358495 vs Lee 358-148-WC

[selmerfan]

I'm in the market for a wadcutter mold and I'm wondering about experience based opinions on these two. There is a 4 cavity 358495 in the classifieds right now for $90 shipped, but I could get two Lee 6 cavity molds for that price. Is the Lyman that much better? Or am I good with Lee? I'd love to have an H&G #50, but I don't have the budget for one.


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[Jeff Michel]

That's a bit high for the Lyman, IMHO. I have both and I have not noticed any performance difference in either. Both cast at .360, I usually just tumble lube them and go. If you do use a lubesizer, I have had the best luck accuracy wise, filling only one of the lube grooves.

[TexasGrunt]

The Lyman all the way. I have three 358495 double cavity molds. I love that boolit almost as much as I love my 358 63 soup can mold.

If ya want a two cavity let me know. I can cast an easy 300-400 per hour with a double cavity Lyman and a wet cloth to keep it from getting too hot.

You can get a new Lyman 358091 from Midway for under $90 shipped right now. That's a 150 gr button nose WC.

[tazman]

I have tried nearly every wadcutter mold out there including hollow base molds and found little if any difference in accuracy.
I now use a bevel based mold for ease of seating. It hasn't effected my accuracy at all that I can tell.
I believe that consistent boolits and sizing are usually more important than a particular style. The only exception would be for long range shooting where every little bit counts.
At the distances wadcutters are mostly used, the minor differences in boolit style really aren't noticeable unless you are in the topmost levels of competition.

[dubber123]

IF you get a round LEE, it will likely shoot every bit as good as practically any other wadcutter. I did a bunch of testing at 50 yards with an accurate S&W M14, and found zero difference in average group sizes between several different Lymans, several RCBS, H&G, Saeco and the lowly LEE standard lube groove design. I lucked into a 6 cavity LEE that makes 6 perfectly round .358" boolits. If I am shooting wadcutters, that is what I will use.

I've mentioned it often, but other than wadcutters saving a bit of lead and powder, and making easy to score holes in paper, many other designs easily outshoot them once the range gets past 25 yards. The super common Lyman 358311 will usually do it.

[Rich/WIS]

I prefer the Lee 6 banger, not because it is a better bullet or mold, but because of the weight. I had a 4 banger Lyman for that bullet and after a while the weight started to tell. I cast just over 600 311291's yesterday with a NOE 5 banger and can feel it in my shoulder joint. The Lee sprue cutter also save a lot of wear and tear on my very arthritic right wrist, no whacking the sprue plate. I wish there was an optional plate for the NOE that you could put a Lee sprue cutter lever on.

[TCFAN]

I have both molds. A 4 cavity Lyman 358495 and a 6 cavity Lee TL 358-148 WC.In my S&W 686 with a 4 power target scope from a rest or in my Lee pistol machine rest the 358495 shoots just a little better than the Lee.
The Lee advantage is that in 45 minutes I can cast 600+ boolits and then take them still warm and put them in a can with some 45-45-10 tumble them a little bit dump them out on some wax paper and in less than 8 hours they are ready to shoot because they drop from the mold at .358-.359.

The lyman drops at .361 and needs to be sized to .358 but can still be used with 45-45-10 so that is a extra step.In 45 minutes I can only cast 400+ boolits with the 4 cavity Lyman.

My choice is the Lyman for Bullseye precision shooting only because I like the looks of it over the Lee.With the gun in my hand standing I can see no advantage with one wadcutter over another.............Terry

[M.A.D]

I use the Lee Tumble lube wadcutter in my 1911 38 Special, At 50 meters it keeps everything within 9-10 ring (a 3 inch 5 shot group) which is the best of my ability..