How do I get some cast 350-grainers to fit my CZ 550 .416 Rigby, like Western Bullets offering do? My mold leaves a tiny seam but that's not what's making the results hard to chamber. Measured the bands at 0.418" (as opposed to 0.416 with Westerns) and I believe the sizer we had to work with is a tad wide for what I want.

Not really up on all the "how to" and my friend that does casting is away for now. Looked at YouTube videos on Lee sizers, and I have RCBS stuff, but no button or kit. Kits show .410 and I need larger than that.

Not in a jam, just have a bunch of boolits on hand I may want to use next. Fun to shoot!

Thanks

Lee will make you a custom sizer.

http://leeprecision.com/custom-lube-and-size-kit/

What is your slugged diameter?
And what is the exact problem?
Is the bullet to big for the throat or is the neck with seated bullet to big for the neck part of the chamber?

Running visdom is to size a bullet 0.01-.02" bigger than slugged diameter for optimum bullet fit.

Bullets measuring .418 chamber very hard. Trying to extract and try again results in a huge mess of powder inside the action. I don't like that. Bullets measuring .416 across are no trouble. My friend's sizing setup is too wide. Clearer?

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Lee will make you a custom sizer.

http://leeprecision.com/custom-lube-and-size-kit/

Thank you.

Barry, I hate that I am not around to help. Have you considered seating the bullets just deep enough to where you don't have this problem? I really think .416" may be just small enough to cause an issue, but have no proof of that.

I will get with you next time I am home and we will figure this out.

quote:

Originally posted by Doubless:
Barry, I hate that I am not around to help. Have you considered seating the bullets just deep enough to where you don't have this problem?

Was thinking that too.
I assume you are shooting reduced loads, so there is plenty of space in the case to seat the bullets deeper so the bullets aren't jamming into the leade.
Is this the issue or is the case neck expanded too much?
Short of that, you could run the loaded cartridges up into the FLS without the depriming pin and squeeze the neck a bit (along with the bullet)

The .416 Rigby shoulder presents its own challenges. I can't crimp Norma or Hornady brass with the RCBS die without buckling it. (The same thing happens when attempting to squeeze the neck down with the depriming die as suggested.)

My Hornady brass is thicker than Federal nickel brass I have tied up with hunting loads. It will crimp just fine, BTW. Scot phoned me and we worked out that using a universal Lee die to slightly flare the neck for seating, plus the diameter of the bullets from my mold sized in his .417 sizer, is part of why they are chambering tightly. He suggests a Lyman M die to slightly open the sized brass (instead of flaring it before seating a gas checked boolit.)

I may just get a .416 sizer die/kit as the Western Bullets offering doesn't give the same tight chambering result. For now that is. I really don't want to get too deep into this money-wise. After all, I just wanted to be able to shoot reduced loads on the cheap!

Thanks to all.

From what you have mentioned it's not clear whether you have a problem with the neck thickness of your Hornady cases or whether the throat won't accept 0.418 diam bullets. Going to 0.416 may solve the problem but may not give you the best accuracy.

Perhaps it may help if you set the crimp die to simply straighten the flared section rather than crimp. As others have suggested I would try to seat the 418 diameter part of the bullet inside the case neck.

Looking at the SAAMI specs it looks like the throat is approx 0.417, so a 0.418 diameter might be too tight a fit for the throat.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
Lee will make you a custom sizer.

http://leeprecision.com/custom-lube-and-size-kit/

Make your own I did I took one of their 410 caliber sizing die polished it out to 416.

I used it for making .429 300gr jsps into 416 bullets in one pass. takes a strong press would be easier if one used a couple steps.

Cast bullets are easy

Lyman doesn't make an M die for the Rigby.

p dog shooter, sounds interesting.

JFE, the decapping die minus the rod crushes the Rigby shoulder for me, like crimping does with both Norma and Hornady brass. I have better results overall with the 0.416 using my load with 50 grains IMR4198 and Rem 9 1/2 M primers. (Not sure what swapping to CCI 250's will do now that I've run out of the Rem primers.)

When I get this solve/resolved, might re-evaluate OAL so I can approach the lands -- thought I had until the diameter issue surfaced.

Barry

I think you need to make a chamber cast AND cast the dies, then measure the **ll out of everything...case length, wall thickness, bullet ogive, length and OD, loaded neck diameter and OAL, and the neighbors dog...from what I'm understanding you might have several problems all caused by various problems in reloading understanding.

Review HOW to set up your sizer die, HOW to find the correct OAL for each bullet design and type and HOW to seat...a chamber cast will tell you all those things, and learning how to calculate bullet to lands distance will stop the jamming-into-lands problems...

All these measurements and how to obtain them are covered extensively on AR just by doing a search.

They're just too wide. Got a .416 sizer kit coming. Thanks for playing...

That might just work, although I have several large cal rifles and I cast 0.001 or 0.002" over for the most part and have no trouble like you described...unless I mess up with the bullet seating COAL...Some of my cast slugs are bore riders and THOSE will cause all kinds of problems if they are just a tad oversize.

And you CAN'T use the "normal" seating COAL printed in manuals for jacketed bullet when shooting cast bullets unless you just get lucky...which I have NEVER BEEN.

And crumpling shoulders when crimping just means you have the seater screwed to far.

You should find the point where the bullet just touches the lands, make SURE the seater is unscrewed enough to NOT TOUCH THE CASE NECK MOUTH(be sure the cases are all trimmed evenly) and then seat all the bullets at that measurement, THEN...UNSCREW the seating punch a few of turns, screw the seater down until it just contacts the case mouth, THEN...turn down the seater just a bit and try the crimp...it DOESN'T take much to get a good crimp....lock the seater rings when you get it just right...and you need to do this for EACH BATCH OF BULLETS.

Trimming cases, then seating the bullets and crimping in two operations is the only way I've found to produce accurate and precise COAL and crimps except in a few cases. I also use taper crimps and Lee factory crimpers in several cartridges like 45-70, 458 American, 444 M, 450 M, 416 Taylor and 375 JDJ with cast bullets.

ADDED

ALSO...most cast bullets shoot better and more accurate when they ARE one to two thou larger in dia than the bore..at least most of mine do.

If you are finding it REAL HARD to chamber your loaderd cartridge, and your not sure what is the cause, seat a bullet back to front, flush with the case mouth... then chamber it...if it chambers okay , you can be sure the bullet is not expanding the cartridge neck to the point where its hard /unable to chamber...if its difficult to chamber...
turn the OD of your case neck and that should give you a bit of clearance

The other point to remember is with shooting jacketed bullets after a time your throat will loosen up from wear and tear and just might accomidate your cast bullet perfectly

.416 sizer does the trick. Thanks to all.