It makes no sense for me to purchase a mold and a sizer for 38spl as I don't shoot enough 38spl to warrant the purchase. I own a ton of molds for fishing tackle and blackpowder arms and the pots/ladles/etc that go along with it, but I've done the math and it makes no sense fiscally to purchase a mold for my snubnose. I'm thinking maybe 800-1000 shots max over my lifetime. You can buy 500 sized/lubed cast bullets for roughly $35 + s/h. So that said, I'm looking at purchasing some 158gr lead bullets. I've reloaded jacketed bullets in rifles for years but I am just starting to reload for pistols and am new to using lead bullets in anything other than muzzleloaders. Sooooooooo..........
What BHN hardness or specific alloy should I be looking for if I'm going to load SWCs and wadcutters for 38spl using Unique or Bullseye at velocities in the 700 to 850 fps range? I'm thinking that Rimrocks 12 BHN sized/lubed 158gr SWCs or Speers (5 bhn I think) swaged and lubed 158gr SWCs and wadcutters would be fine at that pressure/velocity without excessive leading. That's what I'm trying to avoid, excessive leading.