Do you size before or after powder coating?
- Thread starter Papaclaude
- Start date
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Actually this is another of those "there is no 1 right answer" . Your gun bore size & "as cast bullet size" will dictate what is best in most instances.
If your cast bullets are already bore-oversized when they fall from the mold and you add more width to them with PC, then the pressure required to size down to your preferred dia. might be a very tight squeeze thru the sizer & scuffing will result. I these cases sizing before PCing is best.
If your bullets are undersized as cast then PC first before sizing.
If your cast bullets are already bore-oversized when they fall from the mold and you add more width to them with PC, then the pressure required to size down to your preferred dia. might be a very tight squeeze thru the sizer & scuffing will result. I these cases sizing before PCing is best.
If your bullets are undersized as cast then PC first before sizing.
works fine, PC size easier than non coated.
leebuilder
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
Always size, just because. You can feel the big ones pushing up through the sizer.
Consistance neck tension and size is the key to accurate cast boolits.
be safe
Consistance neck tension and size is the key to accurate cast boolits.
be safe
A lot of the people who have spent large amounts of time and money building and shooting accurate long range BPCR will tell you that as-cast bullets shoot better than sized bullets. The bullet is as concentric as it will get when it comes out of the mold and sizing is as likely to make a bullet less concentric, not more.
leebuilder
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
I am not convinced.
And your telling me PC goes on perfectly every time for perfect thickness around the circumference of the boolit.
And your telling me as cast driving bands are perfectly concentric and have the same consistent surface area around its circumference.
And your telling me my 185gr lee that only dropped .312 and when I beagled it out and now drops .314 and had an immediate gain in accuracy.
Sizing helps my groups stay smaller
Not drinking your Kool aid, thanks
rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
Perhaps with high quality molds that could be true. But those of us using $30 Lee molds might have a different story.
Might. Or might not, either.
"might" is one of those words that doesn't mean much. Most bullets from the $30 LEE mold are very concentric judging from the dozen or so I have checked and used. There are several things I don't like about LEE molds, but their concentricity is not one of their problems.
The very best you can hope for in a sized cast bullet is that the sized bullet maintains the concentricity it had before sizing. Sizing can't make bullet concentricity better but can easily make it worse if the bullet is not centred to the nearest .001" in the die. Softer bullets are harder to centre than harder bullets.
The meaning of "concentric" as used here is that the bullet nose is in the centre of the bullet and not offset. When the bullet nose is off centre it will be less stable while spinning in flight.
For most of us we will not notice the difference, but for the long range precision shooters there is a noticeable difference. Many of them have had excellent results with $30 LEE molds and unsized bullets - better results than after sizing.
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Oversized bullets usually happen because the mold isn't closed tight. They look fine but you notice them when sizing. I just toss them.
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