Just one bullet

[catkiller45]

How many of you use just one bullet.
I think I am going to use only one bullet for my 44 Henry and only one in my 357 Rossi. Anyone else here just do that. I want to spend more time shooting and not cast.. The 44 will be a gas check bullet. 240 grain. Still not sure on the 357. Maybe 158 or 180 gr..

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I only use one boolit at a time :Fire:

[SteveM54]

Dang, 20+ years ago I sold my Rossi .357 lever action & to this day I still regret it. Saw your post and almost started to cry[smilie=b:

[Winger Ed.]

I only use a 170RN for .30-30, and a 405FN for the .45-70.
Other cals. have a couple that cross over, like a .38DEWC and a SWC.

[WRideout]

I really like the little Lee 100 gr 30 cal. I use it in my 7.62 Nagant, 7.62 Tokarev, and 32-20 revolver (I have a thing for 30 cal pistols.) For my Star PD 45 auto, I only have one mold, the lyman 452460 SWC and it does evereything I need it to.

Wayne

[Frosty Boolit]

I use the 120gr RN lee mold for .38, and 9mm. I've migrated to a j-word for .357 as I don't shoot many of them

[358429]

I got a one bullet rifle.

It has got a green dot 1x holosun 403c sight, and it is the short heavy barrel 308 winchester.

Freshly cast 170 rf lee 30 caliber bullets are cooking inside my toaster.

[emoji39]Glad I still remember how to use that mold.

[rintinglen]

I'm afraid I only use one...at a time, out of 70 or 80 molds

[charlie b]

I usually have a favorite.

.45acp it is the 200gn Lee SWC, .357 it is the 140gn Lee SWC, .308 it is the Acc 31-210E, Garand it is the NOE XCB.

Sometimes I will buy more than one mold but always end up using the favorite. Eventually I'll sell off or give away a mold I don't use anymore.

[sigep1764]

I only use the 358-147/155 Elco boolit for 9mm. Ive settled on the Lee 356-95RF for 380ACP. For 270, the RCBS270-150. For 223, the MP 227-75 NATO, although Im in the group buy for the newer version. But for the 30-30, I use an Accurate 157 grain flat nose flat base, a 150 grain hollowpoint from NOE, and I have a yet unused RanchDog flat point mold. The 30-30 is fun to play with. The 270 just doesn't have enough available molds to really experiment, but the RCBS just plain works. And the Elco mold just works too for all my 9's its been shot in.

[Walks]

Can't do it, just can't, tried hard. Just can't do it.
Even 40-50yrs ago. When I hunted hard all the time, I had 2 jacketed loads for each rifle.
These days, I have at least 9-10 cast loads for .38/357 alone. I'd really hate to count how many different loads i do make up. Always ready to try something new/different. Those molds all have to be used. Heck, soon enough I'll break out that #358495 2cav that hasn't been cast with in 40yrs.

[winelover]

Could get by with one bullet per caliber but why? Variety is the spice of life.

Back to the OP's question. My preference for a 44 or 357 would be a RNFP design of nominal weight.........240 grains for the 44 and 158 for the 357 Magnum. The RNFP feeds well in carbines and the pistols, just plain don't care. Nominal weight choice is figuring in fixed sighted handguns.

Winelover

[dverna]

What are your goals?

For the .357 I can see two bullets. One for light plinking or CAS...say a 125-130 gr RNFP, and a second bullet for hunting. Sure, there are a lot more options but, at least for me, none worth the effort. I have seven weapons in .38/.357 and use one bullet and one load. KISS. I was using a 125 gr bullet for CAS and plinking but once my supply is gone I will be loading only the 158 gr SWC at +P or a tad hotter. I find a load that is accurate in the rifles and use it in the pistols. It makes life easier knowing what my loaded inventory is at a glance and being able to pick up a box of ammunition and not wondering what gun it is for. I do not hunt with the .357, but if I did, I would use something like a 158 gr. XTP anyway.

I understand where you are coming from. I enjoy shooting far more than casting or reloading. Having a few different bullets and loads does not gain me anything. Banging at steel, punching paper or popping a coyote does not require a lot of refinement. I shoot a lot, but 99.5% of it about having fun putting rounds downrange. Any decent load will serve my needs. Like I said...KISS. Good enough is good enough.

Some folks play with alloy, sizing, lubes, primers, bullet types, bullet weights, powder and charges to optimize their loads. That is fun for them. Not wrong...just different.

Most folks are somewhere between being anal and making do with "good enough". You need to figure out where you fit in.

[mdi]

I used one mold, one bullet for the first 18 months I cast. A Lyman 429421. I had access to wheel weights and I kept my 629 fed with both Special and Magnum loads. There are waaay too many molds available to only use one (or ten!). I now cast for all my handguns except my 32 ACP...

[Texas by God]

I use the Lee C309113F only in my wife's .30 Carbine and only the Lee 379250F in my 38-55. Both shoot to my loftiest expectations @ 100yds with iron sights. They are both flat nose for maximum impact which is a bonus.

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[rbuck351]

I try to get two bullets per gun that work well. One cast and one jacketed for rifles. A light and a heavy cast for each hand gun. For a few of my main hunting rifles, I use just one jacketed bullet.

[gwpercle]

You can't pick a favorite unless you try them all ...
Variety is the Spice of Life ... Having only one boolit ... :holysheep ... No that will never do !
Gary

[zarrinvz24]

Trying to isolate it down to just one boolit is going to be difficult. The appeal of the cast boolit is that you can custom design loads for a given task. The fact that there are so many different designs is a testament to the ability to tailor in this fashion. I'm not sure if you've considered it, but it is possible to get by with one mold. I've seen several on here with Mihec moulds that have interchangeable pins. This would allow you to take a given design, have a hollow-point, flat-nose, and probably a round nose as well. That would probably be the closest one is able to come to a "single bullet" and be able to reasonably cover all bases. At least this is how I view .38/357. I can't comment on .44, as I've never owned a 44.

[guzma393]

I fancy the lee 312/160 for call my casts. Works really well for 30 cal semi-autos. Only thing I do not load this boolit for is 30-30 336 due to the semi-pointed tip.

[Handloader109]

I looked around the other day, I've 4 different molds for 38/357 and can do HP or solid on 2, for a total of 6 different boolits, and I have about 300 I cast for a 9mm that didn't work well in 9mm and I can use in the 357 (148gr). You really don't spend more time casting, but changing between loads while reloading does take a bit. But I love shooting 38s in the rossi.....

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[Harter66]

Yeah I thought I was doing that once .... But it's hard when you have 380,9,38 short ,
special , 357 mag 358 win .
I mean a guy needs to have a 9? gr bullet for just plinking around and 1 for business in 30-30 , 308 ,and 06'
A plinker in 7mm and business and a sub because a 7×6.8 , 7-30 , 7×57 , 280 .....
6.5 is easier with a Japanese that needs an almost 270 bullet and a zero miles 264 WM .
270 only comes in 6.8 SPC so that's pretty easy to hold to just one being a 130 is perfect .
The 25 is easy just the heaviest bullet I could get . But then I want a lead saver for the 257 Roberts while the 25-06' is reserved for business .
The 22s shoot a single bullet well in all them across a wide speed range .
32/8mm yeah there's only one there but the 32 Rem is awkward . The 7.7 has a huge groove so I could share a bullet but I really need a nice FP for them .....
I could just skate with the 454424 in the pistols but I really need a 230 for the short ones . I need the 300s for the carbine and a 350 for the Raptor .
Then there's the 45-70 light plinker , nominal , and a heavy for subs .

[MOA]

I usually have two for most medium and large bore calibers. A few of my 30 caliber and smaller bore likely have three. As an example, my 243 has three. It performs well from deer to prairie dogs.

[Dieselhorses]

If it came to "just one bullet" I would feel safest with my 6.5 CM that funnels each round through the same hole ALL DAY LONG!