is this a good .358 SWC mould?

[John in WI]

I'm kicking around the idea of casting for old Smith and Wesson .38 police trade in I just bought.

For the .38, I am in the camp that favors heavy over light and fast.

I'm wondering if anyone has used the Lee TL358-158 ? http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/357-mag-38spec-38-sw-38colt-np/lee-6-cav-mold-tl358-158swc-

It looks perfect--about the bluntest SWC that I have ever seen, and 158 grains. I think it would make a nice target/SD round.

I have some casting equipment, but so far have only been casting .30 and .22 round balls for buckshot. I think it would be fun to start casting boolits!

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Blunt always works great. I use a Ideal 358432 for my defense loads. That is a 162 grain Wad Cutter. Cast from range lead it expands reliable up close.
In my Colt 38 SPs it gets 4.5 grains of Unique. In the 357 3.5 inch S+W it gets 6.5 grains Unique. In the little 5shot I just load 4 grains Unique. At the close up ranges I expect trouble there is plenty of thud to offer.
Mike in Peru

[fecmech]

I have had quite a bit of experience with that bullet in .38 spl. It is an excellent, accurate bullet for that caliber. Loaded in front of Bullseye, Unique or 231 it will do anything you want a .38 to do!

[rintinglen]

The only draw back that I see with this boolit is that it seems to have a beveled base, which I don't care for. Other than that, it should work just fine.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I have that boolit. It works great for .38 spl. I keep mine at or just under 800 fps using Bullseye. The TL I use is the stuff from Lee that comes in the sizers. I cut it with some Johnsons Paste Wax and some mineral spirits. My boolits get warmed up in a toaster oven for a few minutes before getting an extremely light coat of TL, rolled around in a coffee can, then spread out on a small cookie sheet and toasted in the toaster oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. The result is a ready to load, non-sticky boolit.

I have the 6 cavity mould and strongly urge you to get it over the 2 cavity mould. You'll need lots of production capability when you see how easy, accurate and fun these are to shoot.

Think I'll go load a box of em right now.

[John in WI]

that's all good news!
I have no honest idea what hardness my current alloy is--but I think it's pretty soft. It's about half wheel weight, about half range lead, a chunk of water pipe...

I think I will take one of the ingots and cut it about 50% with straight wheel weight to harden it up a bit if I decide on this.

I think that would make a good close range thumper.

So you heat the boolits after lubing to melt off excess lube? Sounds (smells?) like something you want to do in the driveway or garage?

[Frank]

If I had to have a Lee, I'd get this bullet for .38.

http://www.titanreloading.com/molds/bullet-molds/357-mag-38spec-38-sw-38colt-np/lee-6-cav-mold-358-158-rf-

[John in WI]

I was looking at that one--nice blunt shape. But what I like about the other one is the full diameter shoulder behind the cone. It's really as close to a full wadcutter as I think I can get, and still be able to reload my revolver from a speed loader.

I don't know a lot about it, but it seems like the flat end and full diameter shoulder should produce a huge amount of drag when it hits the target, and that should cause it to dump energy. Then again, it's heavy enough to keep going and give good penetration with moderate speeds.

[shooting on a shoestring]

John,
I heat the boolits before I TL them. That helps them get a thin even coat. I heat them again to drive off the solvents quickly and set the alox. Some folks let them sit overnight to cure. I'd rather toast them quickly and be done. Bought my toaster oven at the thrift store for $7. Its been worth more than that for the time it saves me.

Frank's idea of the round flat is good. That boolit would load well with a speed loader. The meplat on it is practically the same as the SWC. There's not any shoulder to speak of on the TL158. SWC shoulders are only for cutting pretty holes in paper. In vermin, its the meplat that does the killing.

I've come close a couple of times to buying that round nose flat point. May have to get around to it soon.

BTW I loaded a box of TL158 over 3.6 Bullseye, and a box of 358061 (double ended wadcutters 150 gr) over same charge. I've got a couple of boxes of the 140 SWC over 3.5 grs BE from last night. They'll get emptied tomorrow morning.

[Frank]

John in WI:

I don't know a lot about it, but it seems like the flat end and full diameter shoulder should produce a huge amount of drag when it hits the target, and that should cause it to dump energy. Then again, it's heavy enough to keep going and give good penetration with moderate speeds.
That's an interesting concept, but it doesn't work that way. The meplat makes a pressure wave which makes the wound channel. The SWC shoulder is behind the wave created by the smaller meplat, so it just goes along for the ride. But the RF would make a larger wave because it has a larger meplat. Plus, it's aerodynamic, so it maintains the velocity that is needed. The best of both worlds. The WC has the largest meplat, but poor flight performance. 50 yards is tops.

[David LaPell]

I have used that Lee mould before, but I switched over to a couple different Lyman moulds. My favorite of the 158-160 grain being #358156 in both HP and SWC form. For me though my favorite personal defense load for my M & P .38 was my 170 grain #358429.

[John in WI]

Which one do you prefer, the HP or the SWC?

Also, do you guys have any thoughts on what kind of alloy would be good for this kind of thing? The alloy I have ingots for right now is made with wheel weight lead, some lead pipe, and some range scraps. I can cut it with my finger nail, so it must be fairly soft.

I would think that I should use the softest alloy I can get away with, without leading the barrel?

Sorry for all the questions--I ordered the mold, but my only casting experience is with a bunch of buckshot that I cast over the winter.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Stay soft. Hard will not be your friend here. You'll be in the lower end of pressure and out of magnum velocities if you're going to use Lee Alox for tumble lubing. The alloy you describe should work well. No need to water drop. Let them air cool. Don't size them.

Keep in mind you may need to add some tin or pewter to help them fill out. Only a small 1 or 2 percent can really make them cast well. Cast hot and alot.

Don't be overly zealous in perfection. In a revolver with average trigger skills, you may be surprised that blimished boolits shoot better than your skills can reveal. As your casting skills improve, your range time increases and your shooting becomes better, you will naturally start culling blemishes at a higer level.

If you get leading. First thing to check is boolit diameter. These will need to be bigger than your revolver throats, and the throats bigger than barrel diameter. It not, they will lead. If they do lead. Don't panic. A good bronze barrel brush and 20 strokes will take out any problem leading in a revolver barrel in about two minutes. So don't be afraid. You'll do fine. I predict you'll like the results.

[John in WI]

Thanks shoestring. I was having problems with my alloy filling out my #F buckshot mold (it's only .22" round ball) so I think I read on here to add a touch of tin. I didn't have any, but was able to get my hands on some HEAVY gauge lead/tin solder, and a few feet of that mixed in solved the problem! As long as the mold is nice and warm, it fills up no problem.

My shooting/practice will be within 10-15 yards, and I don't think that bullet perfection is going to be the limiting factor! I'm just hoping that that boolit mold casts something that shoots POA out of my fixed sites.

And I'm not planning on pushing them at any crazy speeds. Somewhere around 850fps would be fine I think--that would put it in the ballpark with commercial stuff of the same weight.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Another popular and personal favorite of mine is Lyman’s 358429. It is a 170gr SWC with a flat plain base. I have some cast up, just PM me if you want me to send a few your way.

[MtGun44]

.38 Spl or .38 S&W?

For .38 Spl, I have had great results with RCBS 38-150-K now sold as 38-150-SWC, Lyman
358477 and358429, plus Lee 358-158 RF a bb mold that works extremely well in .38 and .357
mag. +1 on "stay soft" on your alloy.

Bill

[John in WI]

BTW I loaded a box of TL158 over 3.6 Bullseye, and a box of 358061 (double ended wadcutters 150 gr) over same charge. I've got a couple of boxes of the 140 SWC over 3.5 grs BE from last night. They'll get emptied tomorrow morning.[/QUOTE]

How did you like the 3.6 Bullseye load?

I'm bought a Lee Loader in .38 spl, so it should be interesting how long it takes until I break down and get an actual reloading press!