I did it (finally)

[rtracy2001]

Much to the dismay of the better half, and without resolving all of the lingering questions a doubts, I ordered a mold and a Lee sizing/lubricating kit for the 38 sp/357 mag. I hope I did right. I didn't dare do anything like slug the barrel on the revolver, it just didn't set right with me for some reason. So instead I just looked at the available sizes of cast projectiles available commercially in the weight I wanted, and ordered a .358" diameter tumble lube SWC mold and a .358" sizer kit (complete with the allox lube). The order should be here in about a week or so.

I already had a bunch of WW (50 lbs or so), range salvage lead (about 20 lbs) and some pure lead shielded capsules from when my dad had a friend in nuclear medicine (another 10 lbs worth). I have an old cast iron pot that I found at a thrift store for $2, a ladle, and a camp chief propane stove (I have to cast outside for now, ventilation problems), so I hope I have everything I need.


Wish me luck

[SierraWhiskeyMC]

Well, slugging your barrel and measuring your cylinders is right up there with the first things you should do. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, I suppose you could always pay a gunsmith to do it.

That helps to eliminate a lot of potential problems right off the bat. Otherwise, if things don't go as well as you'd hoped, you'll have to do it anyway, and in the meantime you may have used up a good bit of powder, boolit alloy and primers without getting the kind of performance you expected.

Plenty of folks have found that things weren't quite right with their revolvers - and frequently it doesn't take much to get them right.

If your firearm is a Smith & Wesson pistol, they can be a pain to measure due to the 5 lands and grooves. You need to wrap a thin piece of shim stock around the slug to measure it, and subtract 2x the thickness of the shim stock.

You ordered the TL358-158-SWC mold, right? That should be a good general-purpose boolit.

Have you been reloading for a while already, or just starting up?

[runfiverun]

should be no big deal mix it all together, and you have probably read all the rest.
go for the size you have, then you can work on it if it's a pain.
i have only measured a gun if it gave me a problem with leading or accuracy.

[RayinNH]

Welcome to the asylum, I also size to .358 for my Rugers. If this doesn't work, then you get to learn something else new, how to lap out a sizing die :)...Ray

[DLCTEX]

Or beagle the mold if it casts too small.

[Shiloh]

You will be surprized how forgiving this casting business is. The good thing is, with practice and experience you start casting fine, flawless boolits. Even less than perfect boolits work well. The .358 is a great logical place to start. Most commercial .38 cal boolits are sized at .358

Shiloh

[RayinNH]

If your not satisfied with your boolits, you can remelt them. Nothing goes to waste unlike cutting a piece of wood too short :roll:...Ray

[geargnasher]

One caveat about the Lee moulds: If you're new to casting, PLEASE read the sticky thread on lee-menting BEFORE you try it out, a lot of helpful info on prepping those finicky cheapo moulds before use so they actually work.

Also, if you don't use Bullplate sprue lube (see bullshop link at bottom of pag), you will experience sprue plate galling sooner or later, and this really tears up the top of the mould blocks and keeps the sprue plate from sitting flush, so one boolit weighs more than the other. Trust me on this. Until your Bullplate comes in you can get by with a good pure silicone spray lube or a dab of dielectric compound applied to the sprueplate hot.

And cast HOT. That may mean preheating the mould if you ladle pour, it's hard to keep the mould hot enough to get rid of the wrinkles and get good, sharp driving bands on the boolits.

Best of luck!

Gear

[rtracy2001]

You ordered the TL358-158-SWC mold, right? That should be a good general-purpose boolit.

Spot on, I like SWC bullets (I'll say boolit as soon as I shoot some) for plinking and a buddy of mine at work had high praises for the tumble lube setup, so I figured it would be an OK place to start, especially since I don't yet have the wife's blessing.



Have you been reloading for a while already, or just starting up?

I helped my dad for years when I was a kid, and I believe I have a handle on the basics, but I am just getting set up on my own now. I must say that I am much more comfortable reloading shotguns than rifles or handguns, but as with most things, I figure I won't get in trouble unless I fail to give things the proper respect.

I did help dad cast a few mini balls for the 36 cal navy revolver, but that was quite low tech. (ladle on the electric range when mom wasn't home.)


The revolver is a Colt Trooper MK III. I picked it up for free a few years ago with a broken trigger (some idiot tried to use the trigger guard as a hammer and bent it.) I got a trigger for it and re-formed the trigger guard myself. It shoots really well, pop cans at 25 yards don't stand a chance with factory ammo.

[JIMinPHX]

I would have gone with .359 on the sizer if I was flying blind by not slugging first, but hey, try it & see what you get. Colts are usually well toleranced. It might work out fine with what you ordered. If not, another sizer is not that expensive.

An easy way to check your throat fit is to take a sized boolit & gently push it into each throat with your finger. In a perfect world, it should be a snug fit & the same on all of them. If it varies from throat to throat, then you should probably size your boolits for the biggest one.

Sometimes you can make up for a slightly undersized boolit by using a slightly warm powder charge. I'm not saying to go over the book published maximums. I'm just saying that if you see leading in the barrel, near the forcing cone, don't be afraid to clean it out & then try another charge that is a little closer to the top end of what the book lists. Softer alloy mixes sometimes help too.

[Bret4207]

Colts tend to run a little tighter barrelwise than Smiffs. .358 may work. If not, lapping a Lee sizer out is easy and effective. Shoot and see!

[Nate1778]

My GP100 chambers as cast ~359-.360. On occasion you'll get one or two in a batch that take a little push to get it in there. My Lee .358 die actually swags at .357. I need to open it up a bit as this does not work well in my gun as far as accuracy. As cast is very accurate. At 25' with a 6" barrel I can shoot a cloverleaf with one stray. That stupid stray is driving me nuts though.

[qajaq59]

rtracy2001, you certainly have enough to get started. You'll add this and that as you go along. And I know how you feel about slugging the barrel. It took me forever to get the nerve to do it. It really does help, but don't do it until you are comfortable with the idea.

[rtracy2001]

OK, so even though my mold came to day, I haven't cast any boolits yet, but I did start getting things ready, and all I can really say is WOW.

I did figure out that the gas burner on the BBQ grill just won't cut it for casting boolits, but it worked OK for cleaning up some wheel weights.

The pictures say more than I can, so here they are;

Here I am all ready to get started:
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/tracraym/IMG_0418.jpg

My first try didn't turn out so well.
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/tracraym/IMG_0419.jpg

These two look better
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/tracraym/IMG_0421.jpg

Looking closer
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/tracraym/IMG_0422.jpg

Not too shabby really
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/tracraym/IMG_0426.jpg

Here is what was left over
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/tracraym/IMG_0423.jpg

I actually cast those ingot about three times. What can I say, It was fun watching them melt. After they cooled, I got out the stamp kit and stamped "WW" and "09" on the ingots, so I will know exactly what is in them and when they were poured. (Not that I really expect them to last long.)

Lots more to melt, but it will have to wait for another day.

I was just a bit disappointed as I had about four 45 cal HP recovered bullets that I could not seem to melt the lead out of. I guess I just need to get things hotter, but the burner on the BBQ just isn't up to it.