WHEN RESIZING IS REQUIRED

[JRW]

An old reloader but new here. :)

Don't see anywhere else to ask this question so--
Just what takes the kead when or if bullets need resizing?? This being bullets you have bought. I have several boxes of bullets that measure .314--- cylinder slugs out at .310--- How much oversized can a bullet be before needing to be resized?? Another gun cylinder will measure out at .312, or .311 -- looking for finer points here to improve accuracy if possible. Thanks for any help. I have also heard slug the barrel, but the bullet goes through the cylinder first. It seems the people who I talk to are pretty much divided here -- 50% on one side of the fence and the other half on the other side of the fence?? Is there a pat answer to this question?? THANKS again. :)

[fc60]

Greetings,

If the cylinder throats are smaller than the groove diameter of the barrel, accuracy will suffer.

Not an overly difficult job to have the cylinder throats honed to match the barrel diameter.

Cheers,

Dave

[Rover]

I've done it myself with emery paper on a tired bore brush using a cordless drill, but I also sent a revolver back to S&W requesting this service due to poor accuracy. It came back greatly improved.

[JRW]

So the bottom line would be, no pun intended, :) the barrel in the end calls the shots. So in relation to the bullet, what should be the size reference?? Bullet is say .314, and barrel is .312, should the bullets be resized?? Looking for a universal answer here?? Thanks for clearing at least the barrel vs. the cylinder question. Honing a cylinder is not a problem. :) I am making an effort to keep leading down as well. :)

[deadeyedick]

The bullets should be .001"-.002" larger in diameter that the of of the slugged bullett.

.004" oversize will shave off far too much lead.

If a bore is .312 then an ideal bullet would be .314" and so on.

[JRW]

The bullets should be .001"-.002" larger in diameter that the of of the slugged bullett.

.004" oversize will shave off far too much lead.

If a bore is .312 then an ideal bullet would be .314" and so on.

Just what I needed to know- THANKS SO MUCH!! :)

[David M]

.001- .002 is for soft cast and swagged projectiles (up to about 3% tin).
Hard cast/coated projectiles .000- .001 larger than bore diameter.

[JamesH]

The key thing is to slug the barrel.

Bullets should be 0.01-0.02 over barrel size, if they're bigger than this they should be resized

Cylinder throat should be greater than barrel size, not sure by how much.
If cylinder throat is smaller than the barrel there is no hope, the cylinder must be adjusted.

[JRW]

Looks like I need to do some serious slugging. :) Just trying to school myself in some finer points. What started all this I got this rascal a couple weeks ago and while she does really well I am looking for a bit of improvement, that being the case I am looking at all my 32ish. What started all this, I went through all this with a 45Colt and after resizing, the results were quite stellar in my book. :)



The results with the 45Colt:

Six shots standing up offhand-- I am just not any better than this. :)