Resizing jacketed bullets, anything I should know?

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Shadow9mm

New member
So I have heard of people resizing jacketed bullets before. The basic process was to lubricate them and then run them through a sizing die most likely intended for lead bullets. seems simple enough.

Will this cause accuracy issues with rifle bullets? like cause them to be uneven or inconsistent?

Long story short I have about 450 hornady SST 123g which are .310. Seeing as I no longer have the rifle I bought them for, and no one was interested in buying them, I was considering simply sizing them down and making some light target/varmint loads with these to use them up but wasn't sure if I would just end up ruining them.
 
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HiBC

New member
I don't have a study or documentation or tests. Call it "seat of the pants" opinion.
Lead is pretty "dead" It does not spring back.

The copper jacket will have some springback. Maybe not a lot,but some.

I suspect you will swedge down the lead core more than the jacket.

We are only talking about sizing it down .001 or .002. I do not know if thats enough to bring up any issue.
But you may loosen the core.
 
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Jim Watson

New member
If you can seat a .310” bullet and it chamber freely without Clark’s “bullet pinch” it will size down real quick when fired.
 
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tangolima

New member
I'm afraid the investment on the sizing dies may outweigh the value of the bullets. If the price is right, someone will take them.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
Will this cause accuracy issues with rifle bullets? like cause them to be uneven or inconsistent?
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It can. Not saying it will, but it can. You are squeezing both the jacket and the bullet core and there is a difference in the "springback" of the different metals.

Worse case is the jacket "springback" leaves the core loose in the jacket.That may not be something you can feel but something enough to change the bullets performance when fired,.

Rather than possibly screwing them up, just set those bullets aside and put out the word (local or even internet) they're for sale (or trade) and be patient. Someone will have a use for them, and you will both benefit more than you just shooting them up to get rid of them.

Additionally with safe loads, .310 Jacketed in a .308" bore is not likely to create dangerous pressures.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
As 44_AMP said this is not enough oversize to cause pressure problems. The only issue with fatter-than-groove jacketed bullets is they can wind up a little off-center in the bore and not group as well as they could do from the right groove diameter bore. But if you size them down, the same thing is likely to occur. and the gun's throat is as good a sizing die for them as you can buy. If you want to help ease these bullets into the throat, you can put a little grease on a rag and just wipe the bullets with it so as to leave a thin film. If you want to get fancy, you can moly or hBN coat the bullets. But if you don't intend to be shooting moly or hBN through that bore later, I would settle for the wipe or for nothing so as not to have to resettle the bore.
 
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Scorch

New member
Years ago I had a European 9X57 rifle. I bought RWS bullets for it ONCE. Tremendously expensive for the type of shooting I was doing. Being a resourceful young man, I made a die to size the bullets from .358 to .356 and reloaded with them. A lot of work, but I thought those .002" would make a difference. Years later, I found out that all of the US ammo for 9X57 was loaded with .358" bullets and it would make zero difference to the gun. Point being .002" won't make a bit of difference. Just shoot 'em.
 
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taylorce1

New member
My buddy does it for his .400 Whelen and .350 Legend. It opens up a lot more bullet options for both rifles. AFAIK he uses the Lee bullet size die on both.
 
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jetinteriorguy

New member
Hammerhead said:
How many millions of .311” rounds of Russian 7.62 ammo went down the .308” barrels of Ruger’s Mini Thirty?
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I ran quite a few through mine. When I first used some Russian ammo in mine I was quite surprised at the increased recoil and muzzle blast. That’s how I found out about the difference between.308 vs .311.
 
M

mehavey

New member
...quite surprised at the increased recoil and muzzle blast.
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...concomitant with increased chamber pressure.

While using the rifle's leade/rifling to do the swaging may work...
Take care that you aren't also jamming the neck shut at the same time.
 
R

RC20

New member
There was a contention that the Model of 1917 would shoot better with slightly larger bullets (aka your .310).

The average bore is slightly tighter than a 1903 though the odd 5 grove setup changes things a tad (and don't get me going on two grove 1903 Barrels!)
 
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Unclenick

Staff
Military specs for Springfield and Garand barrels: 0.2985"-0.3015" bore and 0.3065"-0.3095" groove all firing bullet's whose tolerances allow diameter to be up to 0.309". I've read the British Enfield spec allowed bore tolerances to be as much as +/-0.003", but I've not had the opportunity to slug a selection of them for myself.

You can find a discussion about court records from a lawsuit over a case rupture at the Bisley ranges during a match that seriously injured the shooter. It involved a 0.308 bullet in a 0.3065" groove diameter Palma type barrel. However, the cause was traced to the throat being too short, so the bullet was jammed in the throat, which raises pressure more than a 0.0015" undersized bore will do. Palma shooter's ran Sierra 155's in 0.3065” groove barrels for a long time, and those measure nearly 0.3085 at the pressure ring. British long range shooter's have had Palma barrels made with as little as 0.3055" groove diameter for 0.308" bullet's.
 
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Jim Watson

New member
Once upon a time the Palma host would provide ammo. Shooters would have American barrels and tighter English barrels.
 
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RC20

New member
Its an interesting aspect and I made the point poorly, if a 1917 barrel is a tad tighter then a 1903 barrel should allow .310.

As noted there is an adamant group that advocate the .310 bullets of the 1917.

I don't think they know what they are advocating though I think its a confirmation that you can safely and even effectively shoot oversize bullets.

While it digresses, I have often pondered about the millions of 1917s made with no heat treat issues and the issue with the 1903. Granted mfg of the 1903 was oddball by the standards of the time and quite backwards compared to modern or commercial mfgs that geared up for millions of the P-14 and P-17 aka 1917.
 
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tangolima

New member
Digressing even more. Springfield had been manufacturing smokeless center fired rifles, such as US krag, using the same eyeballing method of heat treat, possibly by the same pairs of eyeballs, well before 1903. We haven't heard of similar issues of those older rifles. Why just low-number 1903?

There are many theories. The eyeballs were blamed to cover something else. Look up this forum, and you will find interesting threads.

-TL

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Jim Watson

New member
The Krag shoots the superior rimmed cartridge and does not have unsupported case web hanging out in the breeze like the 1903. Also at lower pressure.
 
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tangolima

New member
Even shooting light cast bullet loads on a low-number 1903 is dangerous, as per the experts.

-TL

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