after I measure up all the slugs, if that is a customer concern.

  Then there is a simple solution.  Order a .314 diameter 170 LFN, which is a relitively short bearing bullet as 30 calibers go, and it's a tough one.  Just use it at the largest diameter you can and get them chambered easily.  This without going to all the work of makeing up throat slugs.  If one of the guns, or two, don't thrive on it, make the throat slugs and learn why or order a mold to suit just those, if it seems worth the coin.  In the long run, results will probably be close to the same, with a bit more tinkering to get the right sizeing diameter, but less makeing throat slugs.

[ggraham]

Thanks for the prompt response.

I think I will go with the LFN option, three of my rifles are on loan and unavailable for slugging.  In this political climate I feel I should complete my reloading tools and supplies asap.  The rifles I am working with are .30-40 Krag, .303 Brit, 30-30, 7.7 Jap, .308 Win.  I am thinking the shorter bearing length of the LFN will be better for the shorter necked cases, keeping the gas check in the neck, but can also be seated correctly in the longer necked cases.  Does this make sense?

How does water hardening bullets affect the resizing we are talking about here?  Would it be better to size annealed and then harden?  can a bullet with a gas check be hardened without making it fall off?

[Veral]

  If you go with the LFN, which is overall a more accurate bullet at any given weight, it will be necessary to cut weight back to 160 grain to favor the 30-30, which has no throat, but it will make loading for the others a cinch.

  Don't be concerned about softening by sizing bullets which are hard.  The softening only happens on the skin which is the bearing surface of the bullet, but it has absolutely no effect on performance in any way.
 
  However, if you feel better about sizing soft bullets, or need to just because sizing hard is too much for your sizer or whatever, the solution is simple.   -- After casting for a half hour, remove your bullets from the water, dry them well on a bath towel, then with a hair dryer till you know they are real dry. (Lube won't stick if they are damp at all.)  Then size while they are still soft.  Hardening doesn't start until about one hour after the quench, and goes up gradually from there until full hardness is reached at about 24 hours after the quench.

About fitting for many guns.  Don't overlook the old trick of sizing just the nose if needed for a tight throat and leaving the base at a larger diameter to fill the cartridge neck.  With this trick you can fit a 160 LFN into almost any 30 cal rifle you lay hands on.

[ggraham]

Two more questions before I place an order:

How does your 170 gr. leveraction bullet compare to a 160 gr. LFN? 


Can I melt your Blue soft lube and fill my lubricator?  I am asking this because I would get more lube buying solid vs. hollow.

[Veral]

  Bearing length is almost the same for both bullets, but the LCFN has a considerable longer ogive, which increases B.C. dramatically, even though Meplat is the same size.

  Any of the LBT lubes can be melted and poured into the sizer.  The solid sticks will give you a quite a bit better deal price wise and something you may not have thought of is pouring melted lube into the sizer rather than inserting a stick allows more lube per filling, with no air gaps. 

  Easiest way to melt it is on a coffee maker warmer pad, using a small pan or tin can.  It will not overheat, even if you leave it for hours.  When you pour the lube into the sizer, just go ahead and put the plug in and start sizeing.  You'll have to chase the pressure screw quite often while the lube is solidifying but otherwise will not know it has melted lube in it.

  Sounds almost like I'm recommending it, doesn't it?