What Mold for .38/.357

First the Criteria, Prefer a 2 cavity.
Revolvers: 4-5/8" OM Flat Top Blackhawk .357 and 4" SW Mod. 15 38sp.
Use: Mostly silhouette 50 - 100yds., Maybe a Coyote to 75yds.
What would be the best design and who to order from ?
Maybe a 158 Keith ?

Looks like a good Boolit, how does it shoot ?
Will the PB hold up to say 1150 FPS
Also can that had with a HP option ?

Looks like a good Boolit, how does it shoot ?
Will the PB hold up to say 1150 FPS
Also can that had with a HP option ?
You are kidding! Right?

That bullet will handle 1800 fps easily.

I load a half dozen plain base .357 bullets to that velocity in my rifles regularly.

.

First reload: .22 Hornet. 1956.

Where is John Galt?

(If you don't know, you owe it to yourself to find out. )
.

You are kidding! Right?
That bullet will handle 1800 fps easily.
I load a half dozen plain base .357 bullets to that velocity in my rifles regularly.
.Good to know

Boolit Master Join DateJan 2011LocationTexas Hill CountryPosts970

I LOVE this boolit from Miha. Double crimp groove for the short cylinders to boot. It's currently available from his web site:
http://www.mp-molds.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=29&=SID

I am kinda partial to the 358477 -- or more precisely, NOE's 360477 clone of it. 150gr is a perfect weight for 38/357. Best shooting bullet I have found for this caliber.

I don't know if NOE has any in stock or not. I am pretty sure Accurate has a close clone of this as well. If not, Tom could probably whip up a pretty close approximation.

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What alloy for 38/357 hollow base wadcutters at target velocities?

I recently bought a Mihec 4 cavity mould for 38/357 hollow base wadcutters and was wondering which alloy to use for casting hollow base boolits? I normally use Lyman #2 alloy (90% lead/5%tin/5% antimony) for everything, but I thought that a softer alloy might be better to allow the hollow base to expand. 1:20 tin/lead? I would appreciate any suggestions. I'm not a serious target shooter, I just want to keep my S&W M66 fed..it liked the Hornady swaged HBWC, but I got tired looking for these projectiles since they were always "out of stock". Buying a Mihec mould to cast these boolits was a great decision..thanks

I use just about any old alloy for wad cutters, but at normal terget velocities, I think I'd just use range lead with a bit o' tin and call it good. It fill out well and stll be soft enough to shoot well.

_________________________________________________It's not that I can't spell: it is that I can't type.

Can't tell you about hollow-base .38's, but the 9.75 BHN mix of range scrap & COWW from my first smelt is working GREAT in a hollow-base .455 Webley. Thus far, it seems to be my least lead-prone handgun - whether that's just the low velocity, the hollow base sealing better, or both, it gets the job done. Will probably be casting 9-9.5 BHN straight range scrap for it in the future - simply because any future wheel-weighty alloys in the 12+ BHN range will get shifted to the .357/.44 end of the pile. Unless you're doing serious match work, I don't see much point to breaking out the sexy alloys on pokey rounds like this.

While I personally wouldn't be pouring out rifle-worthy 15BHN Lyman #2 for plinking-grade 700fps WC's, I also would try not to overthink the base-obturation issue. I tend to think that if you have pressure to smash a boolit down enough to engrave the rifling and travel the bore, you've got enough pressure to blow a hollow-base into the rifling as well.

WWJMBD?

I like my science WEIRD.

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What is the best all around .38/.357 mold diameter?

I know in an ideal world you should get a mold that matches the slugging results from any particular firearm and there would be some overlap between guns. Never going to have a micro groove marlin so my question, is "What is the best all around .38/.357 mold diameter?" I realize that my single action revolver may not match my J Frame or Ruger LCR or the soon to add 1873 lever action or Blackhawk, or GP100 or whatever. Have two .357s now and I know the inventory will grow. Would like to keep the mold count down if possible and would probably get rid of a gun that fell outside the parameters of the molds I get, rather than the other way around and add another mold. Want to stick with .357 for all my guns and keep it simple. Thanks for your input.

"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

Boolit Mold Join DateJan 2013LocationMilan, MIPosts16

Not sure why you wouldn't want to increase your mold count............. but if it were me, I would keep molds that cast large and get a few Lee push through bullet sizing dies in .357, .358, .359,.........got it covered.

The determing factor for me is cylinder chamber not bore...my 357's won't chamber a loaded round with a .360 sized bullet unless it's been run through a LFCD. If I use the seater die to seat and crimp, no joy...so .358 is what I size to. The cylinder chambers on my guns measure .380...(throats are .358 bore is .357)

JM - If I had my choice in your situation, I would get a mold that dropped boolits at .359 anyway. That way, you can size down some, or not. Good advice regarding the cylinder throats. Small throats will wreck the whole program. Don't be afraid to accumulate a few molds. After all,
the 2 cav Lees are available for 20 some bucks. How bad is that ?? Good luck. Mike

I saw Elvis at 1000 feet. John Force

"Not sure why you wouldn't want to increase your mold count."

Money and simplicity.

"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

a good rnfp mold sized to 358 is what you'll want.
for all my revolver cartridges I have two molds, a rnfp and a swc of some sort.
I generally have one-two revolvers in that cartridge and a levergun or three.
358 for the 35's, 430 for the 44's, and 452 for the 45's.
I occasionally do something different for a special gun.
and if pressed to one mold only it would be a rnfp style with a fairly short nose.

it's all an educated guess,,,, till the trigger is pulled.

the more i find out about shootin boolits, the more it contradicts everything i ever learned about shooting jaxketed.

Too many to pick from. I have LEE and Lyman molds. LEE 140 gr WC is sperb so is the Lyman 148 gr WC boolit.
I have others that shoot well also. Mine drop at .358+. The largest is .3604. Tweaking the alloy would change that. I use .358 in the nines as well. How big are your cylinders miking at??

Shiloh

Last edited by Shiloh; Yesterday at 07:03 PM.

"A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves."
Bertrand de Jouvenel

?Any government that does not trust its citizens with firearms is either a tyranny, or planning to become one.? ? Joseph P. Martino

?If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there would be a shortage of sand.? ? Milton Friedman

I order molds, for 150 grains and up, that drop at .360, if possible, and size down to .359. My Marlin requires it and my 586 shoots that size just fine. I don't like having loads for only one firearm when I have multiples that take the same cartridge. I order .359 molds for lighter bullets so I can size them to work in 9mm as well.

I like the Lyman or RCBS 158 grain Cowboy moulds (these drop slightly larger). Bullets drop out around .361 from my RCBS cowboy version mould, and size easily to .358 using the RCBS Lube-a-matic. When using the Lee type sizer to size these .361 bullets down to .358 it will leave fins around base of bullet (not good).

If .361 is too large then I would get maybe the Lyman 358477. These should drop smaller and size easily using both types of sizers.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/mould-details.php?entryID=9

I would say a .358. That is what works most of the time and if you need one a little bit bigger, you can "beagle" the mold or change the alloy or temp to get a different diameter.
Also: what runfiverun said.

The RCBS 9MM bullet drops exactly .358" using 20/1 lead tin (i have this mould). Shoot as cast
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0004482077

I really appreciate all the replies. Every post was helpful in my quest to simplify my life and save some time and $$$. Thanks and God Bless

"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

Boolit Master Join DateAug 2009Posts693

I'd go .359" too and agree with runfiverun on getting a rnfp. It will work better in the leveraction and still do all you need in the revolvers.

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Lyman All American 38/357 dies

Boolit Mold Join DateJun 2011Posts11

Hi all,

I purchased a used but unused set of dies for 38/357. They are a still set of dies and appear to be in excellent condition. Well, I have maybe 6 pieces of 38 once-fired so I thought I would run them through the FL die - well lubed the cases and ran them. The primer popped and it resized them - unfortunately I think too much. The before size was right around .3845 the after was .3740. Is that the correct size, I thought .38 special was supposed to be .379.
Thanks.

Is the sizer carbide or steel. I stopped using carbide dies because they sized the cases to much. Cases sized in a good steel die have a slight taper, whereas carbide rings give a straight case. Herein in my problem with them.

late 60 vintage steel RCBS 357 Magnum dies size the cases .378 at the head and .373 at mid-case and .371 at the case mouth. Of course this case mouth spec is before they are expanded to receive the bullet.

My mid-60s steel RCBS dies in 38 Special give .3785, .376 and .370 at the same places. Again, before the cases are expanded for the bullet.

Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

Boolit Mold Join DateJun 2011Posts11

They are the all steel model. I am going to mess with it again tonight - but it seems like it is sizing them down too much - there is a noticeable bulge at the bottom of the case as well.

Look again and see if their is a carbide ring in the bottom of the die. Those cases sure sound like they been through a carbide die. The carbide ring is set up a hair from the bottom of the die to keep it from hitting the shell holder as carbide can be brittle it is so hard. This is what causes the bulge at the bottom of the case. At least the early Lyman were made this way.

Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

TEAM HOLLYWOOD

NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

The focus on the camera makes it difficult to tell, but I am going to call it carbide. I say so, because looking past the end of the die, the interior looks very rough with all sorts of tool marks. A steel die would be very smooth there.

Steel dies will be straight across the bottom, but the carbide insert is a ring in the die that is just a hair higher than the steel outer body.

Lyman All American dies were their high end dies. They came in a black box, with a blue fuzzy interior and a wrench. The later versions with carbide dies had a sticker that says "Carbide" on the end of the box. The sticker may have well come off. $13.50 would be about right for the mid to late 60's. Lyman was one of the first, if not the first to come out with carbide sizing dies at a reasonable price. The first carbide die I bought was a Lyman in about 1966. It produced cases just like you described.

Last edited by Char-Gar; Yesterday at 06:07 PM.

Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

Another dead give away ..... the Lyman Carbide sizing die will say Lyman TC 38/357 FL. Mine were called the Lyman Delux Die Set as oppesed to All American in 1968. Never noticed it before but just checked.... my newly sized 357 brass measures .371 at the mouth .373 at mid-case and .377 just above the rim. It can't hurt much because I'm still reloading brass bought in the 1970's.

My Lyman All American dies are steel Non Carbide. But they came in a different box than above. Mine are the old narrow box Red White and Blue.

TEAM HOLLYWOOD

NRA- LIFE TSRA-LIFE SASS-LIFE

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