One Sizer and Many .38 Special and .357 Magnums???

[evan price]

358 sizer, lean towards softer lead instead of hard. Don't size any 357/38 anything else than that.

[4rdwhln]

I Just wanted to chime in. I see most of the folks here size .38 and .357 at .358.. I have checked 4 different smith revolvers 2 each.38 and .357 and found the same thing they slugged at .356.. I have been shooting them for years sized at .357. Most favorite load in the model 686 is 358429 at .357 over 14.5gr 4227. I have never got a load at .358 to out shoot this load in this gun. I have used 2 alloys as well, old 1 was 90-10-2 coww-pb-sb. I have since cut it to 50-50-2 and am most happy, So It is possible to get great results at .357.

[wallenba]

Take a jacketed commercial bullet, measure the O.D. and see if it easily passes your guns cylinder throat. If a .358 can't pass, neither can a cast boolit without being swaged down (to .357?) Then a .358 or .357 sized boolit will end up the same in the barrel.

Best solution is to slug cylinder throats and barrel, then ream throats with a Manson or similar reamer. Five groove barrels like the Smith's offer a new problem, how to measure.

All that said, in my S&W 686+ I size my 38 wadcutters at .357. They are very accurate and I have less lead to clean out of my cylinder throats.

[mdi]

Well, in my opinion there is no downside to knowledge. In this case it is knowing more about your guns, the critical dimensions. Even if you never shot a cast bullet it's good to know what your gun is. Kinda like knowing what size the tires on my car are or the memory on my computer. I don't have to know these, but it sure makes me feel more comfortable knowing. But you can be like my wife when I asked her where the starter was in her car "Well, it's right in there under the key on the steering column, silly"...

[ipijohn]

I size all of the boolits for 38, 357 and 9mm to .358 with a Lee push through sizer. I load them up and shoot them in over 15 different guns. I have one CZ 9mm barrel that is a little tight so when I use that barrel for competition, I run the ammo for the event through a Lee FCD die which sizes the whole cartridge down .002.

[Juan Jose]

If your shootin' irons are accurate with factory ammo, .358 is what the factories use.

[Char-Gar]

I have been slugging bore and measuring cylinder throats for many years and have kept a data base of those measurments. I have scores of number on various 38/357 sixguns, most Smith and Wesson and Colt, but with one Ruger thrown in for good measure. There are always sixguns that are made screwy but in the main, 99% conform to the following.

Smith and Wesson will run .357 in the barrel groove (+- 002) and .358 (+- .003) in the cylinder throats. I have found one handgun (K-38) with a barrel groove of .356 and another (model 36) with the cylinder throats of .356.

Colts (old lockwork) will run .354 - .355 in the barrel groove and a pretty uniform .359 in the cylinder throats. I found a Colt New Frontier that ran .356 in the barrel groove.

I only have one Ruger, an OM Blackhawk and it runs .357 (groove) and .358 (throat). These are the specs of a new barrel and cylinder that Ruger installed in 1996. The pistol itself was may about 1970 IIRC.

.358 works fine for me in all of these sixguns, but in Colts and most Smiths a thousand larger or smaller won't have a serious negative effect. All in all the 38/357 is a pretty forgiving round when it comes to cast bullet sizing.

I do need to say, that I am not a handgun bench rest shooter nor seeking the ultimate accuracy that can be obtained. As long as the handgun and loads shoots better than I can I am happy. If I miss what I am shooting at, I want it to be my fault and not the gun or load.

[.429]

I have to use a .357 sizer in my gp100 for the .357's I load because the cyl is to tight for anything larger

[Char-Gar]

I have to use a .357 sizer in my gp100 for the .357's I load because the cyl is to tight for anything larger

Wanna bet! You can shoot cast bullet several thousands larger than cylinder throat with not ill effect, unless....

1. You are shooting rock hard bullets at red line pressure.
2. You are into handgun bench rest shooting and looking for bug hole groups. You will not notice any difference if you are shooting your sixgun hand held standing on your hind legs.

[dverna]

You can go nuts doing things "right". Do you really want (or need) a perfect bullet for every application? KISS

Like most here, I just use a .358 sizer and it works in every .38/.357 I have or had. If there is a 1/2 moa difference in accuracy I neither care nor am I now able to take advantage of such an improvement. It is not worth the hassle of changing dies in the sizer.

When I had no time to cast, I purchased .358 bullets from Mastercaster and they worked very well.

Somehow factory ammo works well in most guns and they do not offer custom sized bullets.

If you are not getting any leading, you are set. If you decide to bump a die to .3585 or .359, that is easy to do with a hand drill and emery cloth around a dowel. But I bet you will not need to do it.

Don Verna

[TCLouis]

I just went for 0.359" on the last of three 35 caliber sizer dies.

Covers all sins and may well be too big for some of the things I shoot (38 SPL - 357 Herrett).

[DeadWoodDan]

I have to agree with Don ( and others) KISS in reference to the .38/.357. I had to be reminded of this recently by another member. My life style does not allow me to concentrate on things for long. I tend to have to come back and relearn at times because I've been away to long or have forgotten the correct method. 15+ guns....pick the top two you are going to shoot the most and do your homework and know your weapon, then there will not be a doubt in your mind or method.
DWD

[Petrol & Powder]

.358 is the most generic for a cast boolit, but having a .309 as well is never a bad idea.

I'll correct your typo = .359

[jmort]

Thanks, I'll do the same.

[.429]

Wanna bet! You can shoot cast bullet several thousands larger than cylinder throat with not ill effect, unless....

1. You are shooting rock hard bullets at red line pressure.
2. You are into handgun bench rest shooting and looking for bug hole groups. You will not notice any difference if you are shooting your sixgun hand held standing on your hind legs.

My cartridges will not seat into my cylinder if I have .358s in the .357 brass. .358s will work in .38 brass just fine. And yes, I would bet on it

[rexherring]

.358 seems to work well in every one I cast for from .380-.357 in about 6 different guns. Good starting point for most of them.

['74 sharps]

Shoot as cast and save a step.