I have an 8 cavity H&G #319 that casts a 200 gr swc. I don't even remember when or why I bought this mould - it must have been cheap cause I certainly didn't need or or even own a 357 maximum!
It casts wonderfully and the bullets fall out with a just a minor tap of the hinge. The bullet is supposedly for the 357 maximum, but I want to experiment with it in 357 magnum.
The bullet, when seated and crimped to the crimp groove is too long to fit the 357 revolvers. Something like 1.69" as I recall.
My guess is that they will work just fine crimped in the crimp groove in the Rossi 92. We will see.
However, if I seat them deeper (like crimp to the middle of the front driving band) it fits the Model 28 cylinder just fine.
I could even seat them a bit deeper and crimp over the very front of the driving band.
Questions:
1) Does seating and crimping ON the front driving band damage it and cause any leading issues because it may be damaged?
2) Does crimping OVER the front of the driving band (just enough to grip the bullet) affect anything?
Other issues I see are the reduced case capacity (it is a VERY long bullet).
I am going to start with WW231 and see how that works, find a good load for 231, then switch to ww296 for the max loads to work up.
Yes, I will start low and work up in 2gr increments until I see some signs of pressure (flattened primers) or other signs of distress (difficult extraction) then back off to a safe a reliable shooter load choice.
Your thoughts?