Hard cast bullet diameter

[a__l__a__n]

This weekend I purchased some Georgia Arms 158 gr SWC sized at 0.357". (BHN = 18)

I'm now thinking that they are on the small side for my Taurus 66 revolver. They drop straight through the cylinder holes of my Taurus without slowing down.

OTOH they do stop at the exit end of the cylinders on my Ruger LCR 357. But I'm planning to use them with the Taurus, not the Ruger.

I don't see an option for 0.358 or 0.359 sizing from Georgia Arms (maybe they do that as a special order?)

As a comparison, I also have some Rim Rock Bullets 158 gr SWC sized at 0.358" (BHN = 12) which give the same results with that test as the Georgia Arms SWC in those two guns. So I wonder how precise the sizing is on these SWC. Maybe I'm obsessing over a minor detail.

My intent was to use the BHN 18 SWC for full power 357 loads. The hardness should be right for 357 pressures. Most likely, I'll shoot a dozen or two of these at the range to see how they perform, and then afterward occasionally shoot a cylinder of them per trip to the range. But if these are undersized for my revolver, am I asking for a heavily leaded barrel with them?

 

[Old_School]

Every revolver is a rule unto itself. Try them, they may work fine. As to your question about whether all cast bullet companies are as lax on diameters, my answer is no. Montana Bullet Works is very precise on their diameters, as are others.

That being said, an Alabama company I had always had faith in let me down. Some .452" bullets I bought for loading 45 Colt actually measure .4545". A bit big for my revolver, although they should work.

 

[Chuckdog]

Load em' and fire em'. See how they actually shoot.

 

[SpeedyR]

funny but i just ran into something similar today. I am starting to get into casting and bought a used Lyman 450 recently. I haven't done much to it besides clean it up and order a .430 die for some 44 magnum bullets I have a mold for. I got a .357 and .311 die with the Lyman but didn't really see using them much or at all, but what the heck right? from what I read most 357/38 bullets should size .358 or .359, and .308 or .309 for most 30 calibers.

So today I was loading some 32-20 ammo and had some 115 gr Lead flat nose bullets to load up. .313 diameter according to the box. I loaded up about 25 of them and just to double check (since I don't have an ammo gauge for this caliber), I pulled out my 32-20 cylinder from my uberti SAA and put the rounds in. No go. most of them hung up with maybe 5mm to go all the way into the cylinder. I checked the sizing dies to make sure I had them set right, and finally figured out that the .313 was too "big" for the front of the cylinder. Since I had the Lyman sitting there, I put a few thru the .311 die and then into some cases. they fit fine.

I did check the "big" cases in the 92 and they worked fine, probably some from the lever action being able to put a bit more force behind the shell, but either way I"ll have some for the rifle and some for the pistol.

One of these days i'll slug both barrels and see whats up with it, but at least for now I can load them up and see how they work and which is better.

on another note, I had loaded some up with Trail Boss a while ago, and some with Titegroup (2.7 and 3.0gr). Even the "hot" load with Titegroup there's very little recoil, so I'm sticking with that. not much powder in that little case though.

 

[Old_School]

Let me look through my old Handloader mags. I seem to recall some peculiarities about loading for the 32-20 and/or sizing issues.

 

[a__l__a__n]

FWIW, according to my calipers these Georgia Arms SWC are 0.358", despite the fact that the box is labelled 357 and despite the answer they gave me by email stating that they are sized at 0.357". Still, they drop right through the cylinders of the Taurus. I'll load up a dozen or so and see what they do as soon as I can get to the range.

 

[a__l__a__n]

I loaded a dozen of these with a starting load of 12.2 grains AA#9 and shot them this evening. No apparent leading. I'll tweak that load up a bit and see how it does.

 

[Clarke123]

funny but i just ran into something similar today. I am starting to get into casting and bought a used Lyman 450 recently. I haven't done much to it besides clean it up and order a .430 die for some 44 magnum bullets I have a mold for. I got a .357 and .311 die with the Lyman but didn't really see using them much or at all, but what the heck right? from what I read most 357/38 bullets should size .358 or .359, and .308 or .309 for most 30 calibers.

So today I was loading some 32-20 ammo and had some 115 gr Lead flat nose bullets to load up. .313 diameter according to the box. I loaded up about 25 of them and just to double check (since I don't have an ammo gauge for this caliber), I pulled out my 32-20 cylinder from my uberti SAA and put the rounds in. No go. most of them hung up with maybe 5mm to go all the way into the cylinder. I checked the sizing dies to make sure I had them set right, and finally figured out that the .313 was too "big" for the front of the cylinder. Since I had the Lyman sitting there, I put a few thru the .311 die and then into some cases. they fit fine.

I did check the "big" cases in the 92 and they worked fine, probably some from the lever action being able to put a bit more force behind the shell, but either way I"ll have some for the rifle and some for the pistol.

One of these days i'll slug both barrels and see whats up with it, but at least for now I can load them up and see how they work and which is better.

on another note, I had loaded some up with Trail Boss a while ago, and some with Titegroup (2.7 and 3.0gr). Even the "hot" load with Titegroup there's very little recoil, so I'm sticking with that. not much powder in that little case though.

The 32's appear to be somewhat difficult to work with:

My Lyman 49 shows the maximum diameter for cast .32 ACP projectiles to be .309 (which seems to be a mistake).
Multiple sources of load data specific to the Taurus 732 that I own shows .313 to .314 as being the correct size.

The warning is clear: The older calibers (especially in older guns) appear to be "all over the place" in barrel / chamber sizes!

 

[SpeedyR]

The 32's appear to be somewhat difficult to work with:

My Lyman 49 shows the maximum diameter for cast .32 ACP projectiles to be .309 (which seems to be a mistake).
Multiple sources of load data specific to the Taurus 732 that I own shows .313 to .314 as being the correct size.

The warning is clear: The older calibers (especially in older guns) appear to be "all over the place" in barrel / chamber sizes!

for sure. I know that contenders in 32-20 were actually bored to work with 30 caliber bullets (.309 I think) so it was actually more like a 30-20 than a 32-20. But yes, the 32's are all over the place when it comes to diameter and what works on what barrels.

one of these days i'll just take a bunch of lead balls and start slugging all my single actions and a few lever actions to see what the actual bores are.

 

[Clarke123]

For you "cast bullet affectionatos" here is a site that you may find interesting:

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/

Note that this guy has taken the time to both create molds and test fire them for accuracy!