good all around 357/38 bullet

[kylewood]

Hi, I'm wanting to start casting for my Smith 686. Been looking at the Lee 358-150-1R Is this a good choice? or maybe a semi wadcutter? Doesn't have to be particularly accurate, just plinking ammo. Would I be doing right by sizing to the same size as the forcing cone? I'm new to the sating world so any help is greatly appreciated.

Wood

[AlaskaMike]

I really like most of the SWCs in 150 to 158 grain range with a plain base. Generally that means either the RCBS 38-150-SWC or Lyman #358477. I'm not familiar with the Lee or Saeco lines, but I'm certain that they have something similar.

The Lyman was Phil Sharpe's design when he collaborated on the .357 magnum back in the 1930's, so it has some nice history with it. It's also available in a 4 cavity mould, where the RCBS SWC is only a 2 cavity mould. You'll be able to make bullets quicker with a 4 cavity mould vs. a 2 cavity.

It would probably pay to try some different cast bullets in your gun before you invest in moulds. The reason I suggest that is that you might buy a nice 4 cavity mould with a plain base design only to find that your gun strongly prefers gas checked bullets. That would be pretty rare though.

With the conventional bullet designs that use a single lube groove, you'll need a lube-sizer to size the bullet and pack lube into the lube groove. You can get around this using the Lee tumble lube designs. They have several small lube grooves and you 'tumble lube' them in liquid alox. It's a little messy but you avoid the up-front cost of a lube sizer.

I'd suggest you hit local garage sales and gun shows. I scored big and got the vast majority of my reloading and casting equipment at a garage sale for pennies on the dollar about 10 years ago. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) casting doesn't work out for lots of people, so there's perfectly good casting equipment that frequently turns up at garage sales and gun shows.

If you just want the cheapest, quickest plinking bullets, I'd get a Lee 6 cavity mould in one of their tumble lube designs and some liquid alox. Their 6 cavity moulds are of much better quality than their 4 and 2 cavity moulds, and you can make a seriously huge piles of bullets in a hurry with a 6 cavity mould.

[AlaskaMike]

Another thing to consider is where to get your lead. The days of hitting up a local print shop for worn out linotype is long gone. If you're lucky you can hit up the local tire shops for wheel weights, but zinc and steel weights are starting to become more prevalent because we all know that lead is so incredibly dangerous. Also, some are bound by corporate agreements to turn their lead weights over to recyclers. Sometimes it can help if you mention you're casting fishing sinkers instead of bullets depending on the type of person in the shop.

Thankfully, I've never had much trouble getting old lead wheel weights from the local shops. My own company manages a fleet of vehicles and I can get a little bit from them. Generally, a case of beer or a couple of $10 bills to the tire changers can go a long way regardless of where you look.

Almost forgot--it's not the size of the forcing cone you want to size your bullets too. It's the chamber throats in your cylinder. For example, the ideal situation would be to have something like .359" throats and .358" groove diameter in the barrel. In that case you'd size to either .358" or .359".

[10 Spot Terminator]

Another vote for the Lyman mould # 358477 . This Is a long time favorite in the 38 and 357for me and 100s' of others. I cast mine with a 25to1 ratio pure lead to tin and performs excellent from lite target to stout magnum loads. A (+) 1 on proper chamber sizing being the key for both perfomance and to control leading on the bore from "gas cutting" past the bullets on loose fitting bullets.

Happy Shooting,
10 SPOT

[JohnMoses]

For years I used the Lyman 150 grain bullet. Recently I've drank the Lee koolaid and now have 6 cavity molds in 357, 44, 45, &40, &9. I got the tumble lube designs and couldn't be happier. I prefer swc designs in revolvers, tc in autos. With mild 38 loads, it's easy to ring the 100 & 200 yard gong with my lever rifle, a bit more challenging with the revolver. I love that lon-n-n-ng delay till you hear the ring.
Anyway, the the whole setup is cheap and works well. I'm fortunate to have a good supply of wheelweights, but back in the day I would harvest range lead & mix a little tin in the pot. Scrap plumbing pipe is virtually pure lead, but the wiped joints are 50/50 solder. I tend to blend alloys from what I have available, and the Lyman cast bullet guide is a valuable resourse. Good luck! And emember, the most important part is to shoot a LOT to recoup your investment!

[GP100man]

The first 38 caliber lee I bought was the RNFP & it works good !!

& you can lubesize it or TL with alox .

[kraigwy]

I've been using Lyman's 358477 - 150 grn SWC, for years........a lot of years. I carried it in LE and have dispatched several moose injured in vehicle-moose accidents over my 20 year career in LE.

It shoots great in my Service Revolver (Model 28) and my Model 27. It also is what I carry in my 642 pocket revolver I carry for SD.

I've tried several others but keep coming back to this bullet. Penetrates good, good expansion, and is accurate in all my 38/357s. I cast them with wheelweights.

[TheGreatDane]

Originally Posted by GP100man

The first 38 caliber lee I bought was the RNFP & it works good !!

+1 vote for Lee moulds. Since they don't cost an arm and a leg, buy a few 2 cavs and have fun experimenting. I shoot the Lee RNFP, SWC-GC, and straight-up Wadcutter. They're all fun.

So far, I've pushed the non-gas checked 160gr to 1150-ish fps with no leading and the gas-checked to 1240 fps.

I like my lees so much that I'll be selling the 2-cav and replacing them with the 6-cav gang mould.

[TheGreatDane]

oh, and size to +.001 groove-diameter as slugged.

[Quantrill]

I've always had good luck with wadcutters or the KSWC, Lyman358429.

[Poodleshooter]

For hunting, I'd go with a round nose flat point. Wide meplats cut nice holes.
For target, get a semi-wadcutter
BTW, you can lube any bullet with liquid alox, even those with normal lube grooves. I've had so much success with alox, even on rifle bullets, that I really wouldn't consider another lube at this point. Not needing a lubrisizer or dealing with pan lubing is another big plus,as is the reduction in smokiness when you don't have huge amounts of lube caked into bullet grooves.

[kylewood]

Appreciate all the help guys, going to get a Lee wadcutter and a a couple other to try (RNFP, SWC, RN) in the 150 gr area. Whats a good way to slug the barrel since I don't have any molds yet?

Wood

[GP100man]

Get some soft fishin weights from wally world ( I carried in my calipers) that`s a tad larger , you can roll fit em on 2 peices of steel, lube bore & slug after starting it use a brass rod ( go ahead & buy a brass rod & you`ll have a range rod )after knockin it thru measure with a micrometer .

Get enuff to do the cyl also & compare em the cyl should be the same & hopefully .001 larger than the bore , but never less than the bore!!

Cap&Ball shooters use a pure lead .360 RB , but ya gotta buy a whole box to get 7or 8.

& be sure that ya can scratch & DENT the lead with your fingernail any harder stuff will give false readings (springback to larger size)

[Sky Master]

Another vote for Lyman's 358477. I've using this mold for almost 30 yrs in my Model 27.

[jmortimer]

Lee Precision Tumble Lube