This simple setup can be used to flatten the nose of cast bullets

Leverguns in pistol calibers, such as the Marlin 1894, the Winchester 1894 and 1892 (and replicas), present special challenges. Leverguns in 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum and 454 Casull all have the potential to shoot cartridges of substantially different lengths (38 Special, 44 Special, and 45 Colt, respectively). Even in a single caliber, the variability of cartridge length and bullet styles can present feeding challenges. Add the second, shorter cartridge, and things get complicated.

Case in point: My Rossi Model 92 in 357 Magnum/38 Special. I've experimented with many bullets and loads in this gun. It's accurate, easy carrying, and versatile. Shooting low powered 38 Specials, it's great for tin cans, small game, and teaching newcomers to shoot centerfire rifles. Heavy 357 Magnum loads, packing 1500 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, make the little rifle potent enough for deer season. Unfortunately, some bullet shape/cartridge length combinations hang up in this gun. Round nose bullets feed best, but there is always some risk, however small, of a bullet in the magazine being set off by the recoil forces tranferred from the nose of one bullet to the primer of the next bullet in the magazine. Because the rifle is light, the recoil from full load magnums in this rifle can be substantial. Putting sharply rounded bullets in heavy 357 loads in this rifle makes me nervous. But those round nose bullets are among the best feeding bullets for a levergun.

I found one commercial 357 round nose bullet with a slightly flattened tip: The Hunters Supply 162 grain hard cast round nose. This bullet feeds great. But, as a bullet caster, I like to make my own, so I set about figuring a way to make a similar bullet. I don't use a traditional bullet sizing/lubricating press, so my solution had to work with round nose bullets that are either tumble or pan lubed.

One of my favorite home brew bullets is the Lee 358-158TL round nose. I have found these to be accurate from both rifle and revolver in 38 Special and 357 Magnum. I decided to experiement with putting a flat spot on the nose of the bullet for safety in heavy levergun loads. My solution involves using a single stage press, an RCBS 357 seating die with a flat seater insert, and the bullet punch from a Lee 358 sizing die kit.

The widened base of bullet punch won't fit in the seating die's cavity, putting a limit on maximum travel of the handle. This is critical for getting consistency. We want to adjust the die so that at the limit of travel, the punch just barely presses the nose of the bullet into the seating die's insert. To achieve this, we start with the die adusted so that the insert doesn't touch the bullet with the press handle all the way in the down position. We then screw the seating die insert down util it touches the bullet nose. We then back the bullet out of the die, and adjust the insert down a little further. Trial and error will help us find a sweet spot where the bullet nose is flattened enough for our purpose. We don't want to flatten more than necessary; doing so can begin to distort the base of the bullet and alter it's caliber.

Here's the bullet, sitting on the punch, ready to go up into the die.

Here's the bullet after a full stroke of the press handle. The nose of the bullets now has a small flat.

During setup, measure the bullet's caliber before and after adding the flat. In my own tests, I adjusted the die insert so that the bullet's caliber never varied more than .0005" after the top was flattened. If there was more change, I backed the seating die off just a bit and retested with a fresh bullet. Once the adjustments are complete, I tighten the die's lock ring and nut, and start cycling bullets through the press. In just a few minutes, I can put a flat tip on a hundred bullets. It's quick and easy.

Some bullets with flattened tips, shown next to bullets prior to flattening.

These are now my "go to" bullet for 38 Special and 357 Magnum when I want a heavy load, where one round can be used in both in revolver and levergun without feeding concerns. These bullets are accurate, feed easily regardless of catridge length, and won't cause a primer detonation in a tube magazine when subjected to heavy recoil.

There are certainly other ways to accomplish this simple, bullet reshaping task. This particular method is easy, fast, consistent, and works with any single stage press.