help

[gofasttodd]

this is my first posting ok here goes i recently purchased a lee tumble lube mold to shoot from my dan wesson 357 8 inch i have finally got some really nice boolits next question if i was only using wheel weight lead is this going to be a problem next thing is lubing i have thought about tumble lubing or maybe making up some lubes i have seen here the big thing is i need to succeed in this because my dad has told me there is no way casting boolits is even worth my time he has taught me to reload but i took everything to the next level went from a single stage to a turret and caught hell for that so well i want to make this work do i need to size the boolits as they are all coming out at 358 thanks for any info guys

[armexman]

Can't make you slow down But since you have taken the first correct step in coming to this site with your questions, May I make a gentle suggestion to go to the Search function and the sticky's and archives; they will, with some fast reading help you to find success with your DW. Another gentle suggestion: make your gun happy, not your Dad. If the DW shoots your selected boolit with success then there is the possibility to make him a convert too Remember these are all Gentle reminders and in now way is offense meant as I would not want you to go to another site.

[Kraschenbirn]

Okay, Todd, let's break this down into digestable slices.

1) straight WWs shouldn't be a problem unless you're planning to assemble full-bore .357 Mag loads. Hold your starting velocities down in the 1000-1200 fps range and you should be okay. Once you've developed a good basic load, you can always work at "pushing" it later on.

2) You mention you have a "tumble-lube mold" so, as you're apparently a complete noobie, I'd recomment that you go with Lee LLA until you've got a bit of experience under your belt. Making up your own lube isn't rocket science, but why reinvent the wheel?

3) If your boolits are dropping at .358 from the mould, you shouldn't need to size 'em. Just lube 'em and load 'em. Ideally, for a revolver, you want to load the largest diameter boolit that will chamber in your cylinder...your barrel's forcing cone will squeeze 'em down to grove diameter if they're a tad oversize.

Bill

[looseprojectile]

First off, Welcome; NEW GUY!
Secondly you have the correct boolit, All you need to do is apply a coat of Alox, let em dry and load and shoot.
You should probably start out with a starting load for the .357 boolit of that weight. Strange, why they would call it that? [starting load]
If you begin with a full house load there is more of a chance that because of bad boolit fit or insufficient lube that you will have leading or poor accuracy.

Load a half dozen and try them.

A start load more nearly insures that you will find at least some joy with your first
attempt at loading cast boolits. Less pressure, blast, flinching, leading, etc.

Boolit fit is first and foremost in importance when loading cast boolits.
Your boolit must be some larger than the groove dimension of your gun barrel.

I like for my boolits to be at least one thousandth of an inch larger than the barrel it will be fired in. Neatness counts. Give it your best shot!

Let us know how it goes for you. We here on this forum really love to hear success stories. Don't be afraid to ask questions. We all do regularly. You are to be commended for stepping out of your comfort zone. [Your dad's].

Life is good

[steg]

+1 with all that has been said, my barrel slugs at .358, but it's real happy with .360.....steg

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Welcome to the forum. I would mic. the boolits and see if they are filled out where the small bands are on that boolit. When I first got my tumble lube mold, the base was filled out great but the middle was undersized. Boy did I have leading! These guys got me straightened out and it sure if fun shooting boolits that you cast yourself. If you take time to read and ask questions, you will find out that you can have a very accurate (fast or slow) round that will surprise the guys shooting jacketed. They say here that "Fit is King" and they ain't lying. Once I got the correct diameter boolit for "my" revolver, it started working great. Have fun and be careful while casting. Lead burns deep and quick.

[runfiverun]

my dw's [both 357's] like the swc's at 358 and at nominal target speeds. [700-850 fps]
most accurate gun i have for target shooting distances, my 357max, 375 or 445 do better at distance but for 25 yd targets they don't even come close to the 357.

[mooman76]

All good advise here. 358 usually will work. You can go with slugging your cylinders or trying as is. You really won't know til you try. WWs is pretty much all I use except for BP where I go softer.

[looseprojectile]

I forgot.
When loading boolits it is very necessary to flair the case mouth to ease the boolit into the case. It doesn't take much more than just enough to be able to see it or feel it for when you get old and can't see well! I mention this as flaring is mostly not needed or used when loading bullets.
Especially in rifles.

I want you to get started off on the right foot.

If you choose a medium to light load you need to crimp just enough to be able to see that the mouth of the case is a little smaller than the case wall.

There are several other hints and tricks but I hope you already know them.

If you have any problem just ask.

Life is good

[gofasttodd]

hey thanks guys for all the input i have been shooting hard cast and was loading with a lee turret and found my powder was dropping heavy so now i am loading 5 grs of auto comp
going to load my first of the home cast tonight

[blackthorn]

Go-fast-todd---SLOW DOWN!! If you learn to start a sentence with a capital letter and end it with a period (.) you will likely get a lot more assistance than if you continue to put every thing you want to say in one unbroken lump!! Have a great day!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Todd,
Welcome to the site...this is a great one.

You have got a lot of good info so far.
I'd like to add a couple of Hints.
these things I learned here, when I first
started casting my own boolits.

Wheel weight Lead alloy, after being cast, will harden to it's
maximun hardness in about 6 weeks.
with that said, you should age harden your cast boolits for about 2 weeks.
At THE VARY LEAST, 4 or 5 days before you load your cartridges.
why is this important ???
when you seat the boolits and crimp the case, if you choose to,
you can unintentionally size the boolit a little smaller when it's
squeezed into the case and/or crimped.
(an undersized boolit is the main cause of leading)

On this same note, since you mentioned your Lee turret press.
If you are using Lee dies...particularly the Lee Factory Crimp Die (FCD).
You need to know that the FCD is notorious for squeezing a
cast boolit down in size, depending on the case wall thickness.
The FCD is great for Jacketed bullets, But I don't use the FCD
when crimping cast boolits, Very few here do. I use the taper
crimp that is built into the seating die.

Lube...
I'm not going into the Blending of JPW (Johnson's Paste Wax)
with the Lee Liquid Alox (LLA). That solves the tackiness problem.
You can search that out in the sticky's. But using LLA straight
works for many people and you should try that first.

When using LLA, a little heat is your friend.
I use a heat gun, and heat everything up.
-While holding the bottom of a plastic container
(using my hand a temperature gauge),
the boolits and a vary small amount of LLA
(like 5 or 6 drops for 50 boolits) in the container,
I heat til everything is warm, But not HOT.
Then swish the boolits around for a minute,
then dump out on some wax paper to dry over night.
they will be a little tacky, but that is how unblended LLA is.
--USE as little LLA as possible, but completely coat the boolit.
If it is so thin, that you can't really see that it's totally coated,
then go ahead and feel them, I've found that 99% of the time, they
are totally coated...That's perfect !
if not, you can always add more.

a warning...if you get too much LLA on the boolits, they will
stay sticky and when you seat the boolit into the case,
LLA can build up on your seating die, which then will
cause the boolits to seat continually deeper and deeper.
this is something to watch while you are reloading.

again, these are all things I learned by making the mistake first,
than reading many threads on this website and asking questions.
I thought I'd just throw them out to you, and maybe save you a
headache or two.
Jon

[gofasttodd]

once again guys thanks for all the input I loaded some of my castings today i tried the alox and well not to impressed So i tried to pan lube them and found that you need to pull them from the wax in order to get them to hold any wax


So my next idea is to use a non tl mold then use a cookie cutter to cut from lube and
the size them in a 358 lee sizing die so it would cut the lube off the boolit


I think this would be like a poor mans lubersizer and then you could run a non sticky lube has anyone done this ?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Todd,
once in a while I will dip lube.
basically dipping a warmed boolit into melted beeswax based lube.
then run them through a Lee sizing die.
THIS IS VERY TEDIOUS !!!
but is OK for small lots.

before you forget about tumble lubing,
here is a link to blending JPW with LLA and thinned with a little Mineral Spirits
also known as "45-45-10" and is mentioned all over this forum.
this will end any tackiness or stickyness to tumble lubing.
Dries on the boolits in 15 minutes...Totally dry ! no tackiness...Did I say that already ?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=67654
I see the photo's on the OP are missing,
but reading the last post (#330) ... "Recluse" is going to fix that soon.

[WILCO]

once again guys thanks for all the input I loaded some of my castings today i tried the alox and well not to impressed So i tried to pan lube them and found that you need to pull them from the wax in order to get them to hold any wax


So my next idea is to use a non tl mold then use a cookie cutter to cut from lube and
the size them in a 358 lee sizing die so it would cut the lube off the boolit


I think this would be like a poor mans lubersizer and then you could run a non sticky lube has anyone done this ?

[MtGun44]

WWt alloy is FINE for ANY load in .357 Magnum with the proper boolit design, fit to the
gun and lube. TL will likely give you fits in hot loads in this caliber, but maybe not. I gave
up on it years ago. I recommend a Lyman 358477 or RCBS 38-150-SWC as a great all
around boolit in this caliber, and pan lubing and sizing with a Lee push through die as
the cheapest route to success. Start with .358 diameter, and you have a good chance
of success. If you have problems, you need to measure the cylinder throats and barrel
groove diameter, very accurately. PM me if you want more help.

Bill