Another Step Down the Road

[shaman]

A few years ago, I started casting boolits based on advice y'all gave me. It was a fairly simple thing; I had a .54 TC Hawken, and I ordered some Lee R.E.A.L. molds and a Lee furnace. Pretty soon, I was casting for my two sons as well, and then I got my friend into it, and he got his friend into it and . . . we've been busy lo these past few years casting pure lead bullets for our muzzleloaders.

I got to thinking the other day that I have 3 pieces with .358 bores:

A .357 Mag Ruger Blackhawk revolver
A .357 Mag Marlin Lever rifle
A Remington 7600 rifle in 35 Whelen

It may be time to start broadening my casting horizons. What I'm wondering is how hard is it going to be to find a good bullet and load for each of these firearms. For the Marlin lever and the Rem 7600 , I'd like to come up with a nice solid deer round. The Blackhawk is sort of coming along for the ride. I've been shooting 158 grain cast semi-wadcutters out of it for years, but I've never cast my own, and if I could come up with a single bullet that could work in all three I'd be happy as a clam.

[dondiego]

I don't own a .35 Whelen...........yet.........but I do cast for .35 Rem and .357 and If you really are looking for one bullet to work in all 3 firearms, you will probably have to go with a 180 grain or 200 grain max bullet. NOE makes a 180 grain plain based or gas check design.
You will probably eventually want a bullet over 200 grains for the Whelen. This is just a natural extension of the hobby! Good Luck.

[shaman]

Thank you, for getting back so fast.

While I'm at it, I might as well throw out the other idea: I picked up an 8 mm Mauser over the summer, and was unsuccessful in a few attempts to find a good load for it using standard Cup N Core bullets. Before I keep dumping money into store-bought bullets, is there a good deer boolit for 8X57? Or am I getting in over my head too fast.

[Echo]

Several good boolits for 8mm - I've had good luck with a Lee 180 gr rn that I modified. One cavity got the GC bored out (21/64ths drill, IFIRC), so I get one GC, one PB with each cast. 18 grs 2400 behind either one will be good medicine for deer.
I also have an 8mm Max, but haven't cast any yet...

[cbrick]

Your 35 Whelen will be eternally grateful if you get it the RCBS 35 200. That boolit has worked extremely well in every 35 bore I've put it through including the FA revolver.

Rick

[shaman]

Would the RCBS 35 200 work in 357 Magnum, or am I going to get a face full of firearm if I try?

Bunch of other questions:

1) I know you have to bell the mouth of the case. How does one do that with 35 Whelen? 8X57?
2) I have some wheel weight and pure lead. What is a good alloy for rifle? Could somebody point me to the right sticky?
3) What else do I need? So far I've just been casting pure lead balls. Sizer?
4) One of my reasons for doing all this is that I'm beginning to suspect that rifle recoil may be contributing to my bursitis. I had to give up bow hunting in 2007 due to a bum shoulder. I love my Whelenizer, but . . . I take it that the lead requires less velocity. Less velocity/less recoil, right? Ditto for the 8X57.
5) I keep seeing posts about powder coating. This is a whole new idea since the last time I was on here. Is this a technology I should embrace?
6) The little Marlin Lever is a joy to carry. I've been using it when I'm out and about as a just-in-case firearm in dealing with our coyotes. Anyone using 357 Mag out of a rifle for coyote control? Whatever I develop for deer would do double-duty for coyote, right? Suggestions welcome.

[Blammer]

the rcbs 35 200 is not a very good choice for the 357 mag, nose it too long and it may not feed in the levergun and will be ugly in the revolver if it fits, again it's too long.

I would recommend an NOE 180gr GC mould, it will work well in ALL three of your rifles. I have pushed the 180 quite fast in the 35 whelen, to the point of it being a varmint load with a HP. Ever seen Ground hog chunks? :)

the 180 NOE is a good one too in my 357mag levergun and I've killed two deer with it.
It's also just plain fun in the revolver I have, I don't hunt with that particular revolver but if it had a scope I would.

1, bell case mouth of 35 whelen by using your 357 mag die for case belling on your pistol. :) for 8mm I'd get a Lee universal case belling tool.
2. WW alloy is just fine for pistol and rifle, the whelen you may have to water drop to get a bit more performance out of it.
3. get a lee push through sizer and a way to lube your bullets. pan lubing comes to mind if you don't want to spring for a sizer to start
4.yep and nope, you can run reduced loads quite effectively in both 35 and 8mm and you can also get some real man stomper loads too with the same projectile, it's all about the powder.
5.powder coating, I'd not start with it right away but not discount it completely
6yep if it'llkill a deer a coyote should be cake.

[Wayne Smith]

I am sure that Lyman and RCBS have belling dies (Lyman M) for both the 8mm and the 35 - for the Whelen and the 8x57 you will need the Lyman long die and the spuds for cast boolits in both. You can call Lyman and order the spuds (I'm not sure that is the correct term!) separately, I'm not sure you can do that with the RCBS product.

[shaman]

Cool. Thanks.

BTW: I realized that I've been gone so long from here that my signature line is way out of date. I've updated it to give the right link. I noticed a bunch of you had tried the old one.

Here's the correct link: Genesis 9:2-4 Ministries (http://genesis9.angzva.com/)

This is sounding better and better y'all. I was mentioning this to KYHillChick last night, and her response was "Oh, so when the SHTF. . . " I hadn't thought of that angle. This really is sort of a SHTF kind of solution.

[dverna]

shaman,

I am not a big fan of one bullet does it all. You will wind up with a compromise. My advice is to get a multi-cavity mold for the .357 (say 158 gr) and it will handle light loads for the pistol up to max power for hunting smallish game. You will likely use more of these bullets and a 4-6 cavity mold reduces casting time significantly.

In fact, you may decide that for "plinking" with the Whelen, the 158 gr bullet is all you need and keep shooting jacketed for the few hunting rounds you need a year. If you want to hunt with cast, look at a 200-250 gr bullet for the .35 Whelen down the road.

Molds are really not that expensive. I fear you will find a 180 gr bullet is too much for the pistol and not enough for the Whelen.

Don Verna

[shaman]

Thanks everyone.

One last question: What book would you all recommend for a guy like me. I know about basic casting for muzzleloading. I know about alloys (I worked in a solder factory for 10 years).

What book is going to help me get down this latest stretch of road?

[dondiego]

The Lyman Cast bullet handbooks are good. This is a good place to ask specific questions if you can't find an answer in the Stickies.

[Wayne Smith]

In the stickies there is a link to a downloadable book by Glen Frixell and someone else. I'm not computer savvy enough to post a link here but someone will be.

[cbrick]

the rcbs 35 200 is not a very good choice for the 357 mag, nose it too long and it may not feed in the levergun and will be ugly in the revolver if it fits, again it's too long.

That's not true across the board. I have fired many thousands of them from my FA 357 revolver, a short cylinder such as a Colt probably so. Ugly in a revolver? Don't know what that may mean but there was nothing ugly about all the perfect scores I fired with this boolit in long range revolver including state championships.

Rick

[cbrick]

What book is going to help me get down this latest stretch of road?

From Ingot To Target (http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_textonly2.pdf)

Here's an outstanding source of info and extremely well written. I highly recommend not only reading it but also downloading and printing it out. This book was made available to everyone by the authors as free download and is valuable for the old salts of casting but it's priceless for the beginner.

Rick

[MtGun44]

Lee 358 158 RF will work very well in both guns, but is only a small game or target
boolit in the Whelen.

Bill

[shaman]

Well, I took my bonus check and blew it on boolits!

Here's what' I've ordered so far:

rcbs 35-200-FN w. handles
LEE 2-Cavity Mold C358-158-SWC
Aluminum gas checks
Lee Lube & Sizing kit for .358
Lee Universal Neck Expander

I'm already casting for my front stuffers, and I already reload for all the 35 calibers I shoot.
I've got a few coffee cans full of wheel weight.

A pallet of crisco let loose at work the other day, so I now have 3 lbs of buttery crisco. Can't I use that in a homebrew lube mix?

I'm just waiting for it all to arrive and the weather to break.

[dverna]

shaman

I think you made a good choice on the bullets - though you may regret not spending the few extra dollars and getting a 6 cavity for the pistol bullets.

I would not start with home brewed lubes. White Label lubes are less than $2 a stick and are very good. Establish good performing loads with a known lube and then, if you want to make lubes you have a point of reference. BTW, I doubt you will save much if anything by making your own lube. I believe most people that do it are alchemists searching for a "perfect" lube - and have only slightly more success as the alchemists who tried to turn lead into gold.

You can bet that if the "perfect" lube is every created, someone will market it. The reality is that the lubes sold by White Label and Randy Rat are pretty damn good and cheap to boot.

Don Verna

[shaman]

. . . and a 32 bottle of Xlox.

What do y'all think of aluminum GC's? I saw there were dies for making your own out of drink cans. Is that a good deal?