I just bought a “lightweight” DE in .357 and I’m interested in loading cast boolits for it. Anyone have any experience loading for a .357 DE?
Mag Research warns against cast loads and there are plenty of reports of plugged gas systems, but there are also folks out there who claim to successfully use cast loads for .44 & 50AE DE’s. The .357 DE is reported to be very finicky about cycling anything but hot, heavy loads and I’m wondering if I’ll be able to come up with a cast load that will cycle the action but not plug the gas system. I’ve cast Lee & Lyman boolits for my Python for many, many yrs, but got tired of shooting them and quit for several yrs. I missed the coated boolit trend but after researching on this site I’m excited to give it a try. I plan to run thru ~200 rnds of 180grXTP’s to break in the DE and then try some cast loads. I thought I would start with a Lyman 158grRN boolit, maybe start at 10-12BHN, coat with Hi-Tek, and work up to a max load in my Python. If I can find a good hot load that doesn’t smoke or lead the Python, then I’ll give it a try in the DE. I wish I had 180gr .357 mold but I don’t. I don’t want to end up with a plugged gas system so I’ll go slow with frequent inspection and cleaning.
Any related experiences or comments would be appreciated. I’ve spent quite a bit of time researching lots of things on this site and I’m still amazed at the depth of info that can be found.