I have some pulled M2 bullets and cannot get them to size. I had our lathe man make me one out of 4140 with a lead in which I heat treated. Another buddy took it to his buddy who used a Sunnen honer to hone to a final size of .3079". I cannot push them thru on my reloading press, just too much pressure. I have to use an arbor press. Even then they do not size down fully. All I can figure is that the jacket is just rebounding off the steel core upon exiting the die. Theres not enough pressure on them by the way to damage the base. I emailed LEE on how their dies work and they said they squeeze, so I dont want to buy another that does the same as mine. What if I just shot them as is? Will this cause pressure or fouling issues? Any thoughts or answers on this?

sweet

First, why do you need to size them down? They should shoot OK as is. For plinking or tin cans, that is.

If they are steel jacketed or steel cored you will have one helluva time sizing them, as you have found out.

When bullets are originally made they are swaged from a smaller size to the larger size. You are trying to do just the opposite and in order to do that you want to have a die that is undersize. Then, the chances are very good that the jacket will spring back somewhat and the accuracy may go to the proverbial hell in a handbasket.
JMHO

Ray

Thanks Cheechako, I have a few I was going to shoot and get rid of and wasnt sure if I was o.k. to just shoot them as is.