357 mold!

[BCgunworks]

Alright....getting ready to do some mold shopping for a 357 mag saa replica.

Already milled the top strap and installed a smith and wesson sight and silver soldered on a new taller front sight. Set the barrel back to get proper barrel/cyl gap and uniformed the throats plus a much needed trigger job.

So now the shopping starts....would like a lead boolit that will work well for hunting....

Any recomended designs for the 357? I normally use larger bore handguns and this is the first step back....

Thanks for the input

[Ben]

BCgunworks

The Lyman 358156 gas check mold is a perennial favorite in the 357 Mag. and 38 Spec as is the 358477. Some like the 358429, but it can be a problem with overall length of the loaded round in some 357 Mag. revolvers when seated to the crimp ring in 357 Mag. brass.

The RCBS 150 gr. Keith design is also extremely popular.

Sometimes if you're buying a used mold, you may be able to find out the " as cast diameter " of the bullets ( VERY IMPT ! ! ) before you actually make the purchase.

With a new mold , it is a dice roll.

Good luck, welcome to the forum and please keep us informed on your progress with your new revolver.

Ben

[kevmc]

173 gr Keith comes to mind.......

What you hunting for......whitetail?

[BCgunworks]

78543Ill run it on hogs and deer. Something different than my other hunting handguns. Love the ballance of a saa over the other makers single actions.

Not new to casting, reloading, or handgun hunting. Just new to hunting with the 357.

the pic is of my 225lb boar taken in sc last year with a 10mm that i put together at the shop.

[cainttype]

If the overall length of the Lyman 358429 presents the possible problem Ben correctly alluded too, it can be often times be very effectively utilized with a roll crimp in front of the forward driving band to reduce your COAL.
Personally, it's always been one of my favorites since I tend to generally lean towards heavier designs for most of my applications.

[BCgunworks]

I am normally all about bigger bores but I built one of these for a customer and liked the feel a lot. The extra heft from the smaller bored barrel made the gun feel pretty darn good.

[cainttype]

I'm at a loss to remember any bore I couldn't find a use for... or convince myself to play with.
Lucky, I guess. :)

[KYCaster]

Check out NOE's 180 gr. FP.

I've never found a real need for a GC on a handgun bullet, but he does offer that option.

Jerry

[mroliver77]

We want pics of your gun! I would like to see how the sight turned out.

Depending on what you are hunting and the distance my recommendations change. For lighter work the 358477 (150gr ish)is great. The 358156 Is a GC boolit at 158gr and can be driven as hard as you can possibly stoke a .357. The 358429 is my favorite "heavy" for the .357 for tougher game. Funny, all three have been mentioned already. Good designs!

I do believe in loading to Elmer Kieth or Col Wesson levels for hunting deer size and up. Paco Kelley has some great articles on .357.
J

[BCgunworks]

Once it hits the bluing tanks ill post pics. No way in hell ill post pics right now. Barrel is missing bluing from soldering on the sight. Frame is missing the fake color case hardening where the frame was milled and where the sight was blended in.

Once I get the front sight cut to height....and I have time from all the other gun work....ill get it blued and some pics posted.

[Jupiter7]

Hey BC,

There's a really nice group buy nearing fruition on the 358156. Now would be a good time to jump in.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?132861-MiHec-358156-HP-or-Solid

[BCgunworks]

That's been pending since 2011?!?! That's nuts

[Thompsoncustom]

BCgunwork I take it your hot salts bluing the gun? How does the silver solder fair being in the bluing solution and I'm guessing your using 56% silver? I would recommend the Lyman 358429 I use it in 9mm but seems like it would be a great all around bullet in .357

[BCgunworks]

Yup hot salts. Nitre small parts. Solder holds up fine. Leaves the solder "line" that doesn't blue. Little touch of brownells solder black (think that's the right name for the product) and you can't see the solder line.
The solder brownells sells.....think it was high force 444(not in the shop to check) holds up just fine in the hot salts. Also holds fine with me making adjustments to the sight height with the mill.

[Thompsoncustom]

Thanks I've got a Sear cage with some solder on it and have been worried about putting in my Potassium nitrate bluing solution because I didn't want any of the silver leaking into the bluing solution.

[BCgunworks]

I use #7 bluing salts. Never reaches the melting point of the solder.

[dragon813gt]

That's been pending since 2011?!?! That's nuts

Yep, I'm still patiently waiting. For hunting I use a MP 359640. It's a double crimp groove 170 grain solid.

[ku4hx]

Not to be hijacking the thread, but what 10mm load did you use on the boar? Bullet type and weight, powder and charge if hand loaded and etc.

For the 357 mold, my favorite is Lyman's 358156 GC/no HP. I've been casting that boolit since the early '70s and it has never disappointed me.

[BCgunworks]

That was sierra 165 jhc starline and unique.

Other load I use quite a bit is the lee 170tc with starline and blue dot.

[Beerd]

If a plain base bullet will do, NOE has a good looking one here -
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=410&osCsid=5t7itbbb52k215s7hlss85t9c5

And by all means, post a photo of this revolver when it is completed.
..

[BCgunworks]

I will post a pic when its done. May be done in a week or two

[Rex]

I like the Lyman 358665 RNF. Mine drops at 164 grains and over 7 grains of Unique in a 357 case I get 1100 FPS out of my 4" 686. If that don't do the job, I reach for my '06.

[ku4hx]

Other load I use quite a bit is the lee 170tc with starline and blue dot.

Thanks for the feedback. One of my favorite 10mm loads is the Lee 175 TC. With my alloy it's actually just a hair under 177 grains but still, it's a very good bullet in 10mm.

[stocker]

I acquired a mould from Tom at Accurate molds for use in my little Marlin. It drops a plain base RNFP at just over 180 grains. It's proving to quite accurate with heavy loads of 2400, H110 and L'il Gun . Velocities are in the 1600FPS-1700 FPS range according to my Chrony.

[BCgunworks]

That's right 175 lee...

Only thing I worry about with the saa is how hot will be too hot. I know the metal is much stronger now than elmer keiths day.

[Jupiter7]

That's right 175 lee...

Only thing I worry about with the saa is how hot will be too hot. I know the metal is much stronger now than elmer keiths day.

For curiosity's sake, what SAA clone are you customizing?

Sounds like proper work for a dedicated hunting pistol.

[BCgunworks]

Cimmerron/uberti. 7.5" modelp. Ill have it blued this week and ill get pics up. It looks horible right now due to the fact the flux took off the bluing where I soldered on the front sight. It does shoot pretty good.

[GP100man]

BC, we gotta have before/after pics of the Uberti !!

1 of my favorite boolits is the 358156 with the GC shank removed ! I also like an IDEAL 357446 mold I have .

The NOE version of the 358429 is showing promise ,but I have`nt wrung it out completely yet , been workin too much!!

Since you`re not sure what ya want or need , but for hunting I stay with solids ,I like the idea of having 2 holes leaking& less meat damage.

We`ll get it figured out .

GP

[PS Paul]

BCgunwork I take it your hot salts bluing the gun? How does the silver solder fair being in the bluing solution and I'm guessing your using 56% silver? I would recommend the Lyman 358429 I use it in 9mm but seems like it would be a great all around bullet in .357

358429 in 9mm? Really? I've only secretly imagined doing such a thing.....

Please share your load. I would imagine a light charge of Bullseye or the like? VERY interesting.

[Thompsoncustom]

And give away my secert Never!

Just kidding right now i'm running 2.7grs of AA#2 at 1.145 OAL Avg velocity is 727 so I could go a little faster. Bulleye is a little fast but could work if you hand loaded all of them. Here's a pic

79148

[Thompsoncustom]

looking at that case there might be a crack in it.....oh well when I got into reloading I had a Hi point C9 I tested all crazy loads on before moving them to my nicer pistols now I use quickload and a chrono.

[John Allen]

Any of the 158 to 180 grain keiths work great. I prefer plain base ones myself as I do not push them very fast.

[LAH]

I like the Lyman 358665 RNF. Mine drops at 164 grains and over 7 grains of Unique in a 357 case I get 1100 FPS out of my 4" 686. If that don't do the job, I reach for my '06.

This is a very good bullet.

Others to consider for an excellent mould maker:

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-165V-D.png
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-170K-D.png
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-175A-D.png

[BCgunworks]

Well I built one of these for a customer and I just had to have one. This started life as a factory new Cimmeron/Uberti Model P 7.5” 357 mag.
Here is the list of what was done to it:
Uniform throats
Set back the barrel for optimal barrel/Cyl gap
Mill the top strap for a Smith and Wesson Model 60 rear sight
Solder on an in house made front sight
Trigger work
Lock up on this gun was good from the start and so was timing. I like a square back sight so this one was pretty simple.
For the finish I elected to get rid of the fake color case and matte finish the frame and sights so there is zero glare coming back at the eyes.
The barrel and grip frame are 400 grit polished. The cyl is two tone with the flutes being bead blasted and the rest 400 grit polished. All the small parts and screws are nitre blued.
Now it just needs some nice grips!

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff460/bcgunworks/P1040357_zpsc7cae6ea.jpg (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/bcgunworks/media/P1040357_zpsc7cae6ea.jpg.html)
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff460/bcgunworks/P1040358_zpsae94749e.jpg (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/bcgunworks/media/P1040358_zpsae94749e.jpg.html)
Here is the bullet I’ll be running:
NOE 160 grain LSWC HP!
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff460/bcgunworks/P1040362_zps6bde5cb9.jpg (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/bcgunworks/media/P1040362_zps6bde5cb9.jpg.html)

[LAH]

Really enjoyed the hog hunting article.

[murf205]

This is a very good bullet.

Others to consider for an excellent mould maker:

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-165V-D.png
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-170K-D.png
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-175A-D.png

Ditto on Toms work at Accurate Molds. He made a 165 gr .358, 3 cavity for me and it is a work of art. My 686 slugs .357 and the cylinders go .357 as well. I sized the boolits to .357 and they are a dream to shoot with 13.5 grs of 2400.7960079601 Here are targets @ 40 yds. His company is appropiately named.

[PS Paul]

[QUOTE=Thompsoncustom;2346166]And give away my secert Never!

Just kidding right now i'm running 2.7grs of AA#2 at 1.145 OAL Avg velocity is 727 so I could go a little faster. Bulleye is a little fast but could work if you hand loaded all of them. Here's a pic

Nice pic. Thanks for sharing yer "secret". He he....

Looks like a 358477 or RCBS 38 KT 150 with that large, single lube groove....... That would be around 155 gr. or so and not quite the 173 gr. +- of the 358429?

Again, I've really only imagined in my mind using such a heavy boolit, but since I'm seein' it with my own eyes, I might just try the 150 KT RCBS or the 358156.......

Paul