When to Size

[sathington]

Hello Powder Coaters,

I have some questions about when to size my bullets. I'm new to this whole process, having cast my first bullets on Friday. I have been intending to go with powder coating, based on what I've read about it. Here's where I get confused.

I bought a lee sizer for 44 caliber, and my bullets drop at about .433 according to my calipers. I tried to size a raw bullet this morning and it was instantly stuck in the die. I had to drill a hole through it and then press it out. I'm a bit of a bonehead, so maybe I should've had some sort of lubrication happening, but I figured that would affect the powder coating later. I know I've read about people sizing before they powder coat.

I have also speculated that the weakness could be my press and table. They are not the sturdiest, as the most strenuous task I've asked of them is resizing pistol brass. Swaging .003 inches of lead might be more than it is up to.

So there's my dilemma for the day. Any thoughts?

[Love Life]

You can size before you PC, before and after you PC, and just plain ol' size after you PC. I size after, and have sized bullets down from .456 after PC to .452 with no issues. If things start to feel a hesitant, I just wipe some Unique case lube on a bullet about to be sized and it smooth's things up for a while.

try putting some case lube on one of your bullets to be sized and see if that helps.

A sturdy bench is an absolute must for me for any reloading task to include bullet making and sizing.

[Gunslingerdoc]

If your boolits are casting .003 over size then PC is going to add .002-.004 to the diameter. Id size before and after, in this situation. I size some 45 LC boolits (old IDEAL mold, that's just cool) that cast at .455 down to .452, PC, then size again. For my 9mm stuff, they cast at .356-.3565 so I just size after PC. Personally, Id use a different mold or adjust my alloy to cast closer to size so I could skip sizing twice --- I cast and reload pistol so I can shoot more.

I don't use lube in either case and Im using Lee push thru sizers. A note of caution, I find Lee sizers to SIZE TOO SMALL about half the time and end up reaming them to size or polishing them up .001 - another discussion all together.

[Maximumbob54]

If they are getting stuck then you are getting too much coating on them. I cast, coat, and then size. The powder coating seems to make them feel like they squirt through the sizing die. The one and only time I got one stuck I thought I would try dusting them with graphite which ended up being a huge no-no.

[Roosters]

I've had good luck sizing after coating like LoveLife said using case lube. I use the RCBS spray lube. Put the boolits in a zip lock bag couple squirts of case lube roll the bag around to coat them.
It makes sizing easy.

[Love Life]

I only lube when sizing from .456 down to .452 and then I only lube every 20th bullet or so.