[BC]

I have a ruger bisley 45 colt. The cylinder throats measured .451. I sent it to Hamilton Bowen for an action job and had him open the throats to .4525-.4523.  It would not chamber loads withWFN bullets sized .452 before this. When I got it back it will chamber them but it is very tight and sometime the rims won't go all the way down to seat on the cylinder face.   I cannot push the bullets through the cylinder by hand. They are sized .452 but they actually measure .453. They were bought from BIlls custom cast bullets. Bullets I have cast myself and sized with a .452 sizer also measure .453 with my micrometer and will not push through the cylinder. Do Beartooth bullets sized .452 actually measure .453? Should I have the throats opend up some more or order bullets sized .451? Thanks for any advice. The groove dia of the bore is .451

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, BC:
 Don't know if this is any help, but some BTB .45 225 gr. FNB I have were sized .452" and go about .452 and a third with my mic. Apparently some alloys spring back after sizing and your die might be a bit large too. Have you tried running them through a .451" die? If you're like me, you don't have one and don't really want to buy one and find out it's not the problem.

 Robert Stillwell makes custom sized dies. Never dealt with him myself, but I've only heard good things about him.
<a href="http://rstillwe.home.texas.net/

" target="_blank">http://rstillwe.home.texas.net/

</a>  Marshall hasn't been well and is backlogged on his orders. Hope this helps.

Bye
Jack

 

[Contender]

Exactly Jack,

The harder the alloy, the greater the springback that can occur in bullet diameter after sizing.

One thing that you might try is to get a Lee Bullet sizer die if they make one in the diameter you need say, .001 smaller.

These dies are quite reasonable, about &#3615 or less. Your bullets are already lubed so they will work in the die without "leading" it. Simply screw the die in any standard loading press.

I typically run home cast bullets through my Star sizer with the largest size die diameter I'll need in a specific caliber. Gas checks and lubing is accomplished. Then I'll run the already lubed bullets through a Lee die of smaller diameter as needed for various guns.


Regards, Ray

 

[RugerNo3]

Perhaps back to basics. Nowhere do I see the dimension of the barrel grooves. Barrel groove dia +.001-.0015" is throat diameter. Correct? Did we get thehorse before the cart? Just some food for thought.

 

[Contender]

No 3,

The last sentence of BC's post states his gun's groove diameter is .451"

Looks like he is OK with the larger throat diameters.


Regards

 

[BC]

Thanks everyone for the advise. I will experiment with a .451 sizer for my bullets and order some Beartooth bullets and see how they fit.

 

[RugerNo3]

Ha, after I extricated my foot from my mouth. Better to read twice and post once.

 

[Contender]

No 3,

Hey, not a problem.

I still have a piece of sneaker somewhere around a back molar myself. <!--emo&--><img src="http://beartoothbullets.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''><!--endemo-->

Glad to have all you guys here.


Regards, Ray