Lee 358-158RF 6 cav questions

[subsonic]

I got a new Lee 358-158RF 6 cavity. I tried out this mould for the first time last night and found some things I wasn't expecting. First off, it's a bevel base. And secondly, there is almost no crimp groove. It's shallow to start with and once sized from .359ish to .358, you can barely catch it with your fingernail.

Anybody else have the same experiences?

I am contemplating drilling out the bevel base....

[Andrew Quigley]

I have this same mold be don't recall it being a bevel base. Not where I can look at it at the moment either. I use mine as cast and use the Alox tumble lube. They work great in my S&W model 10, J-frame and my daughters cowboy guns. Full house loads to lite loads, the work fine.

[opentop]

Shoot it as is, It's dern good boolit!

[jameslovesjammie]

Does it look like this? This is what Lee says it should look like, but they've changed their 358-125-RF recently, so it is possible they've changed this boolit as well. The boolit in the picture has a bevel base, but it's really small and I don't think I've heard anyone complain about accuracy of this boolit.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/jameslovesjammie/Message%20Board%20Pics/358158rf.gif

[azrednek]

I had it in a double cavity a couple of years ago and traded it away. I traded not because there was anything wrong with it but because I wanted a gas check design for my 357. Mine looked just like the one in the picture. I did size mine .358 and lube with a hard lube. I don't recall having any problems with a shallow crimp groove.

Is it possible you have an older or different design than jameslovesjammie's picture?? Seems to me I recall Lee making a different type of round nose way back in the 80's.

[truckmsl]

My experience with this boolit is that it does well untill around 1100 fps, but loses accuracy when pushed faster through an 18 inch carbine - wondering if anybody else has experienced this (sorry if I'm highjacking the thread).

[Poygan]

I've had this mold for only a short time but so far its a gem. I tried it in a new SP101 today and it shot better than a Lyman.358156 with gas check. It also did better than the Lyman in a S&W model 19. I think this is only the second time I've used it.

[EMC45]

I shoot that bullet out of my 38s and it does outstanding! Shot 50 of the this morn and just cast a bunch of them today. They are an accurate bullet.

[LarryM]

I've got a 2 cavity and a 5* cavity. The older 2 cavity had a less pronounced bevel and is just a tad shorter over all than the ones form the new 5* cavity mold. I cna't tell much difference in how they shoot.


* I unsuccesfully attempted to try to remove the bevel from one cavity, the results are not pretty.:oops:

[Jack Stanley]

I shoot them in a revolver and got what I would expect for service velocity loads . The Marlin carbine just wasn't gonna have it groups just were not going to come together with this bullet . I switched to a H&G mold that I used to load for PPC and instantly the groups shrank in half .

I think I got a bum mold but the design fed real well and was easy to cast with . I know others have done real well with them .

Jack

[selmerfan]

I have this mold in a 2 cav and wish it were a 6 cav. I got a good one with a strong crimp groove. I'd call Lee and tell them what's up, they'll make it right. Is it possible you're not running it hot enough? i don't know your casting experience, but I've discovered with at least one Lee mold that it needs to be HOT for good fill out. Not frosting hot, but hotter than some other molds.
Selmerfan

[fecmech]

I have a 2 cav that looks like the posted picture and shoots well out of my handguns and out of my Mod 94 Winnie. I ordered a 6 cav and it was a different bullet slightly shorter with a wider meplat that did not shoot as well for me as the 2 cav and I sold it.

[subsonic]

Mine is a 6 cavity and has a much more pronounced bevel base than the picture and nearly no crimp groove. I will contact Lee and see what they say.

I'm thinking of carefully hand turning a 23/64 bit to take out the bevel..... but I'm going to try it on a warped Lee 2 cav I was given first.

I ran this mould all the way from very cold to very hot and can't see where or how the crimp groove would ever have gotten deeper. It throws a nice bullet at .359ish, just has that shallow crimp groove.

Out of my SP101 over 15gr of 2400 it cranked, but also left a lot of lead behind. I shot 12 of these and had to shoot some other "better" 358429 boolits to clean out the lead left from these.

[TCFAN]

Lee has made at least 2 versions of this boolit.I bought a new 2cav mold from a dealer and 6 weeks later ordered a 6 cav from midway.

The 2 cav had a very large bevel and a oal of .641 inch.

The 6 cav had a small bevel and a oal of .635.

The lube grooves and the crimp groove as well as the driving band are different on both boolits.

I had the 2 cav bevel removed by a member here on cast boolits.It made a good boolit much better.


I will post a photo below. It is not very good quality.

[leadman]

I has an older 2 cavity, probably 5 years old thaat casts a flat bottom. I bought a 6 cavity about 2 months ago. It is slightly shorter with a bigger meplat and a slight bevel base. With a couple loads and guns it actually is more accurate.
I have a Marlin with microgroove rifling and the 6 cavity is more accurate than the 2 cavity.

[epj]

I has an older 2 cavity, probably 5 years old thaat casts a flat bottom. I bought a 6 cavity about 2 months ago. It is slightly shorter with a bigger meplat and a slight bevel base. With a couple loads and guns it actually is more accurate.
I have a Marlin with microgroove rifling and the 6 cavity is more accurate than the 2 cavity.

Very interesting. Been using a 2 cavity and just bought a 6. Haven't tried it out yet.

[exile]

I just bought a 2 cavity version of this mold, but have not tried it yet. I am encouraged by what some have said about this mold. Forgive my inexperience, but what don't you like about the bevel base? Is it a lack of accuracy or leading, or what? I plan to use mine with Lee sizer and tumble lube with a combination of Alox, mineral spirits and Johnson's Paste Wax. I don't mean to hijack the thread, but if anyone has any ideas on this lube recipe, I would be glad to hear them.

exile

[Ron]

I have the 6 cav version of this mould. Yesterday I loaded up some test rounds of various Win 231 charges and headed off to the range. Locked the L Frame Smith in the Ransom Rest and proceeded to fire test rounds. The best group was with 3.1 grains of Win 231: just a tad over one inch for six shots. Now if only I can do as well when I am shooting it instead of the Ransom. This is the most accurate bullet and load that I have ever put together, I think I will keep it.

[subsonic]

Mine looks like the standard 6 cavity then.

Can you measure the smallest diameter of the crimp groove on yours and report back?

I'll do the same.

[subsonic]

The best group was with 3.1 grains of Win 231: just a tad over one inch for six shots.

At what distance? 25yds?

Any leading? What lube?

[wildbill]

exile,
One thing that some folks don't like about the bevel base is the way it has lube on the bevel after it is run through a sizer like the lyman 4500. it won't be a problem if you tumble lube.
Bill

[subsonic]

Forgive my inexperience, but what don't you like about the bevel base? Is it a lack of accuracy or leading, or what?

It makes a mess in my RCBS Lubrisizer and I beleive it contributes to leading if you have a barrel cylinder gap greater than about .003", which I do have.

[exile]

thanks for the input. Again, sorry if I hijacked the thread.

exile

[Ron]

Subsonic, range was 25 metres.
No leading.
Felix lube (FWFL).

I will be loading some some of the 3.1 grns Win 231 tomorrow and hope to test them at 7/10/25 and 50 metres. Will report back later.

I find that the bevel base to be no great problem, yes it is a pain in the rear but easily fixed. When I am loading, I tip the boolits onto an old cloth, then spray a small corner of the cloth with a de greaser and on picking up a boolit, wipe it through the degreaser and seat it in case. An extra step but one that becomes part of picking up the projectile.

Another alternative is to cut a piece of the plastic like stuff that meat trays are made of and place that in the LAM for the boolit to sit on when sizing. This works to keep most of the lube off of the bevel base but it eventually breaks down and needs to be replaced. I prefer to use the degreaser.