First Impressions on the Lee 90306 358-125-RF

[ColterB]

This is my first mold, so I have nothing to compare it to. Just thought I'd share some initial impressions from a beginner's point of view.

When choosing a mold I wanted something that I could use for both 9mm in my various pistols (primarily Glock), and also load .357Magnum and .38Special. these three cartridges easily make up 90% of my shooting, so having common components is convenient.

I have not loaded any .357Magnum or .38Special with these yet, but I have loaded a limited test run of 9mm, 50 rounds, and found it to be satisfactory so far. I used 4.1grains of Unique, 1.05" overall length, and what turns out to be a ~133gr projectile. Primers are Federal No. 100. Lubrication was provided by Lee Liquid Alox thinned slightly with Odorless Mineral Spirits. I did not size the projectiles, they were loaded as-cast.

Reliability was just fine. Recoil was moderate. While I was mainly interested in function, accuracy seemed to be well within what is acceptable for general use. Most importantly, there was not a detectable amount of fouling beyond what would be expected from any other ammunition. It seems that the "over-sized" projectiles that I've read folks recommending for use in the factory Glock barrel actually does work pretty well. I'm in the process of loading more and casting more, so more extensive testing will follow in the coming weeks.

For far, though, for someone looking to have a versatile mold just to start out with- this is looking like it might be a good option.

[gefiltephish]

I don't have this mold so can't comment on it. I did notice that you're using Fed primers in 9mm and that you also load 38/357. I use Fed primers only in our 38/357's due to lighter main springs. Feds are softer. They're impossible to find as well. Unless you have a large stock of them, you may be better off using some other, more readily available, primers for the 9mm. Or perhaps you stick with OEM springs in your wheel guns, in which case it doesn't matter.

[tazman]

I am experimenting with this same boolit in the same situation. I have used it in my 357 mag loaded to moderate 38 special loads and gotten very good accuracy. I also loaded it into my 9mm and got acceptable accuracy there as well. However, I have been sizing them a bit differently depending on the cartridge.
.358 for the 38 special and .357 for the 9mm mostly because of chambering. The .358 size is a bit tight for my 9mm chamber.

[Echd]

I have generally found it to be a good bullet in the .38 special. But honestly there are a lot of good bullets for that and it isn't hard to find a decent load for one.

[shoot-n-lead]

I have used it in .38 and .357 and I find it to be a good little bullet.

[ColterB]

I guess I'll use different primers for this Glock, then. I bought the Federal primers a while ago, they're the oldest I have so I was just using them to keep stock fresh. I have CCI and Remington I can also use. My springs are all stock, though, so while it shouldn't matter there's no sense in using up something I might have trouble replacing. I've only got about 7000 left, and probably about 4000 of CCI and/or Remington. (The Remington primers I paid an embarrassing $40/1000 for, while the Federals were $25/1000.)

I will work on the .38spl/.357mag load soon, but I still have some reloads that were given to me that I'm using up. (Yeah, I know the risks... but I like free ammo.)

Tonight I shout about 100 rounds of the load listed in the OP in an IDPA match. They were reliable, seemed as accurate as I was being given the circumstances, and the only slight issue was they are a bit tough to extract by hand (although still well within what is manageable). No failures of any kind so far. Leading is minimal, and only appears in the second half of my Glock 19's bore. I'll clean it well tonight and proceed with progressively higher round counts between cleanings while looking for pressure signs.

[reloader28]

Those primers obviously work in that gun, so by all means go right ahead and use them.
In my testing the Remington primers seemed to be the softest.