Has anyone made .311 bullets from .323's?

Goto www.ch4d.com then goto "bullet sizing dies" they suggest a reduction of .004 at a time which would require 3 $57 dies to achieve. Might be easier to buy the right sized bullets , if they are available.
 
I have nevert heard of anyone trying to size down a Jacketed bullet. Best to just buy the right size. As far as casting is concerned easier just to buy the right mold. You could certainly shoot a lead boolit 2 - 3 thousanths over bore diameter. I regularily shoot my cast boolits in my 9MM (.355) sized to .357.

Take Care

Bob
 
The Jacketed bullet resizing is usually done by reloaders that want a particular type of jacketed bullet in a bullet diameter that is not available or for an odd ball caliber. Making something that is readily available fit something that is hard to find good inexpensive bullets for.
 
Ideally, one should size to .310 or so, then swage back up to 311. This because there is a certain amount of "spring" in the jacket material and sizing down can produce loose cores and poor accuracy. You would have to really want a certain bullet to want to do this! Regards, Bill.
 
It can be done, but that is quite a bit to size down, as as pointed out, jacket separation can be an issue due to "springback" of the jacket, and the squeezing process can cause some degree of separation as well.

I have done it successfully for 0.338" jacketed speers down to 0.332" for the Steyr M95, and from 0.457" to 0.454" for a 458 WM.

With cast, the issues are different. I've done lots of 0.338" to 0.332", and 0.277" to 0.270", and while there is no springback, more than about 0.005" can take away too much from the lube grooves, and further disturb the intended makeup of the bullet, changing a bore-rider profile to a full bearing surface.

IMO, I'd sell them and buy 0.311" or 0.312" bullets - they are available, and 11 or 12 thou is a large reduction and pushing your luck.
 
Thanks for the insight guys, I wanted to try some boat tail spire points, mostly just to see if I could do it. I have a p14 that is rechambered to 300 wm, and most of the .311 bullets are not designed to work at the velocities I can drive them out of the the p14. I will make an attempt one of these days to do it, It will be interesting to see if I can make them fly straight. It is a very accurate rifle, and I may try to change the diameter of some bonded bullets, as they would not loosen up. It will be an adventure, which is really the point of the exercise..If I can make it work I will post the results.
Allen
 
Lee makes bullet sizing dies for lot cheaper than CH4D. I am a customer of both and ordered the sizers from Lee only for the $$ reason. CH4D strength is in that they have all the bullet and case drawings for the antiquated calibres, while Lee requires a drawing supplied by a customer to make the dies. And the lead times with CH4D are way shorter than Lee's.
 
22to45:

As the others have said, its not advisable to draw jacketed bullets down that far. I've seen pictures of bullets where guys have tried to draw them down too far, and they've actually come out of the draw dies with curves in their shanks. Also, I understand the separation can be great enough that you can hear the core rattle in the bullet.

I have the dies, and if I can free up the time I plan to begin making bonded bullets in .311 and .312, however, there are several custom bullet makers who already do this. The Corbin web sit has a listing of custom bullet makers, and if you look there, I'm sure you can find what you want.

However, it would be well worth checking out Steve Redgwell's site at www.303british.com . Steve makes 200 grain bullets with heavy jackets in .313 and .314 diameters, and he may be willing to bond some if that's what you want for your magnum. He doesn't give them away, but last I heard his prices were comparable to some higher end commercial bullets. You may be surprised at the bullet size you should be using in your gun if you were to slug the barrel.

I have a P14 chambered in .308 Norma with a throat opened up to handle .303 bullets myself.

SVT 40:

I believe that Lee dies are designed for drawing down cast bullets only, while CH 4D dies are designed to be used with jacketed bullets as well.
 
I am far from home, working on a pipeline project, and planning projects for myself when I get time at home. I have a few machine tools, and the plan is to ream a hole to .312 in a peice of turned and ground shaft, and slit it perhaps in three lines, with a very narrow slitting saw. Then pull the peice of shaft through a correct sized bearing with an 8mm bullet in the hole at the end of the shaft. this way the squeeze on the bullet will be compressing it, not merely forcing it through a smaller hole. I will of course check and see if the jacket separates from the core, although I do not see at this time why it would. Some guys make interesting wildcats as a hobby, I want to make a reasonably simple way to size jacketed bullets to any size I want. Just like most wildcats are interesting, (I have a couple I would not part with) fun, but replace a velocity that is attainable with a commercial cartidge, resizing jacketed bullets and having them work in smaller diameter barrels than they were intended for interests me. I have lots of bullets for my needs, and have bought quality bullets for all of the diameters I shoot, this is just play.
Allen
 
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