Newbie with questions

[tsigmon]

Never cast a bullet in my life, but thinking of starting so I'm sure their will be lots of trial and errors. That being said , I did a search for ".38/.357 SWC 158 gr mold" and wound up somewhere and lots of folks were singing the praises of the Lyman 358477mold. Went to the lyman sight and it is listed as a 150 gr mold. Am I missing something? I would like to cast .38/357 158 gr. and .44 240 gr. and need some guidance on mold selection. How much weight variation can you expect assuming a consistant lead mixture and would the mixture be the difference between 150 and 158 grs.?

[Cmemiss]

In a word--yes. Depending on your alloy you can get a pretty wide variation in weights. Also, for the price of a Lyman 4 banger (which you want to consider for a pistol) you might want to look at MP molds, NOE molds, or Accurate molds, all of which, IMHO beat anything Lyman has done in the last 40 years all to heck.

['74 sharps]

If you want 158gr for the 38/357, get the Lyman 358665. The Lyman molds are fine quality, and I use the 4 cavity for my pistol bullets.

[41 mag fan]

Just make sure you get an older mold as the newer Lyman molds have a tendency to throw undersized casts.

Also being new to the casting hobby.....read this:
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

[tsigmon]

Thanks for the replies and link, lots to read and learn there. That should keep me busy for a while. One more question ....opinions on RCBS molds please.

Thank you all again.

[theperfessor]

Every RCBS mold I have has been top notch, just wish their pistol molds came in 4 cavity versions.

[dromia]

Concur with the above post, RCBS make very good moulds and have good boolit designs but unfortunately only in two cavities.

[41 mag fan]

I like the RCBS molds, but I've got 2 now that are several yrs old, but new still casting wise. I get alot of flash around the boolits, and need to do some TLC it looks like on them to get them to close fully.

[turmech]

For the 357 the Lee 358-158 is a real good design. For the price worth having. The Lyman 357477 you mentioned is a good one too (mine drops at 150 gr). I like casting with the Lyman better but I like the Lee's design better if that makes sense.

For the 44 mag a I would recommend the Lyman 429421. It is the original and for me what all others are judged by.

[canyon-ghost]

One thing Lyman does have, the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual (I have the 3rd Edition and 4th Edition). These inexpensive manuals can tell you A LOT about casting your own bullets.

[fryboy]

+ 1 on the lyman manual !!!

i also have to state a few things ...

casting boolits is as ( if not more than ) addicting as shooting is ( so fair warning ) as addicting as reloading is as well ( let's not currently bring lube making into it :P )
being new my best advice is to try it , and within your means ( which,granted, i have no idea how deep your pockets are ) there are alot of good molds out there and a few excellent ones as well , a 2 cavity lee mold will let you get your feet wet ( so to speak ) with a minimum outlay upfront , i love the 358 rf !!! but even the TL 158 swc works awesomely !! if for some reason you dont like the casting aspect then you're alos not out of alot of funds and most can be made back here selling your equipment

having stated that much ..dont be shy !! jump in the water's fine and there's a whole lot of folks here willing and able to help if you run into problems !

[GLL]

This is required reading

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell38SWC.htm

Note that the RCBS 38-150SWC is considered a great choice for .38Special and I agree !
This mold is especially good to "learn on" ! It almost casts by itself.

If you want the heavier bullet for all-around use the H&G #51 (Ballisti-Cast #651) is also a good choice. I personally would consider several of the options offered by Tom at Accurate Molds !

Jerry

[MtGun44]

358477 is a superb design. It is almost identical to RCBS 38-150-SWC (old
designation was 38-150-K) which is also a superb design. Strongly
recommend one of these two for .38 Spl and .357 Mag.
Molds do not cast exact weights due to alloy differences. Don't
waste any more time on the "difference" between a 150 and 158
SWC for these cartridges.

Bill

['74 sharps]

Just make sure you get an older mold as the newer Lyman molds have a tendency to throw undersized casts.

Also being new to the casting hobby.....read this:
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

Have not found that on my mold, which is new. My Lyman pistol boolits get tumble lubed and shot, with no sizing. The Lyman has a locking screw for the sprue cutter screw. Works well, and I would not buy any brand of mold that does not have that feature.

[tsigmon]

.
Molds do not cast exact weights due to alloy differences. Don't
waste any more time on the "difference" between a 150 and 158
SWC for these cartridges.

Bill

The reason for the concern of weight difference is for reloading. I"m not a complete novice at reloading rifle and pistol rounds with jacketed bullets but I'm a long way from an expert. I follow the manuals for the specific bullets to the letter and have had excellent results without having to load to the maximun charges. I know I have a lot still to learn about about reloading and a ton about casting and reloading the results. I guess more research will help me figure out how much weight difference I can tolerate ....... will the same data listed for a 158 gr. bullet be ok for a 150 gr.?

Thanks for all the help!

[theperfessor]

You can almost always use the charge for a slightly heavier bullet with a lighter bullet with few problems. Exceptions might be for a powder such as 296/H110 as they can get flaky with reduced charges and using a lighter bullet will (maybe) lower the pressure enough to cause problems. I rarely load anything close to maximum as usually the best accuracy in most of my guns comes using milder loads so having a bullet come out 5% heavier doesn't matter. I use an out-of-production Lyman 133 gr SWC in my HiPower with loading data for a 125 gr bullet and have no problems. Same with several other bullets that I like in .44 Special - mid range loads for a 240 gr bullet work fine for a 265 gr bullet.

Seating depth/combustion chamber volume has a greater effect than a slight difference in bullet weight.

By the way MtGun44 is a good guy to pay attention to, his comments are right on.

[MtGun44]

In a word - Yes. First point is that if you use data for a 158 gr and use a LIGHTER boolit, the
pressures go DOWN. But let's suppose, it were the other direction - in a different situation,
like you had 150 gr data and a 158 gr boolit.

You start low and work up, right? MUCH more margin in that than a 5% variation in weight. The
tolerances on batches of powder are about that. If you don't load to the max charges, that
shows good sense and respect for "margins" - like "margins for error". This is plenty close enough,
but suppose you were really worried - maybe enough to reduce the charge in the book by
5%? So if you are running a fairly hot load, say 16 gr of H110. Then you could reduce it by 5%.

5% of 16 = 0.8 gr, so you could decide that if the "book max" for a 150 gr was 16.5 gr, that you would
(being a careful guy) set your "personal max" for the 5% heavier boolit at 16.5 - 0.8 = 15.7 gr,
so maybe you would want to use that instead of 16 gr. This is always a good plan.

But again - LIGHTER is "always" safer - it lowers the pressure, with the warning that you
really don't want to go lower than the lowest published starting load for W296/H110, the
powder makers say to not go lower as it gets inconsistent burning. Other powders do
not have this limit. So as broad rule, less is "always" safer. - with a single exception.

Bill

[1_Ogre]

If you want 158gr for the 38/357, get the Lyman 358665. The Lyman molds are fine quality, and I use the 4 cavity for my pistol bullets.

In all my years of casting, I've only had problems with one Lyman mould, the cherries were milled off center and the boolits wouldn't drop. A quick call to Lyman and I got a new mould in a few days. I've never gotten into the aluminum moulds as I find them very temp sensitive so I've stuck to the steel moulds from either Lyman or RCBS, both provide fine products. I've got just a FEW of them and they have never failed me to date, and most of them have been around a few decades now and will continue to do so in the future.

[Echo]

Every RCBS mold I have has been top notch, just wish their pistol molds came in 4 cavity versions.

Plus one, both points...