A new start!

[Yonk]

I have an 8x58R Danish Krag that I may try these bullets out in. I don't have any gas checks. I am going to get an old table outside to set the pot on.

[Huskerguy]

I will put in another recommendation for the RCBS 38-150KT. They only make them in 2 cavity but they are the most accurate bullet I have ever used in 38. I have the Arsenal clone in a 5 cavity and it shoots just as well. If I had to do it over again, I would likely go 4 cavity, just to have a little less pressure on hinges, pins, etc. I too shoot off a rest to verify accuracy and the RCBS is nearly impossible to beat for me.

Other molds I have are:
Lyman 357446 - good but not great accuracy when compared to the RCBS, very acceptable accuracy
SAECO 52 - wadcutter I am just now working up loads with for one of my Dans
Lee - TL358-158 TC - this is a pretty accurate mold as well. I only had a two cavity version but shot a lot of them and they are accurate
NOE - 360-158 - beautiful looking bullets fall out of this mold but I cannot get get good accuracy in my 38's, want to try them in 357

I also powder coat all of these and it works very well. I have used the 45/45/10 mix and it is fast and easy, just a bit too smoky for me and indoor range. I started PCing several years ago and it is so easy and clean. Never a leading problem.

[Wayne Smith]

Take the boolit, set the nose in the muzzle of the rifle. If it stops it is a good fit, if the nose doesn't fit it is too big, and if it drops through it is too small! A good, easy and quick way to see how the boolit fits without measuring.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

If you don't know what you want buy a cheap Lee 2 cav mould. If you love it, get the same one in a 6 cav. If you hate it you're only out $20.

You also might as well get used to powder coating. Once you find a good process that works there's no turning back.

[LenH]

Welcome back to the madness. When I joined this forum, I found out how much I didn't know about casting. It was just different things I had been taught by an old timer.
Good luck with your quest. The biggest thing I learned here is FIT IS KING - ALL ELSA IS SECONDARY!

[Lksdmachine]

I use to cast 9mm and 45acp in the early 90’s just for economic purposes. 10 cent a pound scrap yard lead, 10-11.00 per pound powders, .03 per case brass, and 12.00 per 1k primers……yeah, those days make me smile.
Within the last year I got back into it again. Dusted off my old Lee melter, my old 9mm and 45rn molds and restocked my stuff extensively at much higher prices. It’s a disease for sure. I now have a mold selection that includes calibers I don’t have a rifle to shoot! But “just in case” I get that rifle, I now have a mold ready to rock it. Lead for 1.00 per pound now is tearing my pocket off to get my money out fast enough now.

Then this all leads to presses and size/lubers. I’ve expanded that into an 8foot long bench now with all sorts of stuff bolted around the edges……sheeesh, what a disease it has become.

All great therapy and fun at the range experimenting with all the options now. This site is a gem to research all the knowledge here….print as much as you can and have it in paper form incase this site is shut down in the future. Hope not.

[alamogunr]

Yonk, the best place I have found to get pin gages is the Meyers Gage Co. Their website has the catalogue on it and they offer pin gages in individual pins or sets. For my 38/357 adventures I ordered .355-.356-.357-.358-.359 and .360. Those will pretty much cover 9mm through 38 S&W the latter being, usually .360. A lot of people say to push a sized boolit through the cylinders with a pencil and that might work but I have had success knowing exactly the dimensions of the cylinder throats. But I am a self confessed tool junkie. Welcome back.

This may be too late but I found a used set of Meyer gauges, less a few unneeded ones on Ebay. Look for a -(minus) set. As an alternative, you can buy individual gauges from Meyer.