Anyone know where to find an H&I die in .367 or .368 sizes? Can't find one but have a 9.3x57 that is dying to use 300 grain cast bullets?

If you are a member of the CBA, you might check the ads in the back issues of their journal. There are several folk who open dies to whatever size you want.

One fella in Texas does LOTS of that sort of work. Can't recall his name off hand, but he does (did) advertise in The Fouling Shot, the CBA's bi-monthly magazine. (Membership including the magazine is only about $15 per year.)

It is really no big trick to enlarge a .358" die to .367"...that's only .0045" off each side. As to a punch,even the smallest lathe will turn a .3/8" piece of drill rod to what you need.

If you have a local machine shop where one of the machine operator's is a shooter, you could probably get both done for a 12-pack of Bud-Lite. (Maybe after hours, but so....?)

Thanks,

I found stillwell tool & die who will make one. Lyman referred me as did the CBA.

I'm hoping that I can swage down .375's so I don't have to cast them myself. Just not enough time for casting.

If you're going to open one up, you can also use one of Lyman's .363 dies, but still need to make a new punch. If you can find one of RCBS's .365 dies this will work if opened up to .367, but gets a little loose if you go to .368.

Or, as Alberta Canuck says go to Mr. Stillwell's page at www.sizingdie.com and get the real deal for $34.00 or send in your die to hime and he'll hone it larger for you and make a new punch for $22.00. BTW, I have nothing to do with Mr. Stillwell except having him rework a couple dies for me and he does excellent work.

I'm curious - what 9.3 mould(s) do you have?

Edit ---- This got posted while you were posting. I'm assuming that the .375 you're talking about cast bullets. If this is the case, why not lube and size in the .375 H&I die, then run them though a Lee Sizer on your press? Lee charges $25 for a custom size die, or I opened up a Lee .358 die to .367 with no problems. Or if you don't cast yourself, why not buy 300 grain 9.3 cast bullets ready to go?

Gutshot,

If you can point me to some 300 grain cast 9.3's that would solve my problems. I hadn't been able to find any and the .375's were my next best option. I used to cast, and still do for my trapdoor, but these days I just don't have enough time. The 300 grainer is exactly what I'm looking for. I reckon 2000 fps and 300 grains ought to get the job done.

It turned out to be cheaper to have Mr Stillwell make the die than it would be for me to buy a smaller size and have him open it up.

Stillwell is the falla I had in mind...


Now that I know what you want to do, I'm afraid I'll have to tell you I doubt that sizing down .375 bullets will give you acceptable performance (accuracy).


Anytime you size a rather lengthy bullet down .007", there is considerable danger of "smearing" the driving bands and lube grooves very badly out of shape. There will also be some work-softening of the bullet surface. Put together, there is a strong possiblity of ending up with a bullet that is ill-balanced, not consistently lubed, has considerable variation in width and shape of lube grooves, and may have to bve driven slower than you like to avoid leading.

Now, of course, it MAY work out with some particular combos. But, my own experience has been that for other than things like pistol use, sizing longish bullets down more than about .003" has seldom produced bullets which would match my own accuracy expectations over the long haul.

I appreciate the feedback. I may spring for the die anyway and see what happens. If things don;t work with the resizing, I'k sure tha someday, when things slow down, I'll get a .368 mold.

I've found that as long as the lube grooves are already filled, say like having been run through the .376 sizer & lubes, that the grooves will then resist the deformation you are talking about. I may be wrong. Anyway, it's worth a shot as the longest shoots I'm looking at are up to 200 meters.

Thanks.

z1r - yes, I would think with cost of the die and shipping it to him and whatnot it would be less money to just purchase one from him.

Not to blow my own horn, but I cast 5 different 9.3 bullets. From 250 plain base to 335 grain gas check - including a 300 grain gas check. Email me at gutshot_again@yahoo.com if interested and I'll get prices to you.

Alberta Canuck, I would agree that sizing down a bullet that much in a Lyman, RCBS or Saeco lube sizer would be a bit much. However, if you lube the bullet in a die close to the cast diameter and then push the bullets through a nose first die (Lee type), you'll get pretty good results. This is assuming that the lube grooves are deep enough to not bottom out on the top of the rifle lands. Before I got my 9.3 moulds, I sized down .375 bullets in this manner for my 9.3 and had good results. Since I've gotten the 9.3 moulds, I've also sized the 9.3's (.368) down to .358 for use in a 35 Whelen, again with good results. With the lube grooves filled they don't smear or collapse, and going nose first they don't get bent out of shape. It's more about how you size them down, rather than how much you size them down. With all that said, it's still preferable to get the proper mould to start with.

z1r,
Just about any size and style custom boolits can be had from the Bullshop. Go over to the CB forum www.castboolits.gunloads.com and scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find a link to it.

As I said, it may work acceptably well with some combinations of dies, bullets, and rifles, for some uses. Still, that has not been my general experience.

And, I do such sizing with the lube grooves filled, nose first through a pair of Star lube-sizers. Nose-first works fine with the Star if you make a couple of little bushings to fit the noses of the bullets and put the bushing in the die first, then the bullet, then a bushing, then the second bullet, etc.

But then, I generally expect my cast bullet rifles to shoot MOA or better, and my match cast bullet rifles to shoot .4 MOA or better for 5-shot groups, .6 MOA or better for 10-shot groups....all at 100 yards, in matches if match rifles.

Anyway, if I wasn't going to spring to buy the correct mould(s), then I'd buy my bullets from someone who makes them from the correct moulds.

I hope this sizing down .375's works well for those doing it, and it may well do so. But my experience tells me it may not, too.

Alberta canuck,

if you can point me to a caster that has the proper bullets for sale please point me there.

If I had the time to cast I would spring for the correct mould. However, I'd rather spend what precious little free time I have shooting rather than casting. Given that there are relatively few casters that sell proper .366 bullets the .375 resized seems like the most viable bet. It also offers more selection and .375s are more readily available.

Since I won't be shooting these in any matches 0.4 moa accuracy isn't needed. And quite honestly, even if that level of accuracy were capable in my rifle, I could not shoot it that well with the irons it has on it.

I think maybe Versifier has pointed you in a good direction in his posts above.

Perhaps a visit to the Cast Boolits forum and a inquiry post there are in order. Will probably yield several sources of good usable bullets.

I didn't figger you wanted that sort of accuracy (or aggravation, cause it is aggravating sometimes). Just wanted to make you aware that sizing bullets down that much can be a bit of a lottery at times.

Best wishes in your development of good cb loads for your 9.3 rifle.

Alberta canuck,

Thanks. I already spoke with the gent from Bullshop and though he does have two proper 9.3 moulds neither was what I wanted. He did have a rather good selection of .375 bullets available and also thought that resizing them would work. We both agreed the lube grooves wouldn't collapse as long as they were already filled. I have a couple of sources now for both proper diameter bullets and 375's and need to order some up. Now to get my M die.

Thanks to all for the help.