Just ordered the 358-105 SWC and .356 sizer

[fishindad]

Well... I fell prey to the bullet casting bug. Over the past few months, I have accumulated lead, done my first ingots fro WW. Now I have a mold for my pistols and also for my shotgun.

This site has been INCREDIBLY useful. I want to thank all those that participate here. VIA this site and postings, I was able to get one mold for my 380, 9, 38 Spec and 357. Thats phenomenal! I will post more as I get started! This should be fun!

Fishindad

[wiljen]

Welcome to the madhouse. There is a ton of info here and great people to help you spend $. That one mold will multiply before you know it.

[fcvan]

I have used the 358-105 mold for 25 years in .38, 9mm, and .380. I have been sizing the boolit to .358 which has worked well in numerous .380 and 9mm pistols. I started out sizing to .356 and it didn't work as well for the 9mm. If you are pan lubing your rounds, try shooting them as cast and try them sized to .356 to see what your pistols prefer. I like the little boolit as it prints targets well and tin cans are kilt just as dead. Frank

[aas5f6]

Let me start off by saying the 105 SWC is my single favorite boolit.

BUT... Get ready to play with your loads, particularly diameter of the boolit and COL. Some guns I have tried will not function 100% with this boolit. Short barrel .38s will shoot this boolit low about 4-6".

[MtGun44]

.356 is a low probability of success diameter in 9mms. Start at .357 or .358 for increase
likelihood of success.

Bill

[captaint]

dad - I would go bigger than .356 for my 9mm also. Didn't work in mine. I'm sizing to .3575 now and that works, at least in my gun. enjoy Mike

[fishindad]

Ah man... I got the .356 sizer because the Lyman Cast bullet manual used that as a baseline for both the .380 and the 9mm. Primarily this will be used for my .380 and then possibly for the 38 special. Should I call them and have them send the .357 sizer instead?

[MtGun44]

I'd try to get the .357 or .358 sizer right off. It will not hurt a thing to be a bit big, and too
small is the root of all evil with boolits.

Bill

[Rick N Bama]

Is the .356" sizer you ordered the Lee Sizing Kit? If it is & you can change your order to the .357 or .358 go ahead & do so. Then if you should need the .356 I have one I would sell you for a bit of Coffee $$ & the shipping. Like others, .356 just didn't work for me for the 9MMs.

I might even find the bottle of Alox that came with it, however at the moment I can't find the instruction sheet.

BTW: Pictures of your first boolits will be required:)

Rick

[fishindad]

Appreciate it. After seeing the responses, I called Titan Reloading. It had already shipped, but there was no problem with the exchange. From what I can see, .357 seems to be what I am looking for. I did get the kit. Titan just said to send it right back and they would do the exchange no problem!

Once I get situated, I will definitely post pics. This has been a bucket list item for a while. It just took me a while to get started! Thanks for the info!

[Wally]

I just cast 800 of the Lee 105 SWC .38 Cals 9 Lbs of WW and 1 pound of lead. The as cast diameter is .362". If you size too much the grease grove and the shallow crimp groove all but disappear, unless you pan lube them. I shoot in the .38 Spl sized to .359"---in the 9mm Luger I use the bullets lubed/sized to .359" and use a Lee .358" push through sizer die.

[fishindad]

OK. So in the consensus .358? I have an opportunity to change it out with the exchange. I want to do whats smart. BTW... thanks for the feedback.

[Artful]

358 works for me just fine

[Ben]

358" is the do all sizer for 38/357 revolvers.........( Usually )

[fishindad]

So the 358 should work for my .380 , 9mm, 38 sp and 357? That sounds like the right move then.

[Ben]

358 could cause some chambering problems in .380 , 9mm, ( It may or may not )........ but should work fine in 38 Spec. and 357 Mag revolvers.

Ben

[evan price]

I size the 105-swc to .357 for my 9mms and to .358 for my 38 spls.

[fishindad]

Ok.... This is awesome feedback thanks everyone. Here is what the consensus seems...

.380 and 9mm - size to .357
38 special and .357 mag - size to .358

So are the symptoms of the bullet being sized to .356 that
1) They are not very accurate
2) They do not hold the lube very well?

Thanks again, this is all VERY helpful for a rookie.

[H.Callahan]

Definitely get both the 357 and 358. That should cover 99% of the possibilities in 357/38/9mm/380, etc. You MIGHT run into a 357/38 that would throw up with anything smaller than a 359 (had one of those once, but it is long gone now), but it is unlikely.

[MtGun44]

The symptoms of undersized are they tumble and lead the heck out of the barrel. This
experiment has been run hundreds of times, same results.

So the "not very accurate" - is a big understatement. Boolits hitting the target yawed
a lot or even sideways are not accurate, to say the least.

Not sure what you mean by "not hold lube well".

Bill

[Artful]

358 could cause some chambering problems in .380 , 9mm, ( It may or may not )........ but should work fine in 38 Spec. and 357 Mag revolvers.

Ben

If you have a Taper crimp die you just need to adjust it to fit the chamber after you get that fat ole .358 in the 380 or 9mm case. A LOT of my 9mm have .358 bores.

[fishindad]

"Not sure what you mean by "not hold lube well"."

I read in one of the postings that the .356 would some times strip down the groove lines in the bullet. Thanks for the explanation on the accuracy. Thats what I thought.

I am exited to try this out. I even found a lead on lead from a dr's office doors today for 50 cents a pound. I will have to make ingots, but its going to be well worth the effort at that price. I also make my own fishing jigs and weights so lead at that price is great!

[H.Callahan]

Ok.... This is awesome feedback thanks everyone. Here is what the consensus seems...

.380 and 9mm - size to .357
38 special and .357 mag - size to .358

So are the symptoms of the bullet being sized to .356 that
1) They are not very accurate
2) They do not hold the lube very well?

Thanks again, this is all VERY helpful for a rookie.
Remember, those sizes are general recommendations. Not all guns are equal even in the same caliber. You may have to try a few sizes for each gun to find out what guns like what sizes. Some may like 356, some may like 357 and some may like 358. ...but that's half the fun! Think of all the shooting you will be doing trying to dial things in.

That said, those recommendations are excellent starting points.

[TheBigBang]

fishindad,

While having the different sizing dies mentioned is not a bad idea, the BEST way to determine what sizer die you need for a specific gun(s) is to slug your bore(s). Also, measure the throats of your revolver chambers. That will allow you to determine what to size your bullets to for YOUR specific guns.

[geargnasher]

Listen to Bill and all the others on the 9mm, excellent advise.

I'm going go add my two cents here, you should verify this with your own guns, boolits, dies, and brass to see if it holds as true for you as it does for me: I don't own a .356 or .357 sizing die. In the last year I took on 9mm and .38 Super (both against my will I might add!), and I didn't even have a 9mm boolit. After reading a bunch on both calibers (especially Bill's excellent writeup on the 9mm) I decided to just use boolits I had that came out .3585". After loading some dummy rounds and pulling the boolits, I measured the boolits and compared to chamber casts and barrel slugs. Turns out the .38 Super NEEDED a .358" minimum boolit, and the targets confirmed the .3585s were a good choice. The 9mm wouldn't chamber them all the way if they were really hard boolits (water-quenched wheel weights), but the tough, hard, short, high-pressure brass swaged them down to about .357 or so if they were air-cooled wheel weights and they chambered and shot great. This also saved me from having to get an oversized, cast-boolit-friendly 9mm expander, because the one I was using left the brass at about .352" or so 1/8" and below the case mouth. If I wasn't using oversized boolits to start with that would both stretch the brass and swage down somewhat, I would have had to buy a smaller sizing die and custom-made expander spud that was both longer and bigger in diameter. If I harden the boolits, I'll have to get a .357" sizer for sure for that particular gun, but many here report shooting .358s with no troubles. I don't know if the boolits other guys are using that start out at .358" still are after seating or if their chambers are bigger than mine, but either way it seems to work for most people.

I've had custom expanders made for my .40 S&W so I can shoot milder loads and softer boolits in it, glad I didn't have to with the 9 or .38 Super.

Moral of the story, measure your groove diameter (pound a dead-soft lead slug through it, MUST be soft lead, not boolit metal for an accurate measurement), measure the ID of a case fired in your gun, from which you've removed all the crimp (this is the largest boolit you should try to fire in your gun), and start out with the largest boolit that will work.

Gear

[QuickRick]

This is one of my favorite molds as well. For many years my favorite 38 special load has been 5.0 grns of 700-X with this bullet sized .358. Produces around 1,130 fps from my 5 inch K frame Smith. This is a +P load so work up gradually if you care to try it. Basically it duplicates 9mm luger ballistics from a revolver. Does so with better accuracy than any of my semi auto 9s and no chasing down the brass. I have also used it sized .357 in 9mm luger with good results but lately have been sticking with the Lee six cavity 124 TC for 9mm loads....Hard to beat those Lee 6 cavity molds for the price and they surely do pile up the CBs in a hurry....

[MtGun44]

Check out the sticky on "Setting up a new 9mm for boolits", might save
you some work.

Bill