New here... what should I do?

[Animal]

Hey guys, I've been devoting myself to reloading this year and I feel that I've gotten a safe handle on my "go to loads". All my work has been for my .357 mag revolver.

I've mostly been using Lee equipment so I'd like to stay in that area. I've got about 1200 158gr lead cast bullets from my LGS. They are **** in my opinion. They are cast so hard that I have yet to find one that has deformed after it hit my backstop nor is there any evidence that they engage the rifling in my 4 inch barrel.

All my xtp bullets and other factory jacketed bullets are on-spot, accurate and hit the target and expand.

As I understand, a good cast bullet should be just as accurate as the jacketed bullets, healthier on the barrel, and be able to perform at high velocities with the proper BHN, gas check and lube.

Is there any problem with me melting these crappy bullets down and making a good 158gr LSWC? I feel like I'm spinning my wheels with my current loads.

If so, does the lube need to be removed from each bullet first?

I've got about 70lbs of pure lead ww and 30lbs of pure lead ingots... please advice, thanks. Animal out!

[dbosman]

Melt them down, or sell them to someone with a tighter barrel. The lube will float or float and burn off. Be prepared for a flame.

First though, slug your barrel. Find out what the actual size is.
Then you can start working on casting slightly larger boolits.

As for high velocity performance, define high velocity.

[Zymurgy50]

Throw them in the pot and stand upwind until it quits smokin' .
But the best part about a hard cast bullet is penetration. If the bullet isnt leading in the barrel, and the load is accurate, why worry about expansion?

[PS Paul]

Welcome to the forum. If they are not engaging the rifling, you got a problem. Are they accurate at your shooting distances? Are they leading your barrel?

If they are not accurate and you are experiencing lead, melt 'em down. If you are satisfied with accuracy and have no leading, you got a choice to make. I presume by now you've done some checking on the forum to see enough about alloys and relative hardness as applies to accuracy and leading to know what works for a lot of us.

I have some hard-cast commercial boolits, but I almost never use them. They sit in a couple of boxes waiting for that day....... It'll come some day. Probably when some guy wants to be me which causes more lead deposits: undersize and hard or correct size and somewhat softer......

[YunGun]

Is there any problem with me melting these crappy bullets down and making a good 158gr LSWC?
No, sounds like you've got plenty of pure lead to soften 'em up with.


If so, does the lube need to be removed from each bullet first?
No, I'm with Zymurgy50 - "Throw them in the pot and stand upwind until it quits smokin" :grin:


If the bullet isnt leading in the barrel, and the load is accurate, why worry about expansion?
Hunting? Besides, isn't that one of the main benefits of casting your own? You decide what aspects are most important to you and build it to your specifications.

[MT Chambers]

2 things to remember.....never, ever, bash Lee products (they are a sponsor), never, ever, ask why it takes a year or more to get anything.

[runfiverun]

they got mad and pulled their sponsor thingy for a week a while back when they got told their products needed improvement.
guess how long it was until they come out with an improved product and was told it was much improved.
we ain't here to accept whatever is sold, we go elsewhere or fix it and talk about it.

[Ben]

nor is there any evidence that they engage the rifling in my 4 inch barrel.


I don't care how hard a cast bullet is, if it is groove dia. or larger, you'll see rifling marks on it when it is fired.

Have you checked the dia. of one of these bullets that has been fired ,but has no rifling marks on it ?

[462]

Bashing is one thing, respectfully speaking the truth is quite another.

[captaint]

We may also find ourselves in a position to compliment Lee on one of their products. Don't be shy, go right on ahead and compliment. Many of us have on occasion, done just that. Mike

[Animal]

Since Mr. Lee is a sponsor of the forum... I'd like to say that I've enjoyed learning with his equipment and literature...

Now, the main thing that I wanted to know is if it was okay for me to go ahead and melt these bullets as is. I know how to make ingots, I just don't know much else at this point. I'll have to do some research before I pick up a mold and start cooking bullets.

But to answer a few questions...

The velocities I'd like to achieve are 1300 and up. When the SHTF, I will run out of jacketed stuff at some point.
Barrel is leading even with 4.5gr of Hodgdon Clays and Fed 100 primer.
No evidence of rifling on fired bullets.
No expansion on impact--not a problem for range time, but I'd like my lead to expand in the case that I need them for defense.

I'm a better shot with a traditional recurve bow than I have been with these cast bullets.

[mroliver77]

My pal and I bought a bunch of boolits from a weird guy at the gun show. I asked the alloy and he said "hard". I ask what specifically was in the alloy and he said "hard". I asked how much, he said "CHEAP".

They leaded no matter what gun we tried them in. We TL them to no avail. Mixed with pure lead 50/50 and my lube they were still kinda hard but shot well.

Most of us here size our revolver boolits just large enough to need a bit of force to push a nekid boolit through and empty cylinder MOUTH.

I just light the smoke with a match and let it burn.
J

[MT Chambers]

We may also find ourselves in a position to compliment Lee on one of their products. Don't be shy, go right on ahead and compliment. Many of us have on occasion, done just that. Mike

I have nothing positive to say about that.

[462]

It's no problem to develop a .357 Magnum, non-leading, 1300 fps load without a gas check.

As mentioned, slug the barrel and all the cylinder throats. Any of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook's will have many loads from which to choose.

My high velocity load runs to 1400 fps, using a non-gas checked Lee 358-158 RF. Experimentation and patience is all it takes.



.

[GaryN]

1.I would slug the barrel first and see what it is. There are threads about how to do that. Buy an appropriate sized sizing die.
2.When melting down the slugs don't use your casting pot. It will gum it up. Use an old stainless steel pan or a cast iron one.
3.I would add 3 to 1, pure lead to the hard slugs. Pistol boolits don't need to be very hard. Fit is king.
4. Return and report so we know how it turned out.

[DrCaveman]

Animal

Check out the stickies in this subforum. Top 10 cast boolit tips and some tips that may help are good starts. There is so much information here that the NRA should be donating to castboolits.com (all respect due intended).

Try a forum search: 357 magnum 158 swc

See all the success. If ive learned anything here (and its been a lot more than that), you are better off controlling your own variables with lead alloy cast.

Good shooting, fun, and accurate to ya

[Cherokee]

I've had good results with hot loads using 2% tin, 3% antimony. Most commercial casters use something like a 2% tin, 6% antimony so adding even amounts of pure lead should give you good results. As said, FIT is king so slug your barrel and cylinders. If the cylinder throats are bigger than the barrel, good, size to the throats. If the barrel is bigger than the throats, you may have trouble getting a good load.

[Wayne Smith]

I've had good results with hot loads using 2% tin, 3% antimony. Most commercial casters use something like a 2% tin, 6% antimony so adding even amounts of pure lead should give you good results. As said, FIT is king so slug your barrel and cylinders. If the cylinder throats are bigger than the barrel, good, size to the throats. If the barrel is bigger than the throats, you may have trouble getting a good load.

Read the above twice. If you don't have one go get a micrometer and learn to use it. Use some of your pure to size your cylinder throats and barrel. Then buy a mold that fits (If you don't have to ream something - you really do need cylinder throats bigger than the barrel!) and start doing it. You will learn more over a pot of hot lead and a mold in your hand than you ever will reading here. Once you have done it a few times come back and read more. You will understand what you read.

[wallenba]

Like as has been said, slug your barrel. You also need to slug the cylinder throats too. If they are smaller than your bore, and I've had a Ruger or two that did that, they will still be too small by the time they get into the barrel.

If you elect to use one of these http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/barrel-blanks-tools/reamers/throating-reamers/revolver-cylinder-throating-reamer-prod7700.aspx read and understand the purchasing guide. They are easy to use and do a fine job. Just go slow.