Bullet Diamiter with 38 size Cast

[340six]

I know allready ya'll will say slug each barrel but I have no slugs and right now have no sorce for them:sad:
Looking at the Lyman Books{3} I have shows 9mm at what I do them at .356 and they shoot very accurate in both 9's I have. The S&W 5906 and Tokarev{sp?}
The 2 moulds I have are 358242RN and the 356402 TC
Same Bullets for 38/357 at .358 so will get another sizer for the 4500. S&W Model 19
Thing's that bother me:
1) There is no place on the 402 to crimp if used in a .38/.357 will it be soft enough to not deform the bullets when crimped?
2}The same round nose is listed for .380ACP book shows should be sized to .355
Will sizeing them with the .356 I allready have be ok? Is the 1000th of an inch to large be that bad?
FYI the 95 grain Rainer plated I have for the 2 380's I own are sized at just that .355
The 2 .380's are S&W made PPK and Colt Mustang.

[jdgabbard]

The 356242 will be ok in a 380.

However when using for 38spl, you'll WANT to slug the barrel first. Reason is, that the molds are .356 molds. They may drop bigger, but you'll probably want AT LEAST .358 sized boolits. Maybe larger! If you can measure your boolits to see what they drop at. If not at least .358 then just buy a 358242, it's the same as your mold, but is was designed to use with both 38s and 9s...

[mroliver77]

If you have any bullet/booits on hand you can see how they fit the cyl throats and then measure them. Mebbe an unsized will fit the 38 ok. Some guns will shoot boolits a thou under while others are a pain. Try what you have.
Jay

[blackthorn]

If you have a drill bit just marginally larger than your groove size (set on top of the muzzle there will be no gap showing) and a piece of half inch plywood along with some soft lead (stick-on WW, dental x-ray lead, old cable sheathing, etc.) you can make as many "slugs" as you want.

[fecmech]

The 356402 is a very accurate bullet in .38 spl but I would not size it to .356 and don't worry about a crimp groove. Size to .358 or shoot as cast with Lee mule snot and just seat the front of the driving band a hair below the end of the case and just get rid of the bell in the case mouth. Those bullets over 4-5 grs of Bullseye or Unique will do 1000 fps and drive tacks.

[Edubya]

How about casting some of your boolits with soft lead (nearly pure) and oil trhem up real good and shoving them through the barrel. That's called slugging the barrel.:)
EW

[340six]

The 356242 will be ok in a 380.

However when using for 38spl, you'll WANT to slug the barrel first. Reason is, that the molds are .356 molds. They may drop bigger, but you'll probably want AT LEAST .358 sized boolits. Maybe larger! If you can measure your boolits to see what they drop at. If not at least .358 then just buy a 358242, it's the same as your mold, but is was designed to use with both 38s and 9s...
Sorry typed this and went and cast some.
I was wrong it is a 358242 mould.
I cast some .361.5 - .362 measured 100 and that was the variance
They weighed in at 127.5-128.3 grains
Midway was out of the .358 sizers reason I was asking
I proberly cast 800-1000 with the single cavity mould and 8 pound dipper pot :holysheep
Not sure if i want to count them now :coffee:

[fecmech]

I proberly cast 800-1000 with the single cavity mould and 8 pound dipper pot :holysheep
Not sure if i want to count them now :coffee:

Don't count them, weigh them! Divide 128 into 7000 that will give you the number of bullets to the pound. If you have a decent scale you won't be off more that 10-20 bullets.

[340six]

I cast 821{counted} and scale said 820 by weight lol was not sure if the digital bath scale bought at walmart was that good.
821 keeprs from the single cavity mould in one sitting, not bad for a new guy huh?

[sniper7369]

That's quite a few boolits in one sitting with a single cavity and a dipper.