Best .359 150gr PB mould?

[High Desert Hunter]

I very recently acquired a 50th Ann. Ruger Flattop in 357magnum. I am looking for a general purpose SWC type bullet of around 150-155grs with a plain base. This is my new desert packing pistol (DPP for short). I am currently bidding on a 358477 mould, but I am not likely to win it, so I am looking for some input. This makes 2 sub 44 caliber resolvers I now own, the other is a 32-20/32H&R Blackhawk converted to fixed sights, could be a future project gun. Thanks for the help, with the cost of everything going up, I figured a gun that uses less lead, and less powder couldn't be bad, may take me a while to make up the $400 I spent on the new shooter, but heck whatever it takes to convince myself.

Dave Beeman

[Dale53]

One of the most popular bullets for a .357 is Lyman 358477, a plain base 150 gr SWC. Right now I am using the Lee 358-158-RF in my .38's and .357's. It is a well designed bullet. I am a fan of the Lee Six Cavity moulds. I have moulds from all of the major manufacturers as well as several custom moulds. Yet, I use a number of Lee Six Cavity moulds with great pleasure and get the bonus of a VERY good value.

Dale53

[High Desert Hunter]

Thanks Dale, I doubt I will ever shoot anything bigger than a coyote, or a Javelina with this shooter, but I wanted something that if the shot were right would take a deer.

Dave Beeman

[Poygan]

Dave,

I have the RCBS version and really like it. Personally, I've had better casting luck with the RCBS molds. I use this in both the .357 and the .38 spl. They don't seem to go for unreasonable bids on ebay, either.

[drinks]

I have the Lee TL358-158-2R, the C358-158-SWC and the 358-158-RF.
I get good results with the 2 plainbase if I use wws and stay below 1000fps, I have used the GC at 1400fps.
Of the 3, I would expect the 358-158-RF would be the best game bullet, I have a very similar bullet in .44 and .45 and they really whomp on game.

[9.3X62AL]

Another pile-on for the Lyman #358477. This design cops the prize at my house for "most-fired casting" in pure numbers downrange for the past 25 years--many thousands. I don't run it past 1000 FPS very much, preferring Lyman #358156 (162 grain SWC/gas check) for magnum velocities. That latter boolit would get the nod for deer hunting, too. Hundreds of jackrabbits and ground squirrels have folded to the #358477 for me.

[NickSS]

I have used the Lyman 358477 for over 30 years and like it a lot. It was my standard bullet for 38 spl and light 357 mag loads until I started cowboy action shooting. Now I use the Lee 358-RF from a six cavity mold for most of my bullets. Surprizingly I have found that it works as well as the Lyman bullet for small game hunting due to its large flat nose. It feeds better in my lever actions and is even faster loading in revolvers.

[High Desert Hunter]

Thanks folks, wondering, is the 357 given to more leading than say a 44 or a 45 Colt? I ask because I routinely run cast PB bullets from them at greater than 1250 with little or no leading. Also, what size should I go with? A .358, or .359 sizer die? I will be loading this bullet over Unique, any load suggestions?

Dave Beeman (Desert Rat Wannabe)

[Dale53]

HDH;
You ask a good question that I have no answer for. I have been shooting .357 magnums with full loads for over fifty (closer to sixty[smilie=1:) years in a variety of good revolvers and I have NEVER had a leading problem with any of them. Maybe because I had NO information when I started to load these when I was but a wee lad so I followed Elmer's recipe. He advised proper hardness, sized to the revolver throats and the use of relatively slow burning powders for the "full" loads.

Most of the bad reputation of the .357 for leading was from factory bullets with undersized too soft bullets. I CAN testify that the early factory loads would lead, like CRAZY!

In the beginning, I used Lyman's lube and it was barely ok. However, when E.H. Harrison ran that series of articles on Alox/Beeswax lube, I climbed on board and used that for many years with excellent results. Recently, I have been using modified Emmert's lube for most everything including black powder and schuetzen loads. Emmert's, however, while a great lube, has a rather low melting point. I am now converting to LAR's Carnauba Red lube and anticipate a somewhat better all round lube for both rifles and pistols.

Dale53

[High Desert Hunter]

Thanks again Dale. I have been making my own lube since the day the tubes that came with my Lyman 450 Lubrisizer ran out. In Alaska I was using a fairly soft lube recipe, I have since had to harden it up for the New Mexico heat, I found that my kids broken crayons were just the ticket, the new recipe has cut down on the clean up after a shooting session considerably.

Dave Beeman

[Dale53]

Just to clarify;
I am now converting to LAR's Carnauba Red lube and anticipate a somewhat better all round lube for both rifles and pistols.


I will still continue to use modified Emmerts for Black Powder (Alox based lubes do NOT work well with black powder). Since I use the "holy black" on occasion, I will continue to keep my home mix Emmert's around for that use.

HDH;
You might want to look at Lar's lube's for general use. His prices are so good (and a good fellow to do business with) that I have laid in a supply of his Carnauba Red for my own use. At his prices I can spend my "lube time" doing something more productive:

http://www.lsstuff.com/lube/index.html

Dale53

[PPpastordon]

I have not cast much for the .357; but I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the Lyman 358429 Keith bullet. I have heard people from many places praise this mould and I recently picked up a used one for a price that was less than its scrap metal value. (I wish!)
One of the praises I have heard is its accuracy over a wide range of velocities - from powder-puff loads to pure max loads. Many years ago I had a friend that used it for some long range shooting and he claimed the accuracy held beyond the 500 yard range we had available at that time.
I would love to hear comments on this bullet from the members of this great board. All y'all have such great info.

[9.3X62AL]

Pastor Don--

I'm fairly new to the #358429, and to date my use has been limited to 38 Special. This pattern has differing "styles", I guess you could call it--my mold has a rather short bottom drive band compared to many #358429 castings I've seen, and the short (and therefor potentially weaker) base band kind of argues against successful high pressure containment. As-cast weight is 163 grains. I think my #358477 with its thicker base band would be more likely to contain higher pressures more successfully. I'm probably more likely to resort to gas checks sooner than many casters, but I HATE de-leading a fouled bore. If my #358429 had a base band as thick as its center band, it would get some 357 Magnum time for sure.

[Dale53]

The Keith 358429 is a dandy bullet in heavy frame .38's that it was designed for (the S&W .38/44, etc). However, when used in .357 magnum cases the case over all length is too much for some .357 magnums (for instance the great Model 27 S&W). The Model 19 S&W has a long enough cylinder for this bullet. I have a 686 but I have not yet tried the bullet in that one so I don't know if it will work or not (I think it will, but I don't know). A good number of people use the 358429 in .38 Special cases and a heavy charge (13.5 grs) of old 2400. This load would be a bomb in an older .38 Special medium frame (like a pre-war S&W Military and Police). So, a person would need to mark those .38 loads so that they didn't get in a Chief's Special, for instance. They are WAY above Plus P Plus in pressures.

For those reasons, I cannot recommend the Keith bullet for "just any" .357 magnum revolver even tho' I am a fan of Keith's original design.

I recently ran into the same problem with a new (to me) Taurus Tracker .44 magnum. That cylinder is too short for Keith's 429421 tho' it will work fine with every factory load I have slipped in the cylinder. I have a solution that works for me in the .44 - just shoot the .44 Special Skeeter load.

Dale53

[Cherokee]

Dave - I have shot many 1000's of 358477 in 38 Spl and 357 Mag over the past 40+ years. Great bullet. Lately I've been using Lee 358-158RF for 357 Mag shooting and it is great, especially in my 686 pin gun. can't go wrong with either one, but for Deer, I would consiider the Lee.

[High Desert Hunter]

Thanks again, I did indeed win the auction, and hope to have the time to get the money order in the mail this Friday, so I should hopefully be able to cast some boolits next week. I will have to look into the Lee mould further, I gave it some serious thought, as it looks like a smaller version of the 310gr 44 boolit.

Dave Beeman

[Dale]

You should enjoy the Lyman 358477 bullet. I have no idea how many thousands I have cast over the last 35 years. I use it with 5.0 gr. of Unique in the .38 Special and 7.0 gr. of Unique in the .357. The .38 load is about 0.5 gr. below maximum. The .357 load is a medium load - my Lyman book lists 8.0 as maximum. I use wheelweight metal with a little tin and have very little leading.

[High Desert Hunter]

Thanks again, trying to assemble the reloading and sizing stuff now, boy stuff sure has gotten expensive.

Dave