Lee 358-158 RF bullet design

[mtnman31]

Fellow casters,
I have a Lee 358-158 RF mold; I think the bullet is a great general purpose design and I really like it. Problem I have is that the bullet has a slight bevel base to it and I REALLY HATE wiping lube off the bases after I size/lube. (please don't tell me I need to get a Star luber to solve this problem, I'll get around to it soon enough:wink:) Has anyone modified this mold to a plain-base - results?

A part of me says, to modify one cavity and try it out, see what happens but, I don't want to go through the trouble if it isn't going to work well. Any thoughts or input are greatly appreciated.

[Blammer]

my BB on mine is really small and really doesn't get any lube on it.

if the BB on your mould is larger i'd opt to try "honing" one out. I think it will work just as good or better than the BB ones!

12gr of bluedot an the 162gr boolit it casts works really great out of my win 94. :)

[RayinNH]

mtnman31, I use the same boolit as well. Try adjusting the push out rod so the boolit doesn't go down as far in the sizing die, the base may be catching the next lube hole. I don't recall ever having to wipe the bases clean...Ray

[725]

Aside from the very good advice above, Ben has a tutorial on how to drill out a BB mould. I followed it to do another Lee BB mould and made it a flat base. I much prefer the flat base and with his sage advice, I was able to convert the mould. Works great. Check his way out. I'm sure it's listed somewhere on this site. Right now I can't recall where it's listed.

[docone31]

That is a vaingloriously performing casting for me! I push thru size, and no worries at all.
I load with 10gns Blue Dot. A real winner for me in my Dan Wesson Model 15.
I wouldn't worry about it.

[doghawg]

They are on sale in the new Midway flyer and I was planning on ordering a six-cavity and now it's a bevel base? Sure doesn't look like it in the catalog. Those of you that have it...Are you satisfied with the bullet performance as is? Accuracy wise? Any more leading with the same alloys and size than a flat base?

docone31...You obviously are happy with the bullet as it is...apparently it's a very SLIGHT bevel.

[garandsrus]

mtnman31,

I have never tried it but in a previous thread someone suggested to put an appropriate size gas check in the sizing die. The idea was that the gas check would cover the bevel base of a boolit and prevent the lube from getting on the bevel. The gas check should stay in the press while you remove the boolit. You could use any type of "spacer" that allows the boolit base to hide from the lube die.

John

[RayinNH]

doghawg, this is a great boolit. I use it in a Ruger .357 mag. Blackhawk. Accuracy is very good and I get no leading. The bevel is small but makes loading easy. Buy the mold, you won't be disappointed...Ray

[mtnman31]

Gents, thank you for the advice.

Doghawg - yes, the bullet has a bevel base and it is very slight. Maybe I'm just a bit OCD as far as wiping the bases is concerned. The amount of lube that ends up on the bevel is very small. Nonetheless, the bullet is one of my favorites and you will not be disappointed with the mold if you decide to get it.

[Ben]

Aside from the very good advice above, Ben has a tutorial on how to drill out a BB mould. I followed it to do another Lee BB mould and made it a flat base. I much prefer the flat base and with his sage advice, I was able to convert the mould. Works great. Check his way out. I'm sure it's listed somewhere on this site. Right now I can't recall where it's listed.

Here is a link to some photos of bullets from my Lee 358 158 RF, 2 cav. mold that has been " Plain Based " :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=19584

Here is the " How to do it " link:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=22102

[flinchnjerk]

Lee's changed the configuration of that boolit (without any notice that they've done so) at least twice. I got my .358-158-RF six or seven years ago. Great boolit (despite the mould dropping 'em at .363) and the easiest casting mould that I have. Guys that I shoot with bugged me so much to cast some for them that I ordered another mould (I like to run two moulds simultaneously anyway). Label on the new mould's box has same boolit picture, bar code, designation as the first.. and it's a completely different boolit. Wider meplat, shorter nose, longer shank, lube groove higher on shank... useless for my purposes. I emailed Lee to see if I could get one of the original moulds. Received an interesting reply. I don't know how to copy it to here, but the Reader's Digest condensed version was "You lose, sucker." However, mntnman31... it also has a flat base. Sounds like we have each other's mould. PM me if you're interested in a swap (my mould's unused).. I'm up in Kanuckistan, so it'd cost each of us 20 bucks or so for postage

[leadman]

I have on older 2 cavity mold and it is a flat base. Wanted more production so I recently ordered the 6 cavity and it is a slight bevel base with the shorter nose with wider meplat. I have a bunch loaded to test today if I can get the arthritis in the hand to ease up.
I was disappointed Lee made changes, but maybe it will work out. I'll post the results later.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Yeah I started with this same mold in a 2-cavity design. I really liked it and went with a 6-cavity mold. The bullets look just about the same, but if you examine them closely you begin to see slight differences. I learned real quick that the bullets cannot be interchanged! My first casting session with the 6-cavity mold I just dumped into the mix w/ leftovers from my 2-cavity mold.

When I loaded them into cases the OAL fluctuated terribly. This was because of the slight difference in the nose configuration. Of course the accuracy was miserable with these rounds too.

Then next time at the reloading bench I did not mix the bullets and the subsequent range session went much better with the bullets cast from the 6-cavity mold.

The 6-cavity bullets perform well enough, but I do prefer the shape and form of the 2-cavity bullets.

[LarryM]

I just got my 6 banger in the mail today, I intend to break it in tonight. I have a pile of bullets I cast a few days ago from my 2 holer and will cast from the same batch of alloy, I'll post up my comparison findings when I'm done.

[leadman]

Shot the boolits from the 6 cavity mold today in three guns. A Marlin 1894 with micro-groove barrel, S&W 27, and a S&W 65. All used Blue Dot from 6.9 to 9.6 grains. All loads were fired at 25 yards.
The Marlin shot under and inch except for the 9.6 grs which went into 1.091". No leading. The 27 and the 65 did not like these loads. Smallest was over 3" and they were leading. Will try the same load of AA#2 that I used with the 2 cavity boolits.

[straight-shooter]

I just received the 358-158 RF mold in the mail today along with a Lyman #43 top punch. I too am having lube getting under the bullet until I discovered the #43 top punch isn't allowing me to get the bullet deep enough into the lube die. The top punch bottoms out on top the lube die and part of the bullet is still above the lube die. I used a spacer to test my theory to seat the bullet almost flush with the top of the lube die and no more lube under the bullet and it's getting a full lube job in the lube groove on the bullet. I'm contemplating just grinding the top punch down to where it's only about 1/8" deep so it will seat the bullet deeper into the lube die and all should be good.

[LarryM]

Degrease your top punch and try a dab of hot glue. Have a bullet handy to set the hot glue to the shape of the meplat.

[straight-shooter]

Degrease your top punch and try a dab of hot glue. Have a bullet handy to set the hot glue to the shape of the meplat.

That's a much better idea, thank you! :drinks: