Does anyone cast specifically for the 357 Sig?

[Caliboose]

I am looking for recommendations and/or sources for molds for my 239 Sig in 357 Sig caliber. I would also consider purchasing some of the same for trial before I buy my own. What experiences have you had with this caliber.

My hand loads will be for practice only and may well be lower velocity/lower pressure loads.

Any information will be appreciated.

Caliboose

[snuffy]

Calibose, I use this mold from Lee, it's a 120 TC, mines a 6 cav. Ratz! I remembered wrong! Mines a 125 TL boolit!
[COLOR="Red"][COLOR="Blue"] not this one,
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=294531
This one!
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=340779

I don't have a 9 mil, but I do have a KKM 357 sig BBL. for my M-22 glock. This boolit works just fine for the sig, the front driving band can have the case mouth taper crimped into it.

I tumble lube it with LLA, I get no leading even at top velocity. If you drive it a bit slower, you'd be in tall cotton!:drinks:

If you'd like, I could send you 50 or so to try out. Lemme know!:-D

what got me confused is, I just got a 6 banger in 401 175 TC!

[EMC45]

The Lee 120TC is what my buddy uses for his Glock .357 Sig barrel.

[Horsemen]

I have a box of 357 sigs. There were given to me by a senile friend that thought they were 357 mags. If you want them i will give them to you for shiping. PM me if interested

[beagle]

I sure cast a lot of Lyman 358480s for a friend before he got his mould so that must work pretty well./beagle

[exile]

I have a Glock 32 (medium frame .357 Sig) and have considered buying a Storm Lake barrel for it and shooting cast boolits out of it. However, I seated a cast 124 grain round nose (Saeco I think) in a case and it was much too long to chamber. I would maybe buy either the Lee 356-120-TC mold (120 grain) or the Lee TL356-124-TC mold (124 grain) mold for this pistol but would like to see pictures of both bullets seated in a case first if anyone has pictures of that. I would rather buy the tumble lube mold but am afraid it might be too long. Thanks.

exile

[softpoint]

Just this past week I fitted and chambered a .357 sig barrel to my Kimber 1911 in 10mm. Used kimber .40 S&W magazines. I have only shot factory ammo in this pistol so far. I'm wondering about casting for it . Even though the cartridge is bottleneck, it headspaces on the casemouth and not on the shoulder, so I am wondering about bullet setback with cast bullet reloads with it's short neck.
:-D

[snuffy]

Just this past week I fitted and chambered a .357 sig barrel to my Kimber 1911 in 10mm. Used kimber .40 S&W magazines. I have only shot factory ammo in this pistol so far. I'm wondering about casting for it . Even though the cartridge is bottleneck, it headspaces on the casemouth and not on the shoulder, so I am wondering about bullet setback with cast bullet reloads with it's short neck.

Actually it headspaces on the shoulder, just like any other bottle neck cartridge. That argument has been going on since the cartridge came out.

Case neck tension is EXTREMELY critical on the round. One guy even goes so far as to NOT expand the mouth for jacketed bullets, just a heavy chamfer, then go with the as-sized neck. You couldn't get away with that with cast though, as you know.

Another thing is the use of the lee final crimp die. In the 357 sig, it's a collet crimper, just like for bottle necked rifle cases. That allows you to do a heavy crimp on bullets/boolits with no crimp cannelure.

Oh, and don't think you can form 40 S&W cases into 357 sig. The resulting neck is too short for enough neck tension, and the lee FCD won't work either. Some say the sig case is built thicker because of higher pressures.

Now I gotta go load a few lead boolits in a 357 sig, take some pics and put them up on this thread. Later alligator!

[snuffy]

Some day I'll get a better camera. This is as close as I can get, still be in focus.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P3280147.JPG

I'm crimped right in the middle of the front driving band. Those are new PMC primed cases I got from Midway last year. They're loaded with 9.0 gr. of blu dot.

That's the lee 124 TC-TL boolit. I have it in a 6 banger. Makes a bunch in short order. I cleaned the noses with mineral spirits, I need to increase the bell a bit, it was shearing a ring of lube off the boolits.

[exile]

What a great picture. Thanks so much. I have been thinking about selling my Glock because of the cost of jacketed bullets, but I think I will keep it now. I am no expert, but I think there is more baloney written about the .357 Sig than any other cartridge. In my opinion, it headspaces on the shoulder. How could it not? I have read alot about this on the internet and that is the conclusion they came to as well.

The only decent reloading article I have ever read about the .357 Sig is in the November 1995 issue of Handguns magazine, written by Ray Tolley (pge. 90). No cast bullet information there, but a good article nonetheless. The article in last months Handloader magazine by Charles Petty reminded me why I let my subscription to Handloader lapse last time. In the first place there is NO reloading data in the article. In the second place, I disagreed with much of what he said. I guess I should not be arguing with a man of his experience, I was more angry at Handloader than him.

I think I already said it, but I have had no luck with the Lee Factory crimp die. I had some rounds which would not chamber, and after being run through the die they still would not chamber. They were not that far off to begin with, so what is the deal?

Anyway, great pictures. Thanks. I think my birthday present to myself might be a Storm Lake barrel and the Lee tumble lube bullet mold.

exile

[Caliboose]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=2046262259

or have a mold with a crimp groove like that - intended for the 357 Sig?

Also has anyone used these?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=1601122217

It is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like it has a crimp band?

Caliboose

[softpoint]

Yes, I knew about the .40 cases being too short when necked down, And I'll buy that the Sig headspaces off the shoulder, I was misinformed. I played around with another bottleneck round a few years ago that was also known to give bullet setback in 1911 platforms. The .400 corbon. It had a cannelured bullet as factory loaded, and was crimped in said cannelure. Thus easy to see it headspaced on shoulder. Problem was no one sold jacketed bullets in .40 to reloaders at the time with a cannelure. And I just couldn't get those slick sided bullets to stay put in that round. Of course I could have gotten a cannelure tool, I didn't want to roll cannelures on the amount of handgun ammo I burn. I don't know if anyone sells a cannelured bullet in that caliber now or not. I am just starting to play with this Sig project, I'm thinking since the bullets are lighter, the round is factory loaded with slick bullets, it might be easier to work with. I can see where a cast bullet with a groove to crimp into would be a big advantage.
Some folks have told me that the .400 Cor Bon and the .357 Sig work better in other platforms than the 1911, because of feed angles.
We will see,It's fun playing with !!:bigsmyl2:

[whopist]

I used the Lee Bullet Mold #356-120-TC for a number of years. It did great in 380APC, 9mmLuger, 9mmLargo, 38Super, 9X23mmWinchester, 38Special, 357Maginum, and 357Sig.
However, I changed to the SAECO #377, 122G Truncated Cone because it has a shorter nose that the 357Sig and 380APC really needed
Here is why:
The Sig’s maximum length is 1.14” and the front driving band for the Lee 120g LTC is just hidden under the brass when assembled to that length. I actually fudged and loaded to 1.15”.
The SAECO 122g LTC has a shorter nose and can be assembled to 1.14” and still have some of the front driving band exposed.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/357Sigmag.jpg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/120TCbullets.jpg

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii165/whopist/120-122gLTCbullets.jpg



Hope this helps!
Whopist

[Caliboose]

Whopist:

As a result of your excellent photos and clear explanation, I will be getting the Saeco 377 mold for my 357 Sig casting.

I may also try the Lee TL 356-124-TC and crimp in the top groove.

I very much appreciate everyone's response!

[fredj338]

Whopist:

As a result of your excellent photos and clear explanation, I will be getting the Saeco 377 mold for my 357 Sig casting.

I may also try the Lee TL 356-124-TC and crimp in the top groove.

I very much appreciate everyone's response!
I also load 124grLTC in my P239. I use the Magma mold, taper crimp just below the shoulder of the bullet. I run them @ 1200fps w/ 7gr of Unique w/ good acccuracy.

[Caliboose]

Whopist: I found a Saeco 377 that the owner insists is a 10 mm mold. Are there any numbers on your mold besides 377?

Thanks,

Caliboose

[shotman]

One bullet that will NOT work in the 357sig is the Rem gold saber. I use the Lee 124 tl and it works fine

[fredj338]

One bullet that will NOT work in the 357sig is the Rem gold saber. I use the Lee 124 tl and it works fine
The 102gr 380 will work very well. It's a screamer @ 1500fps+.

[zxcvbob]

I used the Lee Bullet Mold #356-120-TC for a number of years. It did great in 380APC, 9mmLuger, 9mmLargo, 38Super, 9X23mmWinchester, 38Special, 357Maginum, and 357Sig.
However, I changed to the SAECO #377, 122G Truncated Cone because it has a shorter nose that the 357Sig and 380APC really neededI have that mold; bought it for using in 9mm, but I've been using them all up loading .38 Specials. It works in .380? [smilie=w: I thought it would be too long/heavy. Now if I could just find some .380 brass...