Henry Big Boy .357 Mag....boolit choices?

[Bowhunter57]

I own a Henry Big Boy in .357 Mag. and so far it'll shoot jacketed bullets well. However, I'd like to find a 158gr. lead/cast bullet that will do the trick for my hunting needs.

A semi-wad cutter design is what I have in mind, but with a gas check, to keep lead fowling to a minimum. However, lead fowling may not be an issue, as it's what I keep reading about, but have yet to experience. I'm going to be using this rifle for hunting coyotes, so I'm not going to be shooting a lot for leading to be an issue. So, perhaps I should just purchase a lead bullet without the gas check.

Also, as I understand the "rule": soft lead/cast bullets for rifles and hard lead/cast bullets for pistols. Is this a true standard?

Any suggestions, opinions and experiences are greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Bowhunter57

[Cherokee]

I use wheel weights with 1 or 2% added tin for all my bullets, rifle or handgun. I do not try to drive my rifles past 14-1500 fps so works for me. I do not use gas checks for handguns, including my 44 and 45. I have driven 357 Mag CB loads to 1400 fps without leading. Some of my rifle bullets are plain based as well. The only time I'll have a leading problem is when the bullet does not fit the cylinder throats or chamber throat for rifles. Sometime it is necessary to use a harder alloy for feeding in semi-auto - depends on the gun. As for your "rule" I don't think its a true standard. I would say soft alloy for lower vel, hard bullet for higher vel. Other well-informed opinios will surley follow.

I'm not familiar with the Henry but some LA rifles do not feed SWC bullets very well. I would chose something like a round nose with a flat point (RNFP). After all, that is what the LA was designed to feed. Lee's 38-158 is good in my revolvers and fed well in the only 357 LA I had (gone now).

[jdgabbard]

If you can find a Ranch Dog mold, that would be my best advice. It was designed for marlin levers. And that is definitely in the same neck of the woods as your henry. I know its a solid performer in my wheel guns. If you can find one, you could always look to Mountain Molds. They have a online boolit design program to let you design something that is pretty darn close.

[snaggdit]

as I understand the "rule": soft lead/cast bullets for rifles and hard lead/cast bullets for pistols. Is this a true standard?

I would think that is backwards. As velocity/pressure increases, hardness needs to increase as well. Some cast slow pistol rounds out of pure even. 50/50 pure/WW is typically the minimum recommendation though. Magnum up to rifle boolits WW, water dropped WW up to WW/Lino or even pure lino.

[lylejb]

Are you set up to cast your own yet? Considering casting your own? I'm new to casting myself, and started this thread asking about lee's 358-158rf (158gr round nose flat point).

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=59597

i think this is the boolit Cheroke mentioned in post #2. It's the boolit i'm going to try in my revolver, and i think it would work well in a lever.

The large, flat meplat (point) hits like a hammer on game.

Unfortunatly, Ranch Dog is out of business. His designs also featured large meplats, but were customized for marlin LA rifles.

[Blammer]

I'd recommend the Lee 358-158, should do well for you in the 357mag. It has for me.

I use straight ww's and can shoot a plain base boolit at about 1700 fps with no leading out of my 360DW lever gun.

[Bowhunter57]

Blammer,
I agree, the 358-158 bullet should do the trick. However, I'd perfer to purchase bullets as opposed to making them. I've made bullets and roundballs for my muzzleloaders, but prefer to purchase them.

When you say that you ran a lead bullet out at 1700 f.p.s., was that pistol reloading data or an actual chronographed speed? I ask because it's not uncommon to add another 400+ f.p.s. to pistol reloading data for a rifle, due to barrel length. So, your load could've been a 1300 f.p.s. by the reloading data and was actually 1700 f.p.s.

snaggdit,
I agree with you about the reverse being true. A rifle's increased velocities should produce more pressures and therefore the need for a hard cast bullet.

The bullets that I'm currently testing are a hard cast 158gr. and are made by someone locally and sold at a gun shop that I frequent. These bullets have a blue lube in the grease grooves and strongly resemble the Meister hard cast bullets that Midway sells. I need to try a couple more different powders before I get too worked up about it all. All I've tried so far has been 2400. I have Unique, Blue Dot, H110, Longshot, Accurate #9 and IMR-4756.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[Blammer]

actual chronograph speed, shot it through my chrony.

Try Lil gun in the rifle, it makes a difference. :)

[Bowhunter57]

Try Lil gun in the rifle, it makes a difference. :)

Blammer,
Thank you, for the suggestion. I'll pick some up after this next set of test loads.

I've got 2 different loads each of Blue Dot, Unique and Accurate #9. Which ever load groups the best at 25 yards will get another chance at 50 yards. The best group at 50 yards will be what I load and hunt with for coyotes.

The bullet is a 158gr. hard cast SWC. :)

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

[Gunslinger]

Bowhunter,

I use a .158gr SCWGC I cast from an RCBS mold. The first batch I cast was cast from "a little a this a little a that" and measured BNH10 which is not that hard. But due to the gas check I can shoot them at full house loads without leading... I size .001" over groove.

I shoot them in a Ruger Blackhawk so they are a little on the hot side but I get good results with 11gr Bludot and 16gr H-110.

[Lutzy48]

I have found that the Lee TL358-158SWC will feed well in my Marlin 357 Mag Cowboy. Other SWC's don't feed well. I primarily shoot the 358-158RF as it has a better balistic coefficient than the SWC.

[SciFiJim]

The Lyman 358156 would be a good choice for your rifle with the things that you specified. It is a semi-wadcutter, gas checked, and the weight you wanted. It also has two crimp grooves, one for .38 special brass and one for .357 mag brass. It shoots well in my Marlin .357.

It's also well worth learning to cast your own so that you can tailor a boolit specifically for your rifle.



http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt47/SciFiJim_photobucket/358156.jpg

[PatMarlin]

358429

http://www.westcoastminisplitter.com/2rem.jpg

[Wayne Smith]

Nobody else has said it so far so I will. Slug your bore! You don't know what size boolit you need until you do, or experiment and clean out a lot of lead before you find your size.

This is true of any cast boolit no matter who makes it. Making your own simply gives you more control of the process. A too small boolit will lead, period. If you don't have a good caliper or micrometer get one. When you shoot cast you need one.

[PatMarlin]

Nobody else has said it so far so I will. Slug your bore!...

There's no need for violence Wayne ...:mrgreen: