Best 357 mold?

[adagna]

I am wanting to get into casting, but wanted to get some input from everyone thats been doing it so long on what mold would be best for what I want to do.

Mainly I will be using these boolits to shoot paper at the range but will likely be doing some light hunting as well (javelina, and possibly white tail) so I am thinking something in the 140-158 range is probably the best. But in terms of the profile, not sure if semi wad cutter, round nose, or flat point would be better. I am also going to run these through both a revolver and carbine, so I am thinking gas check might be a good option.

What would the perfect mold be in your opinion?

[462]

Welcome adagna

While it may not be perfect -- dozens of variables, as you well know -- research the Lyman 358156.

It's possible to run 158-grain boolits up to 1400+ fps without a gas check. Going with a non-checked design will offer you more variety of moulds from which to choose, as well as reduce your per boolit cost.

[Heavy lead]

The .357 IMO is the toughest to pick a boolit for, I've had a custom mould cut as nothing I could buy would work as it should in one particuliar .357 I have, also cylinder lengths very a lot, and throw a lever gun in there and you have an almost impossible task.
With that said, if I were looking for one do all boolit for what you are saying you want, I would start with a Lee .358 Round Flat point, this is at 158 grains and a plain base, second would be a NOE360180WFN, this is a group buy boolit, you should be able to find one, I had one in a gas check and sold it, looking for a plain base, as everything I have shoots the plain base ok. Both should fit and feed in everthing. SWC's are tough to feed in a .357 lever gun IME. They are both good boolits, for hunting I'd lean toward the NOE, especially in a smaller caliber, the heavier weight and larger meplat will be a better killer.

[Texasflyboy]

-- research the Lyman 358156.

Second that. Hard to find a better all around design for .38 Special/.357 Mag than the Thompson designed 358156.

The 358156 has been my go to bullet for paper and hunting for 15 years.

[EDK]

Heavy Lead pretty much said what I would have.

I liked the LYMAN 358665...very similar to the LEE 358 158 RF..for general purpose loads in my VAQUEROS AND 357 MARLIN Cowboy rifles. Then I got the NOE 360 180 WFN with 4 plain base and 1 gas check cavity...did the same thing with the 200 grain semi wadcutter. The 180 is super...especially the gas checked version loaded rifle specific (HOT!) and I'm just starting with the 200s, but weather is limiting me. I shoot for fun....20 degrees ain't...and my targets show it. For loads for revolver and carbine, look at what they used in the 1873 Winchester and Colt SAA...44/40, 38/40 or 32/20. Round nose/flat point.

RANCH DOG is doing his preliminary work on a 175 grain design for 357 MARLINS. It should be excellent in handguns also....I really like his TLC 432 265 for my 44s; got the NOE plain base modified version also. Michael is THE MAN designing boolits for the various caliber MARLIN lever guns.

You might want to go to marlinowners.com and read the forums on 1894s and Cowboy rifles...they LOVE the 357 lever gun over there and have some interesting stories and data. lasc.us has Glenn Fryxell's excellent article on 1894s also.

[imashooter2]

The 180 grain RNFP in any of the group buy configurations is a pretty hard boolit to beat from a carbine, but they have never been the best shooters in my revolvers. I'm not much for expensive gas checks on pistol bullets anyway...

[adagna]

Thanks for all the quick and detailed responses so far.

From the research I have done so far gas checks should be a relatively inexpensive prospect after the initial investment of the gas check tools I have seen on youtube and ebay ($50 for an arbor press, and $75ish for the GC tool) that make GC out of aluminum flashing.

What are the costs involved with having a custom mold produced? I hadn't even considered that.

[lylejb]

......having a custom mold produced? I hadn't even considered that

I would suggest that you DON'T consider that just yet.

There's a learning curve to boolit casting. Get your feet wet with an inexpensive mould, gain some experience first.

+1 on the Lee 358-158-RF . It's a flat point, but round enough it should feed in a levergun. It's an OK pistol boolit, that I use and like in my revolver. It's a relativly easy design to cast.

It's probably not " the best" boolit. IMO, there's no one design that's best for everything. Each gun is an individual. What's "best" for your pistol may not be "the best" in mine, and vise versa.

Same with your rifle. It's going to require some exparamentation on your part to determine what's the best for you.

Lee's 2 cavity version is $20

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=188719

The 6 cavity version is $40

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=172810

[PacMan]

If i was going to do it again i would do what i did the 2nd time.
LBT 180gr FNGC set up for a marlin 1894. Feeds perfect and very good accuracy out of my 1894 and Ruger BH.
Also have the same mold in a 160gr. Shoots as good as the 180gr.
Dwight

[excess650]

The Saeco #354 (GC) is probably about as good as it gets for a Marlin 1894c. They weigh 180-185gr w/GC. There is the plainbase version as well #353(?).

NOE's 360-180FN has a wider meplat,and weighs in at 173gr w/GC in HP form. The HP might be better from a revolver due to the lighter weight.

A friend has the 1894CP(ported) and shoots nothing but the 358429 over 2400. Accuracy is excellent according to him, and he has taken (4) whitetails with (4) shots.

The Marlin 357s seem to prefer heavy bullets.

[imashooter2]

I shoot a lot of the SAECO #353 in my 1894C and had to do the carrier mod in order to get it to feed reliably. Individual rifles may feed the 1.610 OAL, but it isn't the way to bet...

[adrians]

i use the 358156 for my wifes 38+p ruger lcr,it goes bang good
adrians.

[357shooter]

The best mould in a revolver (sorry, I don't shoot rifles, but it may translate) is the 358-429. Mine is from NOE group buy. The load details of what worked are at http://357shooter.blogspot.com/

Best in my world means accurate and tight groups at the range, 25 yards, and off a rest. However, revolvers do vary a bit.

Scroll down and look at the Most Accurate post and it's all right there.

I've had the best results with a SWC design, but don't know if they function well in a carbine.

[Heavy lead]

The best mould in a revolver (sorry, I don't shoot rifles, but it may translate) is the 358-429. Mine is from NOE group buy. The load details of what worked are at http://357shooter.blogspot.com/

Scroll down and look at the Most Accurate post and it's all right there.

I've had the best results with a SWC design, but don't know if they function well in a carbine.

I agree that this is a very accurate boolit, however it won't begin to feed in my Marlin 1894, even in .38's, it is single loaded very accuracte and proves I don't need the gas check in the carbine, just won't feed.
Also it is too long in some revolvers with full length .357's, not all but some, such as the New Vaquero, the New Flatop Ruger and 627's for instance.

[357shooter]

Yep, forgot to mention it's just to long for some 357's. Using 38 brass doesn't work quite so well as it loses some accuracy.

Sounds like it doesn't do well in a carbine either.

[HeavyMetal]

I like the 358429 and have an HP version of that in my mold collection.

The problem with the design is it's very gun finicky, some it fits and some it don't.

Each gun can have a particular prefference depending, of course, on the owners deffination of accuracy.

I found out a long time ago that RCBS's 38-150 SWC worked above average in every 38/357 I ever put it in. Easy to cast with, single lube groove, flat base no GC.

Can't beat that for simple. Lyman's 358477 is a very close to this design and I have a 4 cav version of that for just that reason.

Now I have seen the Lee RF 158 but never shot it. If I was just starting out a 2 cav version of this mold would be on my short list along with the 125 grain version.

Because the Lee 2 bangers are inexpensive one can gain a lot of experience for minimal cash outlay.. a huge deciding factor.

As far as a GC mold is concerned? I have always believed that with the correct lube, alloy and fit a GC is not needed in most case's.

What I will advise: buy the Lee 2 cav in the 158 RF. Avoid Lee's Liquid Alox like the plague, pan lube instead using some Carnuba Red and feed that 357 with WW296.

This will be the low buck high tech way to get into casting and will provide you with a good usable load for both rifle and pistol to start out with.

[MtGun44]

GCs are an unnecessary cost and complication in handguns. Lyman 358477 150 gr or the very
similar RCBS 38 150 SWC (used to be 38 150 KT) are extremely accurate in all guns that I have
tried them in. The Lee 358 158 RF is also very good but the BB makes a bit of extra work when
not run thru the Star. The heavier Lyman 358429 orignal Keith 173 gr design be a top perfomer, too.
Bill

[midnight]

My vote is for the Lyman 358156. I's never failed me

Bob

[fecmech]

If you don't mind GC's the 358156 is a good choice. They Lyman 358429 is an excellent plain base bullet in both pistol and carbine and the length is not a big deal. I have been shooting it for over 30 years lightly taper crimped on the front drive band. It does not pull under recoil in a revolver (I run 1200-1300 fps) and does not get pushed back in a lever mag tube. I have chrono'd max loads of 2400 both taper crimped and heavy roll crimped, velocity,ES, and SD are the same. It has always been a very accurate bullet for me. I load to an oal of 1.638 which works in 2 Rossi 92's, a Ruger GP 100 and a Winchester 94AE.

[Char-Gar]

When Ray Thompson designed 358156 the .357 Magnum shooters of the world breathed a collect sigh of relief. It in either solid or HP version, it has been doing what a .357 Magnum is supposed to do for well over 1/2 century. I have killed many Javalina with it. I have never shot a deer with the round/bullet but many have. Every deer I have killed with a handgun have fallen to either a 44 or 45.

For the 38 Special, and small game, any good SWC will do just fine. I use the old SAECO/Cramer #12. Full WCs also work well for game no larger than bunnies. The RN is not a good game bullet, unless it it frogs or the like.

If you want to buy just one mold, make it a 358156. Use it with gas checks in the .357 Mag. and skip the checks in the 38 Special. It will do it all.