What do you think of this mold start on?

[dunkel]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=164178

Pretty basic, it looks like. Hard to screw it up. A nice "toe in the water" price.

Only thing that might concern me, and I may be getting ahead of myself, is the lack of gas check option on this particular mold.

I'll be shooting whatever I make out of a 6.5" Blackhawk and 16" Rossi 92...really hoping to be able to shoot the same load out of both.

FWIW, I did do quite a bit of searching on the forums here, but there is way more information available than my n00b brain can really take in all at once.

Thanks.

[jmsj]

dunkel,
I started with that same bullet but I have the 6 cavity, I believe a 2 cavity would be easier to start with. I would reccomend that to clean the mold out that you boil it in water with dawn dish soap for 10 min. If the bullets don't drop easy, read the sticky on "Leementing".
I've only used this bullet in 38 special pistol loads not rifles. But I can say that in 38 special and using Recluse's 45/45/10 (look in the bullet lube "stickies" for his post "Tumble lubing made easy and mess free"), it has been a great performer for me.
Good luck, jmsj

[Bret4207]

Run it low and slow and if it fits the guns it will shoot within reason. Be advised many members here report issues with the TL designs and Mule Snot (Lee Liquid Alox) at higher pressures and speeds. For a starter mould it should do fine. Concentrate not on quantity but on quality. Complete fill out of all those bands is vital. Also be advised many of my Lees have needed a casting session or 3 to start acting right. I think the heating/cooling cycle "seasons" the mould or something. And they like to run hot- not pot temp, MOULD TEMP. Cast fast and get the mould hot, light frosting is okay as long as the bands fill out.

[mroliver77]

Personally I would go with the conventional lube groove version of this boolit. I would worry about not having enough lube for the rifle with the TL design.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=188719
I would think this bullet might feed better in your lever gun. Nevertheless it is a solid design.
J

[RayinNH]

dunkel, that boolit has been a good one for me in the .38 Special. I've never tried it in the .357 Mag.

Another good one to consider which works well in both cartridges is the Lee 358-158-RF,http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=188719

[dunkel]

That one got some good reviews, also, including a couple of guys saying it worked in their 1894s, so that's encouraging.

Would the RF boolit be versatile enough for small/medium game or self defense? Or is this a plinking round only? If not, it's not a deal breaker...I'm still getting into this, so I'm sure I'll eventually get around to more advanced designs.

Good tips on "seasoning" the mold, thanks. And I have looked at the Lee Alox and have found quite a bit of information on the boards here about mixing with paint thinner, etc, to make it perform a little better. I'll be studying hard in the next week or two as I get all my equipment and lead together, so any tips like that are greatly appreciated.

[fryboy]

ummm they actually have the same type bullet in swc vs. the RF , i have the mold in the original post and the RN , i have to agree that i'd pick the RF especially if i was going to run it thru a rifle ( feeding is part of it's design IMHO ) i actually like both molds even tho the tumble grooves about do my eyes in when i sort them ( i roll them ) the RF actually has a wee flatter metplat - that helps with hits on game , the other was more for clean holes in targets but would work for game as well , what i dislike about the RF is the slight bevel on the bottom , of course if i used a star sizer that would be less of a problem lolz either one i can tumble tube but i can only lube the RF in my sizer ( well worth a hoot anyways )

[Wayne Smith]

Actually your choice of a first boolit mostly depends on if your initial purchase includes a lube sizer. Or how comfortable you are with pan lubing - it can be easy or a major mess. If you are not planning on a lube sizer I would go with the TL boolit - with a 16" barrel you may not run out of lube, but get ready to scrub some lead anyway.

Eventually you are likely to get a lube sizer and several lube groove molds - look to your budget to see what you can do initially. Also look to e-bay and the selling area here for used equipment - while they can be broken it's not easy. Buying used is a good idea.

[imashooter2]

I have never gotten the results with a microband design that I have with conventional lube groove designs.

I'll also note that film lubes like LLA or Rooster Jacket work just as well with conventional designs as they do on the microband boolits.

[dunkel]

Just looked at lube sizer prices...think I'm going to hold off on that for a while. My reloading setup right now consists of a Lee Loader, so I'm kinda doing this on the cheap for now.

It sounds like I could get started by going with Lee 358-158-RF and some LLA or other lube and just tumble lube them. Or did I completely misunderstand what I've read here?

[timkelley]

It sounds like I could get started by going with Lee 358-158-RF and some LLA or other lube and just tumble lube them. Or did I completely misunderstand what I've read here?

I think you have it just right. Just take your sweet time and have a good time.

[RayinNH]

dunkel, the RF has a larger meplat, approx. .275 vs .230 ish for the SWC ( it's a rainy dark day here so the measurements could be a few thousanths off, but close).

As far as target shooting goes they both cut a paper punch like hole in targets.

Tumble lubing should work perfectly for your needs with the Lee Loader. It will be easy to clean the lube accumulation of off the seating punch...Ray

[telebasher]

My favorite 38 mould out of the five 38/357 I own. I use ACWW only and IIRC have shot up over 1500 pounds of WW out of my six inch Blackhawk, model 15 S&W, H&R Handi-Rifle. My favorite loads are 9 gr. 2400 ina 38 case and 3.5 gr. BE. I have shot 13 gr. 2400 in a mag case, no leading plenty accurate . If I could only have one mould for 38/357 it would be a six cavity Lee 358 TL. For 90% of my pistol shooting and the Handi it works very well indeed!

[imashooter2]

Just looked at lube sizer prices...think I'm going to hold off on that for a while. My reloading setup right now consists of a Lee Loader, so I'm kinda doing this on the cheap for now.

It sounds like I could get started by going with Lee 358-158-RF and some LLA or other lube and just tumble lube them. Or did I completely misunderstand what I've read here?

Now that's a solid plan. LLA works pretty good by itself, but check out some of the LLA plus JPW threads. You don't have to do the premix. You can just drop a teaspoon of JPW and a squirt of LLA into a tub and swirl.

[Centaur 1]

I have this mold and I like it. It's easy to use and works great in my revolvers. Since you're going to use it in a rifle too, you might want to consider a boolit with regular lube grooves and pan lubing them.

[dunkel]

I have this mold and I like it. It's easy to use and works great in my revolvers. Since you're going to use it in a rifle too, you might want to consider a boolit with regular lube grooves and pan lubing them.

Argh...just when I think I have it all figured out...


Are the grooves on this mold not "regular"? They don't look "micro" to me.

[imashooter2]

Argh...just when I think I have it all figured out...


Are the grooves on this mold not "regular"? They don't look "micro" to me.

The boolit in your first post is micro. The 158 grain RF is regular or conventional.

Micro:

http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/l358158s.gif http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/l3581582.gif

Regular or conventional:

http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/3581501r.gif http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/358158rf.gif

[dunkel]

Oh yeah, that makes sense.

It's the RF that I'm going to get.

[imashooter2]

Pan lubing will work fine with the RF, but I would try film lubing with LLA/JPW first. It's way more convenient.

[JIMinPHX]

Either the RNFP or the one that you first posted should work well for most general purpose applications. I happen to like the RNFP better, but that's just me. I've found that the easiest molds to start with are the ones without too many sharp corners in the cavity design because it can be hard to get good fill out on sharp corners if everything isn't right, but that's not super critical to worry about. If you have a few extra rejects in the first batch, you can just throw them back into the pot.

If you get lucky, & your barrel slugs just under the raw size of the boolit, you can get away without sizing & just lube the raw boolits before loading them. If you need to size on the cheap, the Lee sizer is pretty cheap & fits in any single stage press. It's a minimal investment & it comes with a bottle of liquid boolit lube.

I wouldn't worry about gas checks until you start pushing your boolits at or near full magnum speeds. & even then, there are tricks like glue on gas checks or loading a conventional gas check backwards under a plain base boolit that you can try if you don't want to buy another mold.

What you need to start thinking about now is where to get some lead... You're going to need at least 10 pounds to start with, & more like 20-30 pounds would be better. It's nicest to have a combination of antimony rich "hard" lead & dead soft plumbers lead to mix & experiment with. Wheel weights are the generally preferred do-anything middle-of-the-road alloy that most people use. If those are not available, then a 10 pound ingot of dead soft lead from a plumbing supply house & a 25 pound bag of bird shot from the sporting goods store will get you going. It's a little expensive to buy your lead that way, but it will get you started. You can get a small roll of plain wire solder from any hardware store to use for adding tin.

[Echo]

Dunkel, check out eBay for used sizers. You can pick up a good Lyman /RCBS/LAM sizer for $70-80 delivered, about half the new price. They work just fine, and you will need one eventually.

[dunkel]

Something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Lyman-45-Bullet-Lube-Sizer-/200532534047?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb0aba31f

[dunkel]

Either the RNFP or the one that you first posted should work well for most general purpose applications. I happen to like the RNFP better, but that's just me. I've found that the easiest molds to start with are the ones without too many sharp corners in the cavity design because it can be hard to get good fill out on sharp corners if everything isn't right, but that's not super critical to worry about. If you have a few extra rejects in the first batch, you can just throw them back into the pot.

If you get lucky, & your barrel slugs just under the raw size of the boolit, you can get away without sizing & just lube the raw boolits before loading them. If you need to size on the cheap, the Lee sizer is pretty cheap & fits in any single stage press. It's a minimal investment & it comes with a bottle of liquid boolit lube.

I wouldn't worry about gas checks until you start pushing your boolits at or near full magnum speeds. & even then, there are tricks like glue on gas checks or loading a conventional gas check backwards under a plain base boolit that you can try if you don't want to buy another mold.

What you need to start thinking about now is where to get some lead... You're going to need at least 10 pounds to start with, & more like 20-30 pounds would be better. It's nicest to have a combination of antimony rich "hard" lead & dead soft plumbers lead to mix & experiment with. Wheel weights are the generally preferred do-anything middle-of-the-road alloy that most people use. If those are not available, then a 10 pound ingot of dead soft lead from a plumbing supply house & a 25 pound bag of bird shot from the sporting goods store will get you going. It's a little expensive to buy your lead that way, but it will get you started. You can get a small roll of plain wire solder from any hardware store to use for adding tin.

I've been asking around, calling on any of my buddies that I think might have a lead hook up. Got some leads, but nothing solid. Although one of my friends just got a job at a tire and battery place, so I'm hoping he can score.

If I can avoid the trouble of sizing in the beginning, I'll be happy. I'm not going to be doing mass quantities just yet...just tapping away with my Lee Loader for now. I do a little camping and hunting, so having a portable kit is a big plus. Adding all sorts of other equipment really starts to negate the advantages of the portable kit. But as I ease into reloading in general and am able to sneak stuff past the wife, I'll get a respectable setup.

I think I'm pretty well settled on the 358-158-RF. I'll be putting that order in on payday. Next is looking at powders...I've read good stuff about Lil' Gun and 2400 with the .357. I've also been researching and pricing primers, and looking at whether I'm going to need magnum primers (depends on the powder, from what I can tell).

Anyway, I'm wanting to learn as much as I can before dropping money on each component. Someone once said that the path to firearms knowledge is paved with wasted money, but I'd like to at least keep it to a minimum if possible, lol.

[imashooter2]

2400 is far more versatile than Lil' Gun. I use a lot of it under boolits. It won't get the absolute top velocities that Lil' Gun can achieve, but it can be loaded across a wide range of pressures. Depending on a lot of factors, you might have to back off of top loads to be successful in the Rossi. 2400 would let you do that.