Lee .358 158gr SWC GC mold

[Frank V]

This may have been asked, but My Wife got me that mold for Christmas. I'm wondering if anyone uses that bullet in the .38 Spec. or .357 mag. It sure is a pretty bullet. I need to get out & shoot some.
Thanks.

[Thumbcocker]

I prefer the Lee 158 RNFP good boolit and a six cavity makrs a bunch in a hurry.

[Budzilla 19]

I have a six cavity Lee in that same design! It's a great bullet. I Load them for .38& .357 both. You will cast a lot of them in a hurry with the six cavity, that's for sure! I think you'll like it.

[DerekP Houston]

I have all the lee 358 designs...it shoots reasonably well for me with no gas checks. I planned on using it with gaschecks for 357 and haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Frank V]

Thanks everyone. It looks so much like the Lyman/Thompson 358156 it'll almost have to shoot well.

[Tim357]

Have a care Frank, if your loads are borderline redline, this boolit seats deeper in the case than most other designs. Might be advisable to seat them out a bit longer to keep pressures at bay.
Free advice, freely offered.

[quilbilly]

I have shot that boolit in both my 357 mag and 357 max and it shoots well in both. I quit using it in the mag because I didn't see the need for the gas check but continued using it in my 357 max carbine since it gets pushed a lot faster there. Now that I have switched to the Lee 204 gr RNFP-GC in the max, I have set that mold aside for the time being. Although I have not done so, I would think if you keep the MV below 900, the gas checks would not be necessary with that mold but you would have to experiment.

[taco650]

I got this mold a while back in a two cavity. My experience with it has been very frustrating. The bullets would not release from the mold. I've polished the inside of the mold with toothpaste coated bullets twice and it is better about dropping them but they have gotten a bit fat on the gas check end making it hard to seat the check. They also drop any where from 162-168 grains and I think the lube grooves are a bit small for the weight. Lastly, I wish I'd gotten the six cavity just to speed up production.

Some of these issues are my fault-my alloy is range scrap that's water dropped and I probably went too far with the toothpaste. I'm also to blame for not getting the six-shooter. I also wanted to get the RNFP model because I liked the look of it better but it was out of stock at the time. I shoot them from my 4" S&W 64-3 and they don't lead the barrel even at +P power. Accuracy is not good with the Unique loads I've tried but some loads from an old batch of Trap 100 and Longshot show promise. YMMV.

[quilbilly]

Many of my Lee molds drop boolits a little heavy. My 358 - 125 gr RF drops at 133 gr., the 358 150 RN drops at 156, my old (discontinued) 429 SWC - 255 drops at 265, et al. As long as they are consistent, it doesn't matter to me. That 358 - 125 RF is my favorite for both my 357 mag and my 9 mm carbine.

[gwpercle]

Last year I ordered that Lee mould in a 2 cavity , I've had the Lyman 358156 in single cavity form , since 1971 when I bought a Ruger Blackhawk In 357 magnum. My first handgun , I cast with the single cavity Lyman and shot the Blackhawk until 1995 when it was stolen. I loved the boolit but casting with the single cavity was slow .
I was ordering some stuff from Midway for Christmas and I'm not sure why I ordered that 2 cavity gas checked Lee mould....I didn't have any 357 magnums , only two 38 specials. I just felt compelled to include it . It came in , I cast up a bunch , sized , lubed and gas checked, boxed them and set them on a shelf .
This was around February 2015.... Now in October 2015 , I get a call from Baton Rouge Police department, my Blackhawk had been recovered from a pawnshop in Arizona (I'm in Louisiana) It had been gone 20 years...an officer brought it to my office, where it had been stolen from...and I had my 357 magnum back ....I went home and got that special Lee C358-158-SWC mould out and looked at it for a long time , and I swear I thought I heard Rod Sterling speaking and Twilight Zone music playing.... That's a special mould in my books.
Loaded up several boxes and it shoots just fine in the old Ruger, try it you will like it.

Gary

[Frank V]

Thanks Tim357, A long time ago I learned if I needed more power go to a bigger gun don't redline the smaller one. That's what .44s & .45s are for.
Now got to order some GCs.

gwpercle, Wow congratulations on getting your gun back. Bet you are happy. Was it in good shape, often stolen guns get buggered up. Again Congratulations you got an old friend back.

Skelton liked the .357, it is a good ctg.

[Shuz]

Has anybody tried this boolit in the .35 Whelen?

[gwpercle]

Thanks Tim357, A long time ago I learned if I needed more power go to a bigger gun don't redline the smaller one. That's what .44s & .45s are for.
Now got to order some GCs.

gwpercle, Wow congratulations on getting your gun back. Bet you are happy. Was it in good shape, often stolen guns get buggered up. Again Congratulations you got an old friend back.

Skelton liked the .357, it is a good ctg.

Strangely enough....it looked just like it did 20 years ago ! No wear , tear , rust or abuse ! It was even clean, whoever had it took care of it .
The only thing different was the smooth "aged faux ivory" grips that were on it had been removed and some checkered white polymer grips were on it ! The aged faux ivory grips looked good , the white polymer looked like white plastic.....I dyed them black and they look a lot better now.
I couldn't believe after all that time it didn't suffer.

I actually bought the 357 Blackhawk and Lyman 358156 mould after reading Skeeter's articles in Shooting Times magazine....I even saved most of his magazine articles and bought his books.
Gary

[Wally]

Using the Lee 358-125 RF in the .357 Mag .. what is your best load? I have that mold and mine also cast out heavy at 133 grains. Nice bullet and I never had any trouble with that mold...


Many of my Lee molds drop boolits a little heavy. My 358 - 125 gr RF drops at 133 gr., the 358 150 RN drops at 156, my old (discontinued) 429 SWC - 255 drops at 265, et al. As long as they are consistent, it doesn't matter to me. That 358 - 125 RF is my favorite for both my 357 mag and my 9 mm carbine.

[Frank V]

gwpercle, that's fantastic. A lot of guns stolen really get beat up. Glad yours didn't & you got it back.
A lot of us remember Skelton & his fondness for the .357! He was a great writer. I had a Lyman 358156 mold, I loaned it & don't remember to whom, it's been gone a while now, I'm hoping this Lee will preform as well as it did.

[gwpercle]

gwpercle, that's fantastic. A lot of guns stolen really get beat up. Glad yours didn't & you got it back.
A lot of us remember Skelton & his fondness for the .357! He was a great writer. I had a Lyman 358156 mold, I loaned it & don't remember to whom, it's been gone a while now, I'm hoping this Lee will preform as well as it did.
Thanks !
Rule number 1 ....Never lend a bullet mould.

The Lee design shoots just as well as the Lyman design...I've tested it !
Gary

[mdell49]

Good to know I have a double cavity Lyman and an older HP version. They both are extremely accurate with Skeeter's old recipes using 2400.

[Frank V]

Thanks !
Rule number 1 ....Never lend a bullet mould.

The Lee design shoots just as well as the Lyman design...I've tested it !
Gary


Glad to hear that & you are right about lending a mold, lesson learned!:groner:

[Tom W.]

That was the first mold I bought when I bought my Security Six so many years ago. I fired all of them without gas checks and had no problems. At the time I was using a Lee turret press, just starting in handloading. I think I sold it maybe a year or two back...