Lee 105 SWC load data

[Finster101]

I have been using the search function trying to find load data for this boolit. It is spread out all over the place and quite frankly I got frustrated trying to run it down. I know from the multiple threads that quite a few members think highly of this mold. Maybe some of you guys using it would be willing to share some of your load data in this one thread that may make it easier for others to find in the future. I know I shoot .380, 9mm, and .38/.357 and it would be great to find info in one thread. Then, maybe it could even be stickied? The popularity of this boolit seems to be growing rapidly, both because of it's versatility and it's lead stinginess. Just a thought, thanks for looking.

James :drinks:

[Ben]

James,

I shoot the Lee 105 gr. out of my 38 Spec. Marlin , 1894. I shoot 7 grs. of Russian Unique. Very accurate. No pressure problems in my rifle. You can see the group in the link below ( by the way.....that bullet hole at 2 o'clock is me , not the rifle or the loads ) :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=83154

[bhn22]

That's kind of a tall order for a single thread, 4 calibers using the same bullet. Did you check the powder manufacturers websites? Particularly the ones whos powders you want to use? There should be a lot of data for 100- 115 gr bullets in each caliber. You can even develop data from starting loads for jacketed bullets & work up or down until you find loads that you like.

[Ben]

It is a " tall order ", but the little Lee 105 gr. may just be up to the task. A fine little bullet.

You'll end up with a lot more bullets from 10 lbs. of alloy. A " stingy " little bullet when it comes to conserving lead.

Ben

[Finster101]

bhn22, it was just a thought that if someone were to bump into this thread they could contribute load data. There are several threads on this particular projectile, but little in the line of load data. Maybe I am trying to over simplify things.

[TCFAN]

I use the Lee 358105 SWC in a S&W model 14-6 as a plinking boolit using 3.5grs of Bullseye and any small pistol primer.
It is accurate enough in my gun to shoot golf balls at 25 yards. That is good enough for me for a plinker and there is no recoil....................Terry

[skeet1]

I have loaded this bullet in 9MM with 4.4 gr. Unique and it shoots and functions fine through my Glock 17. When I first started loading this bullet I didn't know where to seat it and finally used the crimping groove and my Glock started feeding them just fine.

Skeet1

[excess650]

I used this boolit years ago in my 6" S&W M14. IIRC, 5gr Bullseye shot really tight groups at 50 yards.

[dogbert41]

I use it in my .380 and 9mm and it does just fine. I don't have a 38 nor a 357.

[Wally]

This bullet tends to cast large..when sizing to .358" the grease & crimping groove gets reduced quite a bit and the front driving band will often hang up on a seater die (I use a Lyman)... I now use a .359" sizer die. I find it best to seat the bullet in a larger caliber die first then crimp with a TC die.

I shoot in a .38 Special with 4.0 grains of Red Dot--great plinker load. One pound of lead makes 67 bullets...

[clubkey]

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition has several recipes for this bullet.

[Thumbcocker]

I would sure like to see more favorite loads with this boolit. Lots of folks seem to like it a lot.

[JIMinPHX]

I've loaded the 105 Lee swc over 3 gr of Bullseye in the .380, 9x18, 9x19 & .38 special. That load was a tad warm in the .380, but it was a *****-cat in the rest of them. My wife does well with that combination.

[Ugluk]

In 38spl, S&W14-2 6"
50/50 ww and range scrap, air cooled and sized 358, lubed with BAC
3.2gr of VV-N310, federal sp primer
OAL 1.38"

Clocks at 850fps. Very little recoil but good for punching paper out to 80 yds or so.

I use it for my national competition shooting.

[dualsport]

I'd like to try that boolit. Right now I have the 6 cav. Ranch Dog TL358-100-RF. It's a lead saver too. Mine drop at .360". The boolit has a large meplat and was designed for the smaller .380s, but I have also shot it in .38 Special with good results. It's a plain base tumble lube design. Next I will try them in a .357 revolver and my 1894c Marlin.

[2shot]

I have shot this bullet with range scrap (mostly .22's) and shot as cast with JPW and 1.5 grains of Bullseye with any SP primer out of my 6" model 14 S&W 38 special. I have to point the barrel up before every shot but the fun part is I can watch the bullet go down range on a 50 foot dimly lite range. Even less recoil than my .22 if that's possible.
Fun to shoot and I can keep all the shot on the black of a B-2 or B-3 target. If you try it you just have to be vigilant of a bulet that doesn't make it out of the barrel.

2shot

[357shooter]

2.8 grains of 700X shoots great in a 38 snubnose or a 6 inch 357. My alloy was soft, 10 or less.

[Ben]

I shot this yesterday :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0002-41.jpg

[rayzer]

My plinking load with this boolit is 3.0 gr. of Clays in .38 special cases. Works good in my S&W 686 and my Marlin 94.

[dogbert41]

I bought the six banger mold sight unseen from all the reports i have read concerning this magic little Lee bullet.

Works fabulously in my nines and my LCP as well. If I ever get a .38 again, I'm already there.

[Ben]

dogbert41 :

That's a purchase that you won't regret !

[Wally]

Was out yesterday shoot at some cans with this bullet in the 9mm, .38 Spl, & the .357 magnum using 4.0 grains or Red Dot (4.5 Grains in the .357 Mag) excellent plinking bullet and quite accurate. I do poly fill the cases as I've found these loads are more consistent when I do. It's best to place charged caes on a loading block then double check for double charges...this should be a practice for any reloading not using a progressive loader anyway.

Also have used Lee's 102 9mm RN bullet that works nicely, as well.

As these are light bullets I have not found them to be as good as heavier bullets when shooting at longer ranges --say 50 yards+. Both work beautifully in a Marlin 1894C.

[sargenv]

Since I have a fair amount of it, I use SR 7625.. 5.3 loaded into it makes a nice soft load out of my Marlin 1894C. I bumped it to 5.5 and found accuracy drop off for some reason. Bullets sized to .358". I used JPW tumble lubed and they shot find with no leading. Alloy is quenched WW's. Sounds like that Bullseye load would be nice (if I had any).

[paul h]

I just cast another pile of these last night. I found thit was very accurate out of my ruger 9mm using both bullseye and unique, and I'm still trying to dial in a 38 sp and 357 mag load. I don't have my load notes with me so don't want to quote charge weights off the top of my head.

[Alan in Vermont]

I ran a hot load in my 37 Security-Six to see how much they would stand before leading set in. Alloy is WW PB with a little 50-50 solder in the mix. It's fairly hard, older WW so they may/should have some level of antimony in there. This is the same mix as I usd to run full bore in 44 Mag. back hen we shot IHMSA here.

Doing a little interpolating/extrapolating since I didn't have what the recipe (#4 Lyman) called for I ran 11.0 of SR-4756(you're on your own with that load). Thinking it is making 1400 +/- out of the 4" tube, pretty frisky recoil, and hot enough to get some light lead film pretty much down the whole barrel. Came out easy enough with some copper chore-boy strands on tight patch.

I've got bunch more loaded in 357 at 3.0 BE and 38 at 2.7 BE. Haven't shot any of those yet. Hopefully those will get run this week.

[DrCaveman]

3.0 gr ramshot competition
Sized to 358
Light LLA before and after sizing
Any small pistol primer
Any 38 spl case

Or
3.0 gr trail boss
Same lube & sizing
38 spl

[paul h]

Got in a lunch time shooting session. In my wifes taurus 605 I was shooting both 38 sp cases with 3.5 bullseye sized .358 and lubed with lbt blue, and 357 brass with 5 gr bullseye over an unsized LLA lubed bullet. Accuracy seemed pretty much identical between the loads. I think if my shooting skills were up to snuff and I hadn't beaten my hands up shooting full patch 480 loads the 105 lee would group about 1" at 10yds, which isn't too bad for a snubby. The biggest challenge is they shoot so low I had to take a different sight picture and without there being any bars inset in the front sight blade it's extremely hard to get a consistant sight picture shot to shot.

I wouldn't be suprised if with some trigger work, insets in the front sight blade and alot of practice I could consistantly hit an 8" target at 50 yds offhand. Something to be said for mild recoil. Honestly I really couldn't tell much difference between the 3.5 and 5 gr loads.

[Wally]

Using the Lee 105 SWC in the .38 Special--6" barrel I get 1,015 FPS w/ 4.0 Grains or Red Dot and 1,155 with 4.5 grains. Very accurate out to 100 feet or so..as good as any WC type bullet. I size to .359".

One needs to run the mold "hot" and lube it often...sprue plate hinge and alignment pins. Use a Lyman 402 Top punch and seating screw to size/lube & seat.

[rexherring]

At the range and used 4.0 grs of W231 for a light plinker. Shot very good, low but good. I even tried out the steel plate rack and they knocked them down just fine. I wasn't sure they would because the plates are fairly large and set up for .45's and 9mm. Nice thing is they have a cable attatched to re-set the plates so you don't have to keep walking down and manually reset.

[Finster101]

Reviving an old thread in hopes of some new info, especially for .380 but definitely not limited to. I need recipes. I don't own a .380 but would like to load some for a friend. This is a great boolit with a lot of uses if you have not tried it.

[.5mv^2]

http://veloliner.com/loading/380938357.JPG

Plenty of loads, pick your powder. The 9mm has to be made short for one of my guns, less than an inch. Takes some load development.

[spiritwalker]

I loaded 105 lswc over 4.5 gr of Red Dot with fantastic results. However, I am curious if anyone has used Titegroup yet for the 105 gr lswc.

[bedbugbilly]

I just started using this boolit and like it out of my 38 spls.

Not trying to be picky here . . . but if you are going to put out "data" - please indicate what cartridge casing you are loading it in. . . . it makes a difference folks. Thanks.

[sandman228]

I size this bullet to .358 and load it in a 9mm case over 3.4 gr of pb . it shoots pretty good out of my ruger blackhwk 357 /9mm convertible with the 9mm cylinder @25 yrds bench rested .I did load 50 of them in 357 cases and tried them with 5 different powders out of my s&w 686, I had best results with herco and 2400 if I remember right . I also load them in 38 spl cases over bullseye (I cant remember the charge off the top of my head)and shoot them out of my s&w air weight . i sized some down to .356 and tried them in my ruger sr9c and they were horrible, unless you like having a 9mm single shot . I was gonna try a few out of my lcp but after I saw how they were in the sr9 I didn't bother . I'll stick with the lee 102 rn for the lcp . I casted up 600 or so of these a while back when I bought the mold and am getting down in supply of them now I plan on casting more of them over the winter and experimenting farther with them in the 357 .

[Garyshome]

I'll have to get me one!

[Old Kid]

This boolit has been my favorite for practice in 38 special for a few years. I've loaded it (sized .358) over 2.7gr to 3.0 gr of Bullseye with good results. Especially good working on trigger press. Makes nice, visible holes in the paper target. If I load much higher (3.4gr of Bullseye), the round impacts low. I have not tried it on any game. I do intend to start trying some 9mm loads. And another factor that makes this a great boolit: You get a whole bunch per pound of lead!

[Ben]

I loaded 105 lswc over 4.5 gr of Red Dot with fantastic results. However, I am curious if anyone has used Titegroup yet for the 105 gr lswc.

You loaded 4.5 grs. of Red Dot in WHICH CARTRIDGE ? ? ?

[Quiettime]

I use it .358 in my Smiths and have toyed with it at .357 for 9mm.

It did feed in my FNS-9 but do not seat it flush with the case. Cast from range scrap they were a little too soft for auto pistol and I did see some deformation of the nose. Haven't really messed with it since. I think RN or TC is better for autos because of this.

It is a dandy plinking boolit for the .38 spl

[ShooterAZ]

With the Lee 105 in 38 Special, the magic number for me has been 3.5 gr. I have used Titegroup, Bullseye, and Red Dot, all with 3.5 gr, and all with good results. I really like this little boolit, a pot of lead will get you a ton of boolits.

[Low Budget Shooter]

The Lee 358-105-SWC bullet has been very reliable and accurate for me in 9mm pistols. The minimum necessary charge to function reliably is 3.3 grains Clays or 3.7 grains W231/HP38. Reliable feeding came with bullet seated to the crimp groove. One shortcoming of this load (and you'll see some of my remaining vanity showing through here) is that it doesn't look right for a 9mm round. It's kinda stubby and ugly. It performs very well, though, including making nice round holes in paper, so appearance shouldn't matter, right?

However, the 358-105-SWC is only my second-best 9mm bullet. In my 9mm experiments last year, the bullet that performed the best for me overall in 9mm is the NOE 358242 95-grain bullet over 4.0 grains Bullseye. I was surprised, so I shot more groups with all three pistols, and it grouped better than anything else.

[Okie73]

I loaded 105 lswc over 4.5 gr of Red Dot with fantastic results. However, I am curious if anyone has used Titegroup yet for the 105 gr lswc.

I have loaded this boolit with Titegroup in .38 Special with great success out of my dads S&W 638.
In single action at ten yards this thing extremely accurate. It makes me giggle like a little boy everytime I shoot it.

[Buck Neck It]

The 105-swc feeds reliably in my Browning bda-380 seated with the crimp groove just inside the case. WW 231 is what I have to work with, 1.9 gr. functions the slide, 2-2.3 gr. lays the cases close by. 3 gr. seemed way too hot.

This makes the .380 really affordable to shoot.

[drac0nic]

I was running 8.3gr BE and managed 1440fps in a 3" model 66 .357 mag. Blast is every bit what you think it was, you get looks at the range and people asking if you're running a .44. Good times. Cases came out easy, ymmv naturally.

[Texas by God]

5 grains of Bullseye with theLee 105swc in the .38 Special is a great outdoor companion load for my Combat Masterpieces. Flat shooting and accurate.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[drac0nic]

I will say I've also loaded these with 22gr H110 no chrony data on that either. I need to load a few more up and have my buddy shoot em across his chrono. Can't imagine what they'd do, oddly I think they could wind up being lower velocity than the BE loads because of the barrel length.

[Bula]

I really enjoy a 3.2g charge of Bullseye, sized .358 and lubed with 50/50. Any .38 spl brass, any SPP. Currently my most shot combination. Favorite pistol for this one is a 4" M15 Combat Masterpiece.

[phantom22]

I came up with an estimated charge for this boolit prior to owning the Cast Handbook 4th edition. It was Bullseye powder at 3.5gn for .38 Special and 7gn for .357 Magnum. Both loads worked perfectly. After getting the book I found data for the boolit and was right on for the most part with the .38 and under on the .357. If I recall off the top of my head, 7.5gn was their starting load for .357. But in any case, get that book. It will give you data for this and much more.

[leeshall]

If you want to try this boolit before purchasing a mold, Bayou Bullets offers their Hi-Tek coated version of this bullet in both .356" and .358" diameter. IIRC Donnie used this boolit in a 1911 in 9mm for years.