38 special 158grn .356 bullets

[gspman]

ok long story short.about two year ago i purchased a box of 250ct bullets labeled 158rnfp .358dia low velocity.this last weekend i loaded up some of these bullets in 357 brass with a 38 special type load of 4.5 trailboss that i like.so when i started to seat bullets i found i had very little neck tension and a few fell in to far and had to pull out with pliers.measured them and they are barely .356 dia.so contacted company and said that is very strange never heard of any sizeing problems in past.said will mail you another box.great.got bullets yesterday and guess what they measure 356 also.so two years time and no comments on size
being small.i measured with 2 different calipers and found same #s.so ive come to the idea that lots of 356 bullets have been loaded and shot with no known problems .did not get call back from company today so will not mention name but i would not have bought them knowing they were 356.planning on shooting a few but i am not happy as had to put a heavy crimp on a basicly a 38 special load.12bhn.am i going to get lots of leading what do you think.GSPMAN

[bruce drake]

Sounds like you got the perfect setup for a Heavy 9mm Luger load...Or a huge pile of lead to be remelted and cast in the proper size.

[2shot]

I have gotten 1000 185 grain 45 cal boolits from a MAJOR manufacturer that were supose to be .452 and in reality measured .455. An email to the company and the responce never came. At least I could run mine through a sizing die but for the money I paid I feel I shouldn't have to do this and at least should have gotten a responce from the company.

As with anthing, buyer beware


2shot

[Char-Gar]

You really should contact customer service at the place you bought them and ask for your money back. If you don't get satisfaction, you really should help us all out and let us know who they are.

[Ben]

I measured with 2 different calipers and found same #s

_________________________________
I noticed you said you were measuring with calipers.

Bullets need to be measured with a micrometer.

I don't have much faith in the typical caliper when measuring cast bullets, my Starrett Mic is another story.

Ben

[RayinNH]

Ben I agree that a micrometer is more accurate, but a caliper that won't measure to within .002 needs to be thrown away...Ray

[Ben]

If I'm measuring a cast bullet, I want a reading out to the 4th digit......example .3582 ".

I own a $50 dial caliper, it is for measuring case length and OAL's of loaded rounds. It isn't used ( ever ) to measure the diameter of a cast bullet.

That's my view on measuring things as to reloading and casting , .......all of us buy and use our tools in different ways.

Ben

[Char-Gar]

I missed the caliper part of the original post. Like Ben, I don't trust calipers to measure bullets and I have a $180.00 Starrett digital caliper. I use one of my Starrett micrometers to measure bullets.

Before I raised unshirted hell with the maker, I would measure or have measured the bullets in question with a good micrometer.

[Ben]

I missed the caliper part of the original post. Like Ben, I don't trust calipers to measure bullets and I have a $180.00 Starrett digital caliper. I use one of my Starrett micrometers to measure bullets.

Before I raised unshirted hell with the maker, I would measure or have measured the bullets in question with a good micrometer.

VERY GOOD advice ! !

[gwpercle]

Purchase a mould and sizer. Then become the master of your own bullet supply. Some times when you want things done right you just got to do it yourself.

[454PB]

According to some on this forum, cast boolits "grow" in diameter over time. Perhaps you should let them age for a while and remeasure. :coffee:

[shoot-n-lead]

Just resize and be done with it...to never buy from them again.

[MT Gianni]

Caliper or micrometer if they are falling inside the necks of resized brass they are probably undersized. Shoot a few and see how they do would be my first action.

[Petrol & Powder]

Sounds like you have 250 very small lead ingots ready for the melting pot.

[gspman]

Ok today called them as they did not return my call.was told that they [hsm bullets out of stevenson montana ][ hunting shack munitions ]sell and make bazillions of bullets and reloads and 356 is ok even though box marked .358 .they did not apologize in the least for the boxs marked 358.i figured i could shoot them and will probably not lead bad .the caliper measures close enough for my needs.i knew they were small when started seating bullets.all i shoot is cast and all 358 till now .i cant cast my own yet so will have to rely on the companys that have been good to me [penn and missouri bullets.] hsm will not get any more of my business. opos i tried to message you back but did not figure out how .so no it is not missouri bullets as they have been great.penn has a better lube on bullets i have figured out as have very few that are without lube.misouri uses a very hard lube and some lose it durring shipping.thanks for the replies.does any one use hsm for there bullets .

[gspman]

for some reason my comments i wrote yesterday did not get on thread.so that is post above .so today i took ten of my loads and only 7 would chamber as basically i over crimped them trying to keep them from moving.yeah they leaded my forcing cone pretty good in my pistol.guess its time to buy a bullet remover tool.i dont know what im going to do with the unloaded bullets .maybe some slow 38 special loads.what junk. i just keep going back to hsm saying theyve loaded bazillions and nobody has had problems but me.think i will try salvage my brass but think will melt down the bullets someday and make my own in the future.thanks GSPMAN

[454PB]

The "Hunting Shack" was a supplier of cast bullets and reloaded ammo many years ago in Missoula. They have been in business in one form or another for about 35 years that I know of, and had a reasonably good reputation. I've used some of their cast boolits and had as good of an experience as is possible with commercial cast bullets.

Short of returning them and demanding your money back, probably the best outcome is to use them as very small ingots.

[Pinsnscrews]

Sounds like a perfect batch for making paper patched loads ;)

[RayinNH]

See if someone on this site will trade you .358's for your .356's. They can use them in the 9mm.

[Animal]

I've improved a lot of commercial cast boolits with LLA or my own pan lube. Live and learn.

[Boogieman]

Looks like a good place to try powder coating . adds 2-2.5"

[mpbarry1]

Looks like a good place to try powder coating . adds 2-2.5"

Thats what i was thinking...