Looking for a .357 cast boolit wide-nose, light to med. weight

[Charlie U.]

I am interested in finding a medium to light weight cast boolit for .357 that has an extra wide metplat.
Penn Bullets offers a very wide nosed Thunderhead bullet, but it is 230grains. Much heavier than I am looking for.
http://www.pennbullets.com/38/38-caliber.html
I'm hoping to find something with a very wide flat nose like that but in the 140grain range.........Any suggestions?

[BoolitBill]

Charlie, wouldn't any wadcutter fit your criteria? I use the lee wadcutter in both 38 and 357.

http://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-358-148-wc.html

[wistlepig1]

I took an old 158 gr SWC and milled the GC off and it casts about 145 grs, works great. Just a suggestion.

[Charlie U.]

Charlie, wouldn't any wadcutter fit your criteria? I use the lee wadcutter in both 38 and 357.



It might......I had overlooked wadcutters. Somewhere I had gotten the mistaken impression that wadcutters were low velocity plinker/practice type rounds. I'll research it some more. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.

[Mike W1]

Lyman 358477

[TCLouis]

Not sure how big of a meplat you are looking for, but the Lee 358 160 grain RNFP may fit your need.


What cartridge, velocity, what use are you planning.

[fredj338]

I would aslo go with the Lee if you want to go cheap. You could mill off the bevel base & get prtty close to 145gr.
http://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-358-158-rf.html
Otherwise, several custom mold makers could easily cut you what you want.

[facetious]

I have a LBT OWC-150 that I got in the early 90's. I load it over 15 gr. 2400 in .357 and 5 gr. of Herco in .38. Water bottles hit with the .38 are what you would expect, but in the .357 thy vaporize! The LBT OWC-150 is a GC boolit and can be pushed as hard as you want . I cast them from WW with some tin and a little lino. I have pushed them harder but all I got was more recoil and and at 15 gr it shot great in my security six. It is my standard load in that gun.

You could try doing the same thing with a wad cutter seated out so that it go's or just starts going into the throat and working up from starting loads to see what works best.

[gefiltephish]

A bit heavier than what you asked for but this one (http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-160H-D.png) works well in my 686's, 64 and 642. Tom also has lighter versions or will create a design based on your needs. A bit more expensive than Lee molds though. :)

[WRideout]

Lyman 358477

+1 on that mold. It was the one I started with, and I have shot many 38 spl and 357 mag with it. Under the right conditions (boolit hardness, lube etc) it will handle some velocity.
Wayne

[DeadWoodDan]

Need more info.......as TC pointed out


Not sure how big of a meplat you are looking for, but the Lee 358 160 grain RNFP may fit your need.


What cartridge, velocity, what use are you planning.

[Scharfschuetze]

I've had good luck as well as performance on both vermin and targets with the RCBS 38-150-SWC.

[Petrol & Powder]

I've been using the RCBS 38-150 SWC mold with no problems. IMO the OP could also use a solid WC and achieve what he's after.

[Thin Man]

Charlie, the Pennbullets creation is simply a longer (and heavier) version of an earlier wadcutter design that was offered by most of the mold makers. Go to CastPics and look at these:

Lyman 358344 (150 gr.); Cramer 20 (158 gr.);
Modern Bond D358582 (150 gr.) and D358627 (160 gr.)

I have both of the Modern Bond molds, the 150 creates slightly smaller groups but both are usable. Recently a Cramer #20 2-cavity mold sold on ebay for $50, had only 2 bids, looked well maintained. That is about the price I paid for my Modern Bond molds, both with handles. Actually these molds are appearing on auction sites a bit faster than one would expect, just have to watch for them.

What I like about this pattern is it's application in a short barrel revolver. It has a full bore (usually around .348") meplat, AKA SWC or WFN, does not have to be deep seated like a WC to fall into the chamber, gives the same speed and pressure as a traditional SWC without the resistance and slower speed of a full WC design. I think of these as the ultimate SWC for a defense round. If this is what you are looking to find, you may also query the custom mold makers, as I have not, to see if any of them offer anything similar. Good luck with your search.

Thin Man

[jmort]

I would just get a double-end wadcutter. As noted, it is exactly what you describe. Max meplat.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Levergun or revolver? I'd take a look at Accurate Molds. There's quite a few 36-140s that might interest you. Meplats .250 to .255.

[rsrocket1]

The Lee 358-158-RF has a nice wide metplat and shoots very well. I tumble lube them in 45/45/10 even though they are traditional lube grooved, but they still work fine:
93533

[gray wolf]

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-158T-D.png

I like this bullet

[Charlie U.]

Everyone, Thanks for the great feedback,

To get me started I went ahead and ordered the Lee 358-158-RF that rsrocket1 suggested.



.............What I like about this pattern is it's application in a short barrel revolver. It has a full bore (usually around .348") meplat, AKA SWC or WFN, does not have to be deep seated like a WC to fall into the chamber, gives the same speed and pressure as a traditional SWC without the resistance and slower speed of a full WC design. I think of these as the ultimate SWC for a defense round. If this is what you are looking to find, you may also query the custom mold makers, as I have not, to see if any of them offer anything similar. Good luck with your search.

Thin Man

Thin Man, I really appreciate the info you provided.
You described exactly what I am looking for.....Short barreled revolver (sp101) is my application.

BTW thanks for bringing castpics to my attention.

[Elkins45]

The Lee 358-158-RF has a nice wide metplat and shoots very well. I tumble lube them in 45/45/10 even though they are traditional lube grooved, but they still work fine:
93533


Yep, that's a really good boolet, and with a six banger you can make a whole pile of them quickly. The double ended wadcutter is another good choice.

[GLL]

Here is the 36-158V Plain Base from Tom at Accurate Molds. He can "lighten" it up a bit for you or widen the meplat by modifying this drawing.

http://www.fototime.com/1C542F8F9514E20/medium800.jpg

Jerry

[Leadmelter]

Ditto RCBS 150.
Be shooting it for 30 yrs. Excellent.
Leadmelter
MI