Up-sizing Cast bOOLITS?

[Thumbcocker]

Beagle the mold. Cheap, effective, reversible.

[Dusty Bannister]

Previous thread on Beagling a mold, and picture.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...ghlight=Beagle

[Rizzo]

I'd like some .358 95 grain boolits for my 38 Short Colt loads, but I can't find a mold. I have a lot of 95 grain .356 lead boolits for .380 ACP loads.

Is this theoretical or have you actually cast some bullets from that mold and they are not .358?
If you haven't cast, do it and see what they come out as.

For instance, I have cast some from a .358 mold and found that some were .360+ and needed to be sized down.
EDIT:
You said you have some .356 bullets.
I assumed that you cast them yourself.
After re-reading your post it appears that you did not.
Anyway, good luck to you.

[bangerjim]

PC will add 2-3 thou on boolit diameter. Easy way to do up-sizing without messing up your mold!

[richhodg66]

Easy enough to lap out an aluminum mold. I wouldn't go the nail polish route, but it might work, I've never resorted to it.

[Madisonian]

For .002" I'd lap the mold so they drop at .358" They'll size down to .356" easy enough if your .380 needs them sized.

That's a good idea. Would you lap just the driving bands, or the whole thing? (I don't know much about this stuff.)

[ndnchf]

Check out my video on an easy way to increase bullet diameter.

https://youtu.be/ziBZeUS1DCI

[rbuck351]

I have an old Swag o Matic that I use to bump up cast boolits or to just uniform them and make the bases very flat with sharp edges as well as changing the nose profile.

[JSnover]

That's a good idea. Would you lap just the driving bands, or the whole thing? (I don't know much about this stuff.)

You could lap only the bands if you want, I've lapped three molds of mine and just did the whole thing. Consider that you're only opening each cavity by .001" In .380 or .38 short Colt, neither the boolit nor the barrel will care if you do the nose or not.

[Tar Heel]

Bumping up bullets won't work for the 38 Short Colt. The cartridge uses a heeled bullet with a rebated base like a 22LR. An excellent source of these bullets is Old West Bullet Molds to get a heeled bullet of proper diameter. You will also need a special crimping tool to crimp these bullets. A bullet mold can also be procured from the same source. Yet another source of heeled .375" bullets is Eras Gone Bullet Molds. Have fun!

Attachment 287517

[rintinglen]

A lot depends on the gun your shooting them from. If this is an antique Colt, the boolit diameter you need will very likely be MUCH larger than .358. An 1877 Lightning of my acquaintance had a .375 bore. The 1892, 1894, 1894 etc. DA Army Colts had three different nominal bore diameters. Until you know what you need, keep your wallet in your pocket.

[rbuck351]

By making my own dies for my Swag o Matic I have made heeled boolits for a 32 S&W long that had way oversize cyl throats at .321. It can be done but getting a heeled boolit mold for a Colt 38 short with normal throat size would be a lot easier.

[parson48]

I've "beagled" several Lee molds to slightly increase diameter. Used to be a lot of discussion here on that method.