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Hey guys. My Uberti has just arrived at the gun shop so I'm now thinking about casting boolits for it. I don't have a mould yet.
I'd pretty much settled on the Lee .358 158 six cavity mould, and the shop has one in stock. Would that be a good choice? I'll be shooting gongs out to 100 yards. No formal targets and no hunting. I'll be using soft lead if I can get away with it, maybe with a bit of type or pewter mixed in if required. I've got plenty of both.
The bullet weight will depend on the calibre, which you haven't stated, it could be assumed to be 38/357 from your bullet selection. Still it is always better not assume.
I have a Cimarron/Uberti 1873 20"barrel Short Rifle. The rifling twist is very fast (18-3/4") so it should stabilize even the heaviest bullets. I am currently using Lyman 358156 GC 163gr SWC in Starline .357 brass. Uberti uses a groove diameter of .355" but evidently the chamber throat is at least .358" because boolits sized .357" won't group. .358" seems to work well, and I plan to try some sized .359". I'm using 8.0 grains HS-6 in .38 +P Starline cases and 17.5 grains of Lil'Gun in .357 Starline brass. The HS-6 load exceeds SAAMI .38 +P pressure but is well below .357 mag pressures. The Lil'Gun load is only .5 grain below what Hodgdon calls max. I consider it max for a '73 and suggest approaching carefully from well below that charge.
125gr Truncated cone