.348 Winchester boolit in the .351 WSL??

[richhodg66]

Youngest brother got a model 1907 and I want to help him get it up and running. Seems bullet molds that throw undersized .35 calibers are rare as hens teeth.

By chance, a local shop has a pristine Ideal 350447, nominally 183 grain gas check desig for the .348. It has a flat nose, obviously, but otherwise I would think it would feed ok, and though it's a little heavier than the standard, not excessively so.

Any thoughts on this? Though I haven't tried it, I have some doubts that most of my 35 caliber lead bullets would size down that much without significant deformation.

[runfiverun]

you might need to open the mold a bit to make it work.
but it would be the right weight.
might not have the crimp groove in the right place. [these could be turned in with a canellure tool]
you might not need a roll crimp.
gas checks may or may not be needed [and could be a pain to find for the 348 mold]
i would grab it and give it a shot,at the least it would give you the measurements you need for a custom.
and you should at least be able to single load them.
but you won't know if you don't have some boolits to try.

[richhodg66]

Thanks. I'm wondering if it might not be better to just go with a custom mold from the start now that I think of it. It seems like it would be easy enough to get a mold maker to make a clone of the Lyman 350319 which was designed for it. I'll look into that route.

I'll probably pick up that mold anyway. It may be a good one to experiment at some point for paper patching in other .35s and worst case, I'm sure someone with a .348 could use it. I wish my brother was closer with that 1907. I'd love to shoot it a bit.

[runfiverun]

if you were closer to me i'd let you shoot mine.
the fun of them is getting them and then figuring out the brass and the mold.
i don't envy you doing it long distance.
i haven't even started messing with mine yet.

[richhodg66]

He told me today he's just gonna bite the bullet and pay what the correct brass costs. It's not like he's gonna shoot a ton of it, but I bet he is real careful to watch where the brass lands, LOL.

At the gun show today, the gentleman who I normallys ee with the old reloading stuff wasn't there and the only thing I found for the .351 was a guy who had some bullets they had made by Berry bullets, a 180 grain round nose plain base that is twice copper coated he said. I may buy a bag, try them out and then if it's a good one, send a few to a custom mold maker to see what a duplicate mold would cost. The things were $30 per 100 so just as expensive as jacketed ones.

I hope I can run across some used dies without breaking the bank soon.

[runfiverun]

i'd imagine lee makes a set, they have worked well for me with some of the hard to get stuff.
brass is on and off,and sometimes a bit pricey.
it can be made from 357 max brass which is on/off again also.
i have heard of some guys that are able to just use 357 mag brass in thier individual rifles.
and if a box of original ammo is found to pull it down and anneal it or the necks will split.

[richhodg66]

I actually found a few boxes of original ammo, but I would hate to shoot it and prefer to save it for collector value.

Lee doesn't list dies on ther web site, perhaps if I called them??? I thought about loading on .357 dies, but wonder if it would size dow enough to give proper neck tension.

The gun show yesterday in Topeka didn't yield much for the .351, except that a guy who sells components there had some bullets which according to him, they have made by Berry's and were a 180 grain RN sized to .351 and plated. I know Berry's has a great rep, though I've never used any of theirs. I really would prefer to cast them myself, however.

[Mk42gunner]

I would check with CH4D about the dies, I think I have seen them listed on their website. And probably Accurate Molds for a mold.

Robert

[runfiverun]

i don't know if the 357 dies would do it.
maybe a 9mm if you don't expand back up.
there is a long running thread here on the 351 self loader it might have some better information.