Lee 385-105 SWC

[swmass]

Just finished up a casting session with my new(ish) 200 grain SWC mold for 45acp... Holy **** where'd all my lead go? and I chose that mold over a 230 to go easy on my lead... I cant cut lead from my 9mm because I am pretty picky about my 9mm and its what I shoot the most of, but I can cut some lead out of my 38s... Currently loading Lee TL 148 grain wadcutters over 2.9 grains of BE.

So... since I'm essentially just replacing my already light loads and dont need to throw 150 grains of lead down range for my 38 plinkers, the idea of a 105 grain mini wadcutter seems pretty cool. Anyone out there loading for this bullet? I'm thinking about using starting 125 grain lead data for it, which would make a nice light load when paired with a 105 grain. I'm pretty set on trying this but its always fun to see what others are shooting and stir up some convo. Pics of the loaded round would be cool was well!:wink:

[Bullwolf]

I tumble lube (in 45-45-10) the Lee 358-105-SWC for use in 38 Special.

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition has load data for this boolit using Bullseye, Clays, 700X, Tightgroup, Red Dot, and Win 231.

Bullseye was designated as the potentially most accurate load combination with this boolit in 38 Special in the Lyman 4th Cast Handbook - So I used Bullseye. (twist my arm!)


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142136&d=1434339770




Source Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Ed.

Lee 358-105-SWC - 38 Special 1.450 OAL

Start - 3.6 grains of Bullseye - 844 FPS (12,200) PSI
Max - 4.6 grains of Bullseye - 1058 FPS (16,700) PSI
Max - (+P)4.9 grains of Bullseye - 1098 FPS (18,400) PSI

Loads shown in bold designate potentially most accurate.



Note that the 105 SWC may shoot to a different point of aim than your usual 150 grain load due to the lighter weight boolit.




- Bullwolf

[Beerd]

Lee 105 gr in a 9mm and 200 gr 45ACP

159954
..

[Slick Pilot]

Both these bullets immediately above shoot very well in my S&W Model 59 and my Colt 1911 respectively. I either size and lube them or powder coat them and size.

[gwpercle]

I use it in the 38 special and 9mm, for the same reason , conserve my dwindling lead supply.
My WWII era Walther P-38 likes it sized to .357, worked up a load with Red Dot that shoots to its sights and doesn't batter the old girl.
38 special is just as happy with it, Target loads with Bullseye, 700X and Red Dot all are quite fun to shoot.
It's a sweet little design.
Gary

[soldierbilly1]

try the 105 gr'er with your .38 snubbies. great light load! esp for training, the females, kids, etc.
bill boy

light on lead usage as well!

[MarkP]

try the 105 gr'er with your .38 snubbies. great light load! esp for training, the females, kids, etc.
bill boy

light on lead usage as well!

If I load the 105's in the 1000+ fps range my snubbie's sights are fairly well regulated. Also the starting loads are great for new shooters as well as old shooters.

[swmass]

I'm gonna buy one this Saturday I can't wait to try it out. It would
be cool to load it in 9mm as well but I've got my load down pretty pat with 9mm. Deffinetly looks like a fun little round for sure. My gp100 has adjustable sights so I could just dial it in for this load. My 9s on the other hand don't have adjustables.

[gwpercle]

I'm gonna buy one this Saturday I can't wait to try it out. It would
be cool to load it in 9mm as well but I've got my load down pretty pat with 9mm. Deffinetly looks like a fun little round for sure. My gp100 has adjustable sights so I could just dial it in for this load. My 9s on the other hand don't have adjustables.

My Walther P-38 9mm has fixed sights also, but have found a load of 4.0 grains of Red Dot under the Lee 105 Grain SWC , with a 6 o'clock hold, bull sitting on top of front sight, puts them all right on target. dead on for windage and elevation.
Load some up and try them...you will be amazed what you can do by tailoring the load. Faster boolit will hit lower and slower will strike higher...you can do it !
Gary

[swmass]

Maybe I could work out a load for 9mm with bullseye. Both my 9s like .357 and should feed it fine, its just messing with the load to get it to hit POA without being too hot or too light to cycle the slide. I like my target loads fairly tame so it can be annoying some times, but if I can save some lead and keep 38 and 9mm production to only one style of bullet it might be worth the effort.

[bottomline]

I got one of these molds (6 cavity) with hopes of also saving some lead and having less recoil for my daughter.

Unfortunately when I tired them in my 9 & .38, I did not get good results. Perhaps the mistake I made was to size them @ .357.
Next test will be as cast for the .38 and maybe a different alloy.

[Bzcraig]

I use that boolit exclusively for plinking rounds in my 357's saves lead and powder and light loads of Trail Boss allows my wife to shoot 100's at a time if she wants to.

[slohunter]

Lee 105 gr in a 9mm and 200 gr 45ACP

159954
..
These two have been my favorite for years. Shoot them as cast, no need to size them.

[swmass]

Just turned 11 pounds of wad cutters into 11 pounds of 105 SWCs. Thats how a casting session is supposed to be! Makes me want to ditch all my 2 cavities. Once you get those 6 cavities hot they just cast and cast. Anyway, bullets cast out of round and I'll be sizing them but whatever, theyre over 0.358 at their smallest so its not a big problem. Love the bullet profile, its got a really sharp shoulder and nice sharp shape to it. Gonna cast them over a moderate load of bullseye and bench them. Maybe I'll post a few pics when I do it.

It was also cool to see about 500 boolits turn into about 750. I'm not sure why I didnt have great luck with the lee TL wadcutter. I crimped them in the highest TL groove over 2.9 grains of BE... They were accurate for sure but nothing too crazy.. Anyway, maybe I'll upload some pics later.

[hornady308]

I have the 6 cavity mold and it works great as a target bullet in a 75 year old S&W .38 5th change, three 9mm's and two 357 Mags. It is absolutely one of my favorite Lee molds and it saves a bunch of lead over the typical 158gr bullet.
160454

[swmass]

Hey all - didnt want to start a new thread as I'm sure its out there somewhere but after sizing them down I'm noticing on some boolits they seem to be really pushing it as far as sizing down goes. Theres still grooves, but they are slightly deformed from being sized so far down... Is this a big deal? The sprue plate on my mold is picky and you have to make sure the mold is closed or else one or 2 of the top cavities likes to open up. I figured it out but a good amount of them got past me. Would I be able to tumble lube them afterward ensure there is enough lube on there? I'm sure I could... just making sure theres not something I'm missing here that may cause problems.

[Shiloh]

I bought this for the 9's. Won't feed reliably.

Shiloh

[tazman]

I bought this for the 9's. Won't feed reliably.

Shiloh

I had the same problem. I have other boolits that serve the same purpose for 9mm so it wasn't a major loss.

[alamogunr]

I've posted before about the 2 Ruger P-95's that I purchased for my sons. To make sure that I could load cast for them, I tried a couple of Lee boolits. The 105gr was one of them. Without going into details, as expected, both shot as well as I can shoot and never missed a beat. That was also expected from a Ruger semi-auto.

Those P95's are not the sexiest things around but they work(and work and work).

[BNE]

Hey all - didnt want to start a new thread as I'm sure its out there somewhere but after sizing them down I'm noticing on some boolits they seem to be really pushing it as far as sizing down goes. Theres still grooves, but they are slightly deformed from being sized so far down... Is this a big deal? The sprue plate on my mold is picky and you have to make sure the mold is closed or else one or 2 of the top cavities likes to open up. I figured it out but a good amount of them got past me. Would I be able to tumble lube them afterward ensure there is enough lube on there? I'm sure I could... just making sure theres not something I'm missing here that may cause problems.

I have had this problem before also. In my case the culprit was .... ME. I was not squeezing the handles tight enough. I found if I held the handles loosely, I would get out of round bullets. I just melted mine down. I suspect they would shoot fine, but I would check a few before I made a bunch of completed rounds.

[swmass]

160540
Offhand at 15 yards, 6 shots each. I think I found my new load. This was with 3.6 grains of bullseye.