.375 cast bullet to 9.3?

[bill439]

anyone try to size down .375 dia. cast bullets to 9.3?  just accquired a 9.3 x 57 and looking to find a source of bullets.  Have several .375 bullet molds 250gr. to 335gr.  any thoughts?  bill439

[Graybeard]

People do such things but I don't recommend it. Every time I've tried taking one down that far it has wiped much lead into the lube grooves and when you take that much off the bullet that already leaves those lube grooves kinda shallow. You don't end up with much lube and with so much lead pushed into the lube grooves the bullets seem unbalanced to me. I've never had much accuracy from them.

My experience was taking bullets for .458" rifles down for use in .454" casull.

[Drilling Man]

  Yes i've done it.  I've also shot .358 jacketed bullets in a 9.3, and that didn't work worth a hoot either.

  Why not just buy some 270 grain Speer 9.3's to begin with?  They aren't priced all that bad, and are easy to get.  They also are a very good deer bullet.

  DM

[Nobade]

I routinely do this when making paper patch bullets for my 375. Of course I don't care if the lube grooves are left or not, but if you did you should start with something with deep grooves, like the Lee 38-55 bullet. Use a push through die, with a gently funnel entrance and a highly polished finish inside. Use dish washing soap or water soluble wire drawing lube for lubricant. Do not try to size down hardened bullets. Air cooled wheelweights are fine, but quenched ones are too hard. You can heat treat and quench later, after they have been sized. Of course as others have mentioned, you could buy the correct mould or paper patch 35 caliber bullets as well and likely get better results.

[stubshaft]

If you lube the .375 bullet first it will help maintain the lube grooves as you size down.  BUT, that's alot of sizing.

[Nrut]

Hello bill439
Take a look at this thread..
http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,175658.msg1098835154.html#msg1098835154

You need to now your groove dia. then order a push thru sizing die from Buckshot...The last few days I have be sizing down .380" meant for the 38-55 down to .370" for my 9.3X74R.. My first 3 shot group at 50 meters was .451"..
I moved the target to 100 meters and by the time I got the scope adjusted to where I wanted I was having problems chambering the rest of the ammo as my Lyman 9.3 "M" die is to small which caused the boolits to seat slightly crooked...
Funny thing I was just fire forming the cases to load up with paper patched boolits.. If the grease groove boolits continue shooting this well I may not PP for lower vel. loads..
I am going to order a .369" expander plug (Buckshot again) for my LEE universal expander and that should solve the seating problem..
Good luck with your 9.3X57.. They are neat rifles and one of these days I will order a reamer to open up the chamber neck and throat on mine.. Having way to much fun with my 9.3X74R now..     

[bill439]

Thanks to all, Nrut you have given me the info I was looking for.  I make my own sizing dies so that is not a problem.  I had thought I would do the sizing down in 2 steps of about .004 each then end up with a bullet that would be close enough to tweek in the rifle.  Thanks again, Bill439

[gtrotz]

Yes I have done it a lot but with Sierra's 375 250 grainers for 9.3x62 .
I have a special die that reduce the diameter in two paces, this one is made it by a smith but I think that you can get one in the internet.
Look swaging bullets
By the way they work extremely well and are cheap
I have take some red stags and hogs with them
Sincerely
Gtrotz

[rockrat]

Tried some of the 37-250 RCBS sized down to .368", in my double rifle in 9.3 x 74R.  First outing with 43gr 4895 showed promise, but too slow for what I want.  Tried some 300+gr PB bullets, but not near as good results.

I did lube the bullets first in a .375" die.

[Reverend Recoil]

Paper patching a .358 bullet to .368" works well in my Ruger No.1 9.3x74R.  I use a Saeco .358". cast bullet.  Cast from wheel weights and patched they weigh 250 gr.  With vellum tracing paper no sizing is needed.  They roll out .367-.368".  I have also used lined school paper but they need to be sized from .375 to .368"  A 9.3mm sizing die can be easly made by honing a Lee .358 bullet die.  Accuracy is the same as the 250, 270, and 286 gr. jacked bullets that I have tried.  Last week I used one of these bullets loaded with Reloader No.7 powder to kill a 150 lb wild boar.  He dropped in his tracks.

[Dezynco]

I've taken 7mm (.284) bullets down to .277, but for plinking loads.  Works ok in a pinch.  I ran them through a lube-sizer, then tumble-lubed them because the lube grooves were so shallow there was not a lot of lube on the bullet.  Not extremely accurate, but OK.  I now have a .277 mold that shoots much better, but the "swage" job worked well enough to get me some ammo to shoot.

[Drilling Man]

  OK, i'll probably get yelled at for posting this, BUT...when it comes to bullets, you "swage" them up, and "draw" then down.  So, you are drawing a 375 down to 9.3, or swageing a 9.3 up to 375.   

  DM   

[Dezynco]

"Swage" means to reduce something's size by squeezing and compressing (according to dictionary.com) but not increasing the overall length.

"Draw" implies reducing something by stretching it out or depleting it (you draw wire through a die to make it thinner and longer).

Granted either word means to "reduce" the size of something, but there is a difference in the end product.

[Drilling Man]

"Swage" means to reduce something's size by squeezing and compressing (according to dictionary.com) but not increasing the overall length.

"Draw" implies reducing something by stretching it out or depleting it (you draw wire through a die to make it thinner and longer).

Granted either word means to "reduce" the size of something, but there is a difference in the end product.

  Did you notice i said "when it comes to bullets" ?

  DM

[Dezynco]

Funny words I guess (swage and draw).  There's a bazzillion different meanings for the word "draw".  I never thought about it until I looked at the dictionary.