How to tell if a bullet style will fit my chambers.

[kennisondan]

How do I tell if bullet styles and weights will fit my chambers before I get a ton of them shipped and find out it is a bad mistake... I guess I could stick to lighter bullets and nothing but long flat nosed ... but there has to be several better ways than that..
please help ...
dk

[corbanzo]

I do exactly that, and only load LFN and not WFN. 

What I would recommend is ask if they fellas have loaded a certain bullet in the certain gun you are talking about.

[Mikey]

Dan - if you are ordering, or thinking of ordering from a place that casts the bullets themselves, then you should be able to e-mail or call them, tell them of your concerns and ask the questions Corbanzo thought of or ask them if they would be willing to send out half a dozen or so of each style so you could load some up and test it out yourself.  They should be perfectly willing to do that for you.  Some bullet makers even have sample packs of different style bullets you can buy. 

Major distributors however may not be able to be so flexible.  HTH and good luck.  Mikey.

[Reed1911]

You can also give us here all the details and let the members bring back answers, unless it is something real unusual I'll bet you'll get the answer.

[Lloyd Smale]

you can run into problems using your theory too. An lfn can fit the chamber but be to long for the cylinder. A wfn even light sometimes will  be to fat on the side to fit the chamber. Swcs can have to fat of a top driving band for some guns and not fit the chamber. Any one of them can have the crimp grove in the wrong stop and make the bullet to long for the gun. All of these are more critical on a gun like a FA gun that is chambered tight and has a short for caliber cylinder. Your best bet is to buy your mold for a reputable company like ballistic cast or lbt that has a technician that knows the problems and can recommend a good mold for your purpose. Same goes for cast bullets. If you want to buy cheap from the guy next door or some guy casting out of his garage that doesnt have a clue you might save a few bucks but its pot luck for what your going to get. If you go with a reputable caster like Mt. Baldy or Cast performance you will be able to discuss what you need with someone thats "been there done that" 

[kennisondan]

thanks... will give a call to the makers... and see what they can tell me... I am a little concerned that not too many folks will know a lot about the 500 JRH that is coming one day in the near future, but I will just ask the guy making the cylinder about that one and write the answer down... if I could just get a factory crimp or a taper crimp die for each caliber... even if I have to shorten it down a bit for it to fit, it seems I could use them, as long as I do not go with a maximum loading cause I know pressure will increase with reduced case volume... but with way below max loads, would the taper crimp or factory crimp die be an option.. or not... ?
thanks to everyone... I have been seeing a bunch of bullets that do not have crimp grooves and thinking I will just stay away from those completely ... but wonder about the taper or factory crimp dies that are available.... and whether I can have such a die made when one is not available like for the JRH .50 caliber cartridge.

thanks and good shooting :
dk

[Lloyd Smale]

problem you will usually run into on a custom gun trying to crimp on the bullet out of the crimp grove is that the crimp will leave the case slightly bulged there and most well made custom 6 guns have fairly tight chambers and that will prevent chambering as much as a bullet to long. It usually works in something like a ruger though if you dont use loads that recoil enough to make them jump crimp.

[kennisondan]

thanks guys, very good points for sure... had wondered if the customs would be problematic with a crimp outside the groove... that confirms my suspicions... I will get the reccomendations of the bullets each of the guns can handle from the manufacturers of the bullets and of the guns themselves;
But in order to figure out if a bullet I see in an ad will fit in the chamber : I am curious what dimensions I will need to ask for... like at what length the cylinder wall starts to constrict as that is what was stopping one keith bullet in my clements 45... the drive band was too large to fit past a constriction in each of the cylinder walls... so what is that constriction called ?
I am concerned as I am wanting to get together some .500 - .501 diameter bullets for the JRHuntington custom I am expecting soon, and want to be sure of bullets before I buy them... and would like to try to figure that out my self if I could do so .... so :
I am thinking the cylinder dimensions, brass dimensions and bullets shape and dimensions are what I need to know, but I am not sure what to ask about and how to figure out if other bullets will fit by the info on dimensions that I ask about...

This is what it seems I will need to know about, (but not exactly clear on how to use it or what to call things )  The reccomended overall length of the round; trim -to length of the brass; distance from the crimp groove to the front end of the bullet; the shape of the bullet in front of the crimp groove; dimensions of the bullet in front of the crimp groove;  overall unrestricted length of the cylinder available for the finished round; the distance from the start of the cylinder to the tighter area inside the cylinder toward the front; the dimensions of the tighter area in the cylinder toward the front;
I am trying to apply logical thought to this question ... but obviously I am confused.... now..
so HELP...  more help please....
thanks in advance for putting up with my incessant questions...
dk

[Lloyd Smale]

do a chamber cast and send it and a piece of brass to veral and he will make you up something.