Best Mold for .357 Mag?

[cricco]

Hi guys. I am seeking advice on a mold for my Dan Wesson .357 mag. I would like an accurate boolit that I can load hot. I'm not sure if I need gas checks or not, but that's part of why I'm here asking advice. I prefer a Lee mold, as I don't have handles for anything else. If you have a used mold I could buy, that's would be good also. Thanks for any sugestions.

[82nd airborne]

What are you using it for?

[cbrick]

RCBS 180 Gr Silhouette

[docone31]

My Dan Wesson likes the Lee 150 RF sized to .358.
I use Blue Dot.
No leading with it, and home made lube. I pan lube them.

[cricco]

What are you using it for?

Target mostly, but I would like to be able to use it for hunting also.

[Doby45]

MOST 357 Magnum hunting boolits are not what you would consider "target" boolits. Hunting boolits are more than likely gas checked and a little bit heavier. I would not try to find a "single" boolit in this exploit of yours because the 38cal molds are cheap and easy to find. Pick you a nice "hunting" boolit, and then a nice "target" boolit. Your cheap and easy really good target boolits can range from a WC to a TC or a SWC. $20 Lee mold and your good to go. The hunting boolit you will prolly want GCed and possibly even HPed.

[Guesser]

I have been using a Lyman 358156 in 357 revolvers and carbines and T/C Contenders for almost 40 years. Tried several others, but came back and settled. For lower pressure loads and 38 Special I like 358311, accurate and very easy to cast.

[MakeMineA10mm]

I have been using a Lyman 358156 in 357 revolvers and carbines and T/C Contenders for almost 40 years. Tried several others, but came back and settled. For lower pressure loads and 38 Special I like 358311, accurate and very easy to cast.

This is THE classic 357 boolit. Skeeter Skelton wrote heavily about it, and most members here at CB who cast for 357 have at least one incarnation. It is very flexible with it's two crimp grooves, allowing it to be loaded to a longer OAL in 38 brass or shorter OAL in the "front" crimp groove for 357 brass. It wears a gas check so there's LESS (note I didn't say "no") worry about leading, and theoretically (if you do other things right like sizing to throat diameter and choosing an appropriate alloy) you can push it into higher velocities, because of it. The nose shape is a good hunting bullet, and it's engagement length and overall shape/dimensions make it pretty accurate.

Here's mine which is a two cavity that had one cavity converted to HPs by Buckshot (a member here at CB):

(Note that the picture above shows both halves of a single mould with two different HP pins laying on each half.)

Here's a pic of the boolits that mould makes:

[Larry Gibson]

+ another for the Lyman 358156 for maximum performance (accuracy and terminal ballistics) .357 Magnum loads. Cast then out of WWs +2% tin and you can shoot them to 1500+ out of longer barreled revolvers, 1800 fps out of 10" Contenders and carbines. All with excellent accuracy. For hunting I cast them soft (1-16 tin - lead or 50/50 WW/lead) and HP them with a 1/8" Forster HP tool. Been working for me in numerous revolvers, Contenders and a couple carbines for 40+ years.

Larry Gibson

[MakeMineA10mm]

Also, if you shoot them low-velocity for practice, you can load them without the expensive gas checks and shoot them with still a lot of accuracy. One issue with that is the lube getting on the gas check shank, so I got in on Matt's Group Buy here of a plain base version of this bullet. Many people also have some or all of their cavities on original Lyman moulds "dehorned" where they have the gas check shank machined off so the mould casts plain base versions.

I'll try to get some pics of Matt's plain base version next to the Lyman original. He did a great job re-balancing the design with the gas check shank removed.

[Blammer]

yea, $18 per 1,000 358 GC's is just TOO expensive....

[AnthonyB]

Blammer, where can I get 35 gas checks for $18 per thousand? I must have missed somethin....
Tony

[462]

"I prefer a Lee mold..."

Lee 358-158-RF (plain base).

[MakeMineA10mm]

yea, $18 per 1,000 358 GC's is just TOO expensive....

Blammer, where can I get 35 gas checks for $18 per thousand? I must have missed somethin....
Tony

Man, Blammer, you probably fish with gill-nets, don't ya?!?


(Anthony - Blammer can hook you up with very good, inexpensive gas checks. He was trolling and caught you up in his net! LOL!! )

[Cowboy T]

"I prefer a Lee mold..."

Lee 358-158-RF (plain base).

I like that one, too, but specifically the 6-cavity model. Why? 'Cause it happens to shoot very well out of my gun, it's relatively inexpensive, and I can cast a boatload of 'em thanks to those 6 cavities.

The "best" mould for .357 Magnum is the one that you like casting with and enjoy shooting the boolits that come from it. It depends entirely on you, the shooter.

[JIMinPHX]

You didn't say what kind of hunting you planned to do. If you plan to hunt something big, then I would recommend a heavy boolit. Ranch Dog offers a dandy one in that diameter, but loading data is limited.

If you want a good little target boolit that doesn't use up too much lead, then it's hard to beat the little 105 grain semiwadcutter from Lee. That would also be good for hunting little stuff like maybe foxes or coyotes, but would not be a good choice for something bigger like deer.

You could also pick a more general purpose boolit. Most of the ones in the range near 158 grain would make a good one-boolit-does-all type selection. The round nose flat point from Lee (cowboy boolit) is not a bad choice. Most of the semiwadcutters in that weight class work well doing double duty as hunting boolits. Everyone seems to have their favorite, but I can't actually think of a bad one. Full wadcutters are not the best choice for long range shots though.

If you are just starting out casting, you may find it easier to get good fill out on an iron mold with rounded features. They tend to be a little more forgiving. The Lyman 358477 comes to mind.

As for gas checks, if you use the right powder, alloy, heat treat, sizing die, etc. & if your throats and barrel are in good shape, then you can probably get away without them unless you really push your luck, velocity wise. If you do use gas checks, then it will be easier to get good results without leading. It kind of depends on your priorities. Do you have a lot of time to invest in experimenting? Do you have the money to spend on gas checks? Are you going to be loading really really hot?

[lylejb]

"I prefer a Lee mold..."

Lee 358-158-RF (plain base).

+1 on that.

My Dan Wesson loves them.

Have loaded them as low as 650 upto about 1250 with only a touch of leading in the forcing cone / leade rifling. May be able to go a bit higher with an alloy change, if I wanted to. ( but I don't want to, If I need more that's what the 44 is for)

[dunkel]

Ok couple of follow up questions.

I'm thinking I'd like to start with either a 158 or 180gr SWC. Loading light for plinking and hotter for hunting. Does this sound unreasonable?

Second, if I go with a gas check mold, will it hurt anything to simply skip actually putting in the GC for the lighter loads? Just using them for the hot loads?

Third, what kind of fps are we talking before a gc becomes necessary? I'm going for simplicity, so will hopefully be using the same equipment and loads for both my 16" Rossi 92 and 6.5" Ruger Blackhawk.

Sorry if I sound like a total noob. It's only because I'm a total noob.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I am partial to Lyman 358429. This mold casts a 172 grainer of 50/50 and has been very accurate in every 357 revolver I have tried.
If you start getting it into high pressures cast it of pure WW. Then if nereded add a flat GC to the base and push it even faster.
The RCBS 180 GC is what I shoot 2 seasons of Steel with my Dan 15-2 with a 10 inch barrel. It is very accurate at the faster fps.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive had good luck with the lee 150rf in 38s and 357s. As to the expense of gas checks i figure ive got 30k in loading gear and many more times that in guns and a few cents for gas checks is about the most trivial thing i could worry about. Guys complain about there cost but dont bat an eyelash about buying 10 differnt boxes of jacketed bullets to find the one that shoots best in there rifle. You can lecture me till your blue in the face about the pros and cons of gas checks but ive shot enough handguns with cast to know that in most cases a gas checked bullet is more accurate. Not only that but it gives a gun much more latitude in ajusting speed and alloy to not only get accuracy but to get good bullet perfomance on game. especially when your fooling with hps. I can look at my loading data and see that just about every one of my sixguns best load is with a gas checked bullet. Not only that but if economics are really a factor your probably going to burn so much more powder and primers finding the sweet spot for a plain based bullet that the cost of the gas check is probalbly saving you money in the long run. Plus blammer has to make a few dollars once in a while to put shoes on his kids