Minie Ball Sizer

[Trep44]

I have a Navy Arms Zoli Barrel 58 cal Remington Zouave. I purchase Minie Ball bullets from Track of the Wolf. I am in no position to casting my own bullets. I would like to be able to thumb load the minie ball and not have to hammer it down the barrel. I purchased 25 each of the .575 and .577. I found that 1 in 3 can be thumb loaded. The one I can thumb load is still a little snug. I suspect this may be caused by shipping, as they come boxed in a bag and the bullets skirt gets knocked out of round by the other bullets

I have been looking into a bullet sizer. Pedersoli sells a hand bullet sizer with 2 dies .577 and .576. I have not been able to find a distributor who carries the sizer. Are there any alternatives? Also are the Antonio Zoli barrels machined uniformly the full length or tapered?

Thanks, Chuck02

 

[arcticap]

This outfit has both push through and threaded sizing dies and may also offer more custom sizes.
From the home page click the online store tab: --->>> https://www.northeasttradeco.com
This page has their push through sizing dies: --->>> https://www.northeasttradeco.com/online-store/PUSH-THROUGH-SIZING-DIES-c22315045

This outfit also make threaded sizing dies:--->>> http://oldfoxtraders.com/TnMolds/
Clicking on sizers and dies brings up this page:--->>> http://oldfoxtraders.com/TnMolds/accessories.htm

 

[hawkeye2]

First you will have to slug your bore to get the proper sizer. The bores of Italian repros are all over the place and just knowing a brand won't help. The minie should be sized .001" under bore size for best accuracy but .002" is OK. Personally I would pass the pedersoli unit by. The push through dies work well if you don't have a lubrisizer. Pan lube or dip the bullets, I do it before sizing when I use a push through. You can put them in a drill press or make a stand for them.

http://oldfoxtraders.com/TnMolds/accessories.htm

https://www.northeasttradeco.com/online-store

http://www.lodgewood.com/Sizing-Dies_c_91.html

Sorry for the duplicate info, I was typing and articap was faster.

 

[Stantheman86]

Go with Lodgewood. I got a .575 sizer from them.

I live near North East Trade Co and I advise calling that man on the phone and placing the order, because he's older and has health issues. You may get your sizers right away or in 6 months. He's a super nice guy but he's having trouble keeping up with orders.

Do yourself an immense favor and get a cheap $40 Arbor press, and use it to push bullets through sizers with wood dowels. Super easy, I hot lube them with beeswax and lanolin in a candle melter and then size them.

Lyman makes sizers that work with my setup but I dont believe as big as .575 - .577.

Any sizer for a Lee press will work but not many places make sizes above .451

 

[Trep44]

Thanks everyone for your input. I have never slugged a bore? I do not have the facilities to remove the breech.

 

[arcticap]

Thanks everyone for your input. I have never slugged a bore? I do not have the facilities to remove the breech.

One doesn't need to remove the breech plug to slug a bore.
Plug the bore with paper towels, hang a wire from the muzzle with a hooked end at the bottom & then use Cerrosafe alloy by melting it and pouring it in.
See the description for use. --->>> https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-.../cerrosafe-chamber-casting-alloy-prod384.aspx

Also available from Rotometals for less:--->>> https://www.rotometals.com/chamber-casting-alloy-ingot/

 

[nkbj]

My way to find out a minie diameter...

Tap on a minie to expand the skirt out bigger than the bore.
Use a pair of pliers or channel locks to hold the nose, turning the skirt into the bore, using the rifling to machine down the soft lead.
Measure the resulting lead diameter.
Try it a few times, get the feel of how to do it well, take the measurements.

By the way, you can use the nose of a minie and high strength epoxy and a dowel rod to make a push through stick for a die. Put some grease of the minie so the epoxy lets go.

 

[Trep44]

I have a Lee Loading Press. The Lodgewood die with plunger sounds good. If I went with the .574, would I be able to resize my current .575 and ,577 minies?

 

[hawkeye2]

Slug your bore before you buy. Nkbj suggested an easy way to do it and then buy a sizer .001" under that. I'm sure you will find that .574" is way too small and if the minie is too small it won't stabalize and you'll get keyholes.

 

[snubnose57]

When I ordered a sizer a while back, they were out. Just to get you out to the range, find a flat piece of metal. Press and roll gently on a hard surface, and check muzzle fit. Roll more if needed. I have a 2 .58 rifles, but one must be a .57 so I just roll my own for a "custom" hand fit.

 

[Cowboy]

I’ve used two small blocks of scrap wood and lightly rolled the mini’s skirting between them until I’ve achieved desired diameter. Always works for me! Quick and easy!!

Never seen accuracy suffer using this method.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Trep44]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have left over sections of subway tile. I am going to try rolling the minie balls between 2 sections of tile, as the tile is hard and smooth. Let you know the results. Also ordered 1 lbs of rotometals to slug my barrel.

Thanks, Trep44

 

[Trep44]

Great results....Rolled .575 and .577 between tiles sections.
With 10 firm passes, the bullet will slide in with lite thumb pressure. With 15 firm passes, the bullet will just drop in.

As I would be performing this function at home, how do you transport the bullets to the range without damaging the skirt? I could not find a plastic ammo box with separators for .58 or large cal online.

 

[hawkeye2]

You don't need dividers unless you plan on throwing the box around or filling a coffee can with them and hauling them to the range over a gravel road in the back of a pickup, they aren't really that delicate. An old cigar box is great and cheap fishing lure boxes work well. Just place them in base down.

If you had some balls of the same diameter you wanted to size the bullets to you could put them between the tiles to size. Dowels would work too.

 

[Trep44]

I have a fishing lure box I can use.

Thanks.

 

[DaveC]

In my limited experience with "wad-cutter" Minié/Burton balls, the skirts are mighty fragile! I use a 20-ga. shell box to store them after I pan lube them.

For skirmishing of course, I put the nose end in the plastic cartridge tube, and then tip the skirt in lube in a double-boiler to keep it melted, and then air dry.

 

[dave951]

If you go over to the North South Skirmish Association forum, there are a couple vendors that carry different type of sizers. They aren't expensive and come in either a type to fit an arbor press (or wood block!) or a normal reloading press with 7/8x14 threads. I've moved away from the arbor press to a dedicated single stage reloading press I got used, cheap at a local gun show.

Your real problem will be the alloy of lead used to cast the minies from a commercial source. Unless they are pure lead, you'll likely never get them to shoot well. The vendor for Lodgewood is from our association and makes good minies.

 

[ZUG]

I use a nylon push through sizer that I made. It has a male & female part one fits the inside of the skirt and the other is the I.D. that I want. I pan lube my Minies then push them through the sizer. I store them in a cigar box