Shot my first cast boolits today..Very Happy

[sbeatty1983]

I bought a lee dual cavity .356 120gr TC mold a couple of days ago. Ive been melting wheel weights and range lead into ingots for several weeks now. 200 Bullets were sized in a lee .356 die and tumble lubed in tungsten disulfide since pan lubing with wax didnt work so well for me. Bullets were loaded for my Kimber Aegis Custom that has been converted to .38 Super. 25yrd 10 shot group was .904" with a flyer that brought the group out to 1.4" Still not bad for 25yrd 10 shot group. The load I used was 5.5gr Win 231 1.26 OAL and Starline brass. I was worried about leading with the lube I used but after 150 rnds there was no leading at all.
http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af88/sbeatty1983/2012-07-17_19-41-19_776.jpg
http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af88/sbeatty1983/2012-07-17_19-40-37_358.jpg
http://i996.photobucket.com/albums/af88/sbeatty1983/2012-07-17_19-39-35_168.jpg

[Longwood]

Nice going.
Much better than my first attempt at cast bullets in a 38 super.
The 38 super can shoot extremely well.

[NZSarge]

Good job m8..good grouping

[9.3X62AL]

I'm a big fan of the Lee 120 TC also. It shoots well in all of our 9mm pistols, sized @ .357" and lubed with Javelina. 4.5 grains of WW-231 is a friendly, accurate loading that leaves brass about 2' to the right of where I stand from both SIG-Sauers @ 4 o'clock--the Ruger P-89 is similar, with 2:30-3:00 dispersion. I have run it to 1250 FPS from the P-226 and Ruger, zero leading and good accuracy in 92/6/2 alloy/Javelina.

[Shiloh]

What do you gentlemen's bores slug as if you measured them??
I can't get that bullet to shoot.

Shiloh

[MtGun44]

Must be a tight bore to shoot that well with .356. My .38 Super Wilson LE Comp has a
357 groove diam, will do OK with 9mm jbullets but needs .357-358 for cast, throws
.356 sideways.

Bill

[Shiloh]

Must be a tight bore to shoot that well with .356. My .38 Super Wilson LE Comp has a
357 groove diam, will do OK with 9mm jbullets but needs .357-358 for cast, throws
.356 sideways.

Bill

That boolit hits sideways at 50' for me. Casts to small.

Shiloh

[sbeatty1983]

I havnt slugged the bore but im pretty sure storm lake uses the same barrels for 9 mm and 38 super and just chambers them accordingly. My bullets drop .357-358. I may load some as cast and see how they shoot. I fitted this barrel and bushing quite a bit tighter than the factory 9mm barrel and i think that helps alot. Now ive got to work up a good carry load. I worked up to a max load with blue dot and 124gr Gold dots but wasnt overly impressed with the accuracy. Next time i place a bulk order im going to get some AA #7 and work up a load with it. According to accurate i can get nearly 1400 fps.

[MtGun44]

I have a load with the 124 XTP that will chrono at 1410 fps. I loaded huge numbers of
147 to 158 SWCs at .357 in that thing to about 1230 fps. MAX load but safe, with the
right brass.

Try adding some tin, might make it cast a bit bigger. Or beagle the mold - search on
"beagling"

Bill

[sbeatty1983]

I have a load with the 124 XTP that will chrono at 1410 fps. I loaded huge numbers of
147 to 158 SWCs at .357 in that thing to about 1230 fps. MAX load but safe, with the
right brass.

Try adding some tin, might make it cast a bit bigger. Or beagle the mold - search on
"beagling"

Bill

What is that load? I sized some 158SWC down to 356 but couldnt get them to feed reliably. the shelf on the bullet kept catching on the lip in the chamber. My next project is getting a spare cylinder for my S&W 686 having it chambered for .38 super and machined for moon clips. I will be using it for ESR division in IDPA. Gonna load heavy boolits for it to make the 165PF. When I get all that done Ill be looking for a 158-160gr RN mold.

[MtGun44]

First be aware that this is a redline, absolute max load that I used to make major caliber
in IPSC competition. I don't use it for everyday shooting. But is IS a published load.

The load is with W571 or it's identical twin HS-7, neither are still being made, I think. With
an unsupported chamber I could use 7.1 gr in ONLY Rem +P .38 Super brass, or PMC .38
Super brass. Win or WW +P+ .38 Super brass would bulge frighteningly badly at the unsupported
feed ramp area if I accidentally got someone else's brass at range pickup time. I could load
Rem +P until the headstamp was beaten flat (30-50 loadings, I estimate) with this load in Rem
+P or Midway, and not all WW +P or +P+ would survive one shot. :shock:

Most later guns had less of a feed ramp cut with a integral feed ramp to the barrel, helping
this issue.

This load was in one of Hodgdon's small free loading manuals, right at 35,000 psi (Max).
Made major caliber reliably, was accurate. The boolits I used were commercial hard cast with
a fairly pointed SWC shape made for semi-autos.

Bill

[sbeatty1983]

First be aware that this is a redline, absolute max load that I used to make major caliber
in IPSC competition. I don't use it for everyday shooting. But is IS a published load.

The load is with W571 or it's identical twin HS-7, neither are still being made, I think. With
an unsupported chamber I could use 7.1 gr in ONLY Rem +P .38 Super brass, or PMC .38
Super brass. Win or WW +P+ .38 Super brass would bulge frighteningly badly at the unsupported
feed ramp area if I accidentally got someone else's brass at range pickup time. I could load
Rem +P until the headstamp was beaten flat (30-50 loadings, I estimate) with this load in Rem
+P or Midway, and not all WW +P or +P+ would survive one shot. :shock:

Most later guns had less of a feed ramp cut with a integral feed ramp to the barrel, helping
this issue.

This load was in one of Hodgdon's small free loading manuals, right at 35,000 psi (Max).
Made major caliber reliably, was accurate. The boolits I used were commercial hard cast with
a fairly pointed SWC shape made for semi-autos.

Bill


I understand. My barrel is a ramped and fully supported. Ill be limiting full house loads to carry ammo and will only shoot it for function test and a mag or two every now and then for familiarity. My pistol has an aluminum frame so I would like to avoid premature wear with the big boomers.

[MtGun44]

I was making 180,000 power factor in those days. Good load and lots of gas for
the comp to work with. I have an identical pair of Wilson LE Comps with hard
chromed lowers and blued uppers and they both run like watches after many
tens of thousands of rounds.

With a ramped bbl I think you'll be fine. I don't know what powder would fit that
slot today. Some used Blue Dot, but I couldn't get the velocities I wanted.

Bill

[500Smith]

:grin:Well done sb! Very inspirational. Thanks.:-D

[Cherokee]

sb - the Lee 120 does great in my 38 Super and 9mm loads sized to .356 as well. Both barrels measure .355 Enjoy !!