As cast diameter of Lee 358-158-RF?

[jt1]

What diameter does this mold typically drop, using straight wheel weights? Mine is giving 0.3555 to 0.3570, and it zips right thru my 358 sizing die untouched. Bad thing is it's giving generally improved cylinder sized groups at 25 yds.

My plans were to use this bullet for a mid range load, so I don't want to use a hard alloy to try and increase the size.

The smallest diameter is adjacent to the parting lines, so it does not seem to be a good candidate for beagling. I tried lapping it, and got bullets to almost jump out of the mold, but didn't increase the size notably. I used a pretty fine compound that came in my Sinclair scope ring lapping kit. Is a coarser compound a good idea?

I wouldn't mind buying another one if the odds were pretty good it would be larger. Any ideas?

John

[SethD]

My six cavity drops them right at 359 with ww. With lee there is a certain amount of luck involved.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Give Lee a call. They are pretty good about making the customer happy.

[Prince555]

Mine are about .357 and they did Great in about all of my .357 Revolvers
with 15-15.5 gr of IMR 4227.
That may be a pretty warm load, but I got no pressure signs at all and was
shooting cloverleafs at 15-20 yards.
I'd like to know the velocity out of a 3 & 4 inch barrel with that load.

Good Luck

[tactikel]

.359 because my .358 die "shines up" every boolit I run thru it!

[Edubya]

What diameter does this mold typically drop, using straight wheel weights? Mine is giving 0.3555 to 0.3570, and it zips right thru my 358 sizing die untouched. Bad thing is it's giving generally improved cylinder sized groups at 25 yds.

My plans were to use this bullet for a mid range load, so I don't want to use a hard alloy to try and increase the size.


John

Excuse me, but this sentence drew a picture of a cylinder on the target. "Bad thing is it's giving generally improved cylinder sized groups at 25 yds." Am I understanding that you are disappointed with six shots inside of 2" at 25 yards? If I were you, I'd keep that target, the mould and the gun.
EW

P.S. We do like to see pictures of targets, boolits, guns and pretty women.

[fecmech]

Imp cyl choke runs about 24"at 25 yds.

[Gohon]

Mine drops WW with a little tin added at .360 which works great in my 1894C but the lee .358 sizer I have sizes at .3565. Don't know whether to take another chance for a Lee sizer that actually sizes at .358 or not. The sizer I have now is useless except for installing gas checks and I have to do that by running the bullet and check up backwards enough to seat the check then punch it back back out the bottom.

[cheese1566]

Mine was dropping undersized like yours. It was purchased this last summer from MidwayUSA and was a 6 cavity. WW's and pure lead didn't matter -.355 to .356 in variance.

I sent it back to Lee a few months ago and a new tested mold was returned in about two weeks. I did inlcude my receipt and a nice letter saying I added some set screws to the sprue plate screw. Didn't matter. They in house tested three of the cavities with heavy smoke before returning. It now drops at least .359 with WW's and uniformily sizes to .358. No need to tune this one at this point. I degreased it and removed the smoking from the cavities. They are pretty uniform and drop nicely. Only thing I see are some very faint vertical machining lines in the shiny bullets. When hot and frosty, they disappear.

[jt1]

posted by Edubya

Am I understanding that you are disappointed with six shots inside of 2" at 25 yards?

No, actual groups are about 6"-8" from my Model 66-1, which normally does much better than that. The "improved cylinder" part was a weak joke/shotgun reference.

Looks like I lucked up and got a tight one. I will give Lee a call and see what they are willing to do. Cheese, mine is about the same vintage as yours, I bought it late summer.

Thanks for all the help.

John

[lathesmith]

My Lee 158 RF casts right at .359 with WW type lead. Yours sounds like a good candidate for the 9mm guys--instead of going through the hassle of returning it to Lee, you might advertise it for sale here with the stated as-cast diameter, there may be some interest and it would save you quite a bit of hassle.
lathesmith

[Tazman1602]

What diameter does this mold typically drop, using straight wheel weights? Mine is giving 0.3555 to 0.3570, and it zips right thru my 358 sizing die untouched. Bad thing is it's giving generally improved cylinder sized groups at 25 yds.

My plans were to use this bullet for a mid range load, so I don't want to use a hard alloy to try and increase the size.

The smallest diameter is adjacent to the parting lines, so it does not seem to be a good candidate for beagling. I tried lapping it, and got bullets to almost jump out of the mold, but didn't increase the size notably. I used a pretty fine compound that came in my Sinclair scope ring lapping kit. Is a coarser compound a good idea?

I wouldn't mind buying another one if the odds were pretty good it would be larger. Any ideas?

John

My two banger drops them at .3585-.3595 depending on alloy. As a matter of fact that particular mold is one of my favorites, haven't had to Leement it at all and it drops the nicest bullets of all my molds to tell the truth.

Talk to Lee, they are like Dillon and a few others that don't answer to corporate boards thesedays and they want their clientele to be happy.........

Art

[lylejb]

but the lee .358 sizer I have sizes at .3565. Don't know whether to take another chance for a Lee sizer that actually sizes at .358 or not.

Gohon, mine did too. The fix is easy, and alot quicker than sending it back.

I removed the lock ring, so it was just the die. Then I used a small piece of very fine sandpaper, about 600 grit, wrapped around a wood dowel long enough to stick out both sides. Add a drop of oil, put the dowel through the die, and roll it back and forth on the bench. This will sand out the die. Sand for a minute or two, then clean with brake clean. size a boolit or two and measure. Keep going untill you get the size you want.

My .358 die was sizing at about .3568, now It's at .3585 just what I wanted.

[RDub]

Hello
I've noticed over time doin this that straight wheelweights come out small because WW have little or no TIN in the alloy. When I try to use straight WW I usually get smallish bullets which can be very irritating. Even when I use a 'hot' mold and frost the bullets, I get what appears to be a fully filled mold, the bullets still come out small.
So.. Try adding some TIN to the mix, somewhere about 5-10%. The tin will prevent the bullets from shrinking so much.
If you really want to see what dia bullets the mold will produce, try using straight Lino-type. The bullets will come out hard, 'fat' and lighter than usual. I use .44 Mag bullets cast from Lino-type with just a little pure Lead added for competition. Thats the only alloy that gives me the accuracy I need in that gun.
If, after this the bullets are still too small, then have a talk with Mr. Lee and get another mold.

[Gohon]

Thanks LB, I'll give that a try.........

[SteveL]

I am new to casting and just recently purchased Lee 6-cavity molds for .358 158gr tumble lube SWC, .430 310gr GC flat points, and .452 230gr truncated cone.

I have only cast with straight WW's, and the .358's come out at that size. The .452's come out at .448!, and the .430's at .4285. The 45's leaded my barrel, and I am sending the .452 and .430 dies back to Lee tomorrow.

The .38/.357's shoot great, and I never even bothered loading up the .44's. I straight WW's come out undersized I feel like Lee should replace the molds.

[Heavy lead]

I am new to casting and just recently purchased Lee 6-cavity molds for .358 158gr tumble lube SWC, .430 310gr GC flat points, and .452 230gr truncated cone.

I have only cast with straight WW's, and the .358's come out at that size. The .452's come out at .448!, and the .430's at .4285. The 45's leaded my barrel, and I am sending the .452 and .430 dies back to Lee tomorrow.

The .38/.357's shoot great, and I never even bothered loading up the .44's. I straight WW's come out undersized I feel like Lee should replace the molds.

Lee is a crapshoot, the only two left I have are the very hard to use and slow 2 cavity, a 430-310 and a 452-300, they cast .432 and .455 respectively so I will keep, I'd like them in 6 cavities as they are great hunting designs and find shooters, but I know darn well if I order them they will be way oversized or way undersized. I had a 475-400 once that cast so big, sized to .477 there were no grease grooves left.