"Now if you made some in 7mm....."

[gitano]

Such was the comment in post #111 of this thread http://thehunterslife.com/forums/sho...=16677&page=12

Now that I'm 'taking a breather' from getting all the logistical issues resolved with swaging jacketed bullets, I have had a moment to get "out of the box", and of course I had a 'smack oneself in the forehead' moment. I CAN make smaller-than-8mm ANVB bullets. All I have to do is run them through a Lee sizing die.

Unfortunately for the 7mm caliber, I don't have a .284" resizing die - yet. What I do have are a couple of "30 caliber" resizing dies. While not the desired 7mm, they will illustrate what is possible starting with the 8mm ANVB.

I give you the .30 caliber (0.3083") ANVB


When the 7mm die arrives, I will make some 7mm versions.

The sequence of "squeezes" goes like this: First 8mm, (yeah, I know; "Why would you have to do that?" because it makes the transition to the next die easier is all I can say). Second, the 0.311 die. Last, the 0.309" die which leaves the bullet at 0.3083".

One of the "neet" byproducts of this method is that the bearing surface increases as the diameter decreases. Therefore, I should be able to make some 7mm bullets that are considerably lighter than 115-grains, (I'm thinking 85), that still have 1-caliber or greater bearing surfaces. I suspect I may be able to exceed 4000 f/s with an 85-grain bullet from my 7x300 Weatherby. Any time I can exceed 4000 f/s at the muzzle, I have a grin on my face.

I'll post pictures of 7mm versions when I get the 7mm resizing die.

Paul