Hi folks,

I’m currently looking at ways of developing a low cost plinking load for my .404 Jeffery.

This probably means going with cast bullets. Unfortunately the chances of me ever having a location to cast my own are rather slim so it looks like resizing bullets is the way forward.

My current plan is to resize .430 commercially available cast lead bullets down to .424 and start with this 300gr which I have 100 on order:



I use .44 cal bullets from this maker for my 44 Mag lever action in 240gr RNFP and 255gr SWCGC with some decent success.

Anyway, I managed to get a .427” and a .424” for sizing down the .430” as cast bullets and I try with the 240gr and 255gr bullets. Sample of 1 so don’t so more experimentation needed but so far signs are good. These are 2 stage resized bullets:



Both seem to have some lube left, something of a crimping groove and lengthened a bit over 0.2mm (0.008”) so that bodes well (I think though I would welcome comments).

Next stage / decisions are:

1) decide whether to give a bit of extra lube with Liquid Alox or go the whole hog and try and home powder coat
2) See if the it is possible to get a gas check onto that 300gr Shell House Bullet

Powder is likely to be Reload Swiss RS14 which is a substitute for Trail Boss.

Thoughts and advice much appreciated.

Best wishes,

Scrummy

I have not tried it with cast bullets.

But, you might like to try Tungsten spray as a lubricant.

I use that on my home made copper bullets and it works very well.

Thanks for the suggestion, I shall bear it in mind.

I have fired many cast bullets from large bore rifles. As in, thousands. Best ones have multiple grease grooves, and are best lubed with soft lubricant; not the hard pistol type. As in, SPG lube, or beeswax and lard.
I use a hard card wad under the bullet. This is for black powder cartridge, although 5744 works well too. As does most any medium burning powder.
My opinion is, that the one groove pistol bullets will not work very well. Disclaimer; I have not done it.
Oh, use soft bullets; 1 in 20 or so.
Hard bullets intended for pistols will not obturate, and will lead the bore; I know, it's counterintuitive. True, nonetheless.

What about un-lubed, size to .423, powder coat then size one last time. For cheap-ish bullets, I size jacketed 44 mag bullets to .423

Have you slugged your rifle's bore?

My granddad's .404 (a post WWI Oberndorf Mauser) slugged .429"
I tried 200gr Flat-nose bullets intended for the .44-40. They worked reasonably well but not spectacularly so.
I also tried 400gr .45 bullets swaged down to .430, they worked very well indeed, but the swaging process was pretty complicated.

I,m shooting 600gr cast bullets over a load of Trailboss and or IMR5744 in my 505 Gibbs. Found the Cast bullets online

quote:

Originally posted by Zephyr:
I,m shooting 600gr cast bullets over a load of Trailboss and or IMR5744 in my 505 Gibbs. Found the Cast bullets online

I'd love to find a commercial caster here in the UK. Problem is they just aren't that many and they tend to concentrate on pistol cals for lever actions and things like .303 / 8mm for the historical shooters.

I sized a lee .430 300gr 315gr. WFN down to 416 to shoot in my .416 Taylor.

With it's 25 inch barrel pushing them at 950fps.

They are very quite and will place them into a ragged one hole group at 50 yards.

The size of your bore plus .002” cast bullet 10-15ish bhn with multiple lube grooves well lubed or same size powder coated should work.
So oversized of Your bore and soft to not hard greased or painted.

Thanks Fury,

I have a .424 sizer which is 0.002 over nominal bore but haven't checked mine.

Lee also see to have .425 and .426 currently so might pick those up for "tuning" options.

Scrummy

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
I sized a lee .430 300gr 315gr. WFN down to 416 to shoot in my .416 Taylor.

With it's 25 inch barrel pushing them at 950fps.

They are very quite and will place them into a ragged one hole group at 50 yards.

Interesting. How many stages did you go through with that?

Best wishes,

Scrummy

In my tests, + or - 3 thou makes absolutely no difference in in velocity.

quote:

Originally posted by Scrumbag:

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
I sized a lee .430 300gr 315gr. WFN down to 416 to shoot in my .416 Taylor.

With it's 25 inch barrel pushing them at 950fps.

They are very quite and will place them into a ragged one hole group at 50 yards.

Interesting. How many stages did you go through with that?

Best wishes,

Scrummy

One.

I used a Lee push through sizer that I polished out until I got the bullets to measure .416

If I would do another batch I would add another step about half way in-between.

.430 to .423 or .424 should be easy with a good press.

Cheers.

I have a .427 Sizer as well so that should work OK

Scrummy

quote:

I have a .427 Sizer as well so that should work OK

I see no need.

But if your press is on the weak side use it.

After sizing I would but another coat of Alox lube on them.

Powder coating would allow you to drive them faster also.