Henry Rifle Forums

Hi all.

Finally I found a sweet cast bullet and load for my 357 Magnum Big Boy Steel. I have experimented with 5-6 cast bullet designs, and the most accurate is the RCBS 38-158-SWC (gas checked), tumble lubed with Lee Alox. Powder is 6.0 grains of Hodgdon Universal.

Left is the Lee TL358-158-SWC for comparison, right the RCBS bullet. Same load. Distance is 100 meters, 10 shot each, with scope from rest. Not bad accuracy for homecast unsorted bullets, in a pistol caliber, I would say.

not bad at all ... do you plan to continue refining your load ?

Looks good to me. I sure would load it again

JEBar wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:41 pm

not bad at all ... do you plan to continue refining your load ?

I love to experiment, so will continue searching for the perfect load, yes .

That is some mighty good shooting. And at 100 meters! You have a very good load there indeed.

Very nice grouping from 100 meters! Lock that load down!

Nice shooting for sure, looks like you have it figured out.

RP

Have you ever tried a heavier bullet?
Myself and a few of the guys here and had some good results with one if ya ever want to try.

RP

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 12:25 am

Have you ever tried a heavier bullet?
Myself and a few of the guys here and had some good results with one if ya ever want to try.

RP

I have tried the (jacketed) Hornady 180 XTP, which was very accurate, and the Lee C358-200-RF, which was not such a great success. Mainly because I had to load them one at a time due to their length.

I did not have good accuracy with the tumble lube design bullet.

From the holes punched in the paper, the Lee bullet makes holes duplicating a full wadcutter. Can you post a picture of the two bullets you used in the test?

Excellent 100 meter shooting with the RCBS bullet.

Steve51 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:48 am

From the holes punched in the paper, the Lee bullet makes holes duplicating a full wadcutter. Can you post a picture of the two bullets you used in the test?

Excellent 100 meter shooting with the RCBS bullet.

I also noticed that, but they are both SWCs. The RCBS bullets have a sharper step and should have cut the paper cleaner, but they didn’t. Could be the target, it has many layers of old target paper glued together.

I dont have any of the LEE ones left, and I will probably not cast any more of them.

Those 200's were actually designed for the 35 Rem., if I'm not mistaken, and work good in my two Marlins.

RP

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:33 am

Those 200's were actually designed for the 35 Rem., if I'm not mistaken, and work good in my two Marlins.

RP

Yes, they work well in my 356 Winchester 94.

Steve51 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:48 am

From the holes punched in the paper, the Lee bullet makes holes duplicating a full wadcutter. Can you post a picture of the two bullets you used in the test?

Excellent 100 meter shooting with the RCBS bullet.

Here are some more pics of the actual target. The only explanation I have is that the Lee bullets have a larger meplat, and that their edge is a bit rounded, so they slipped through without cutting.

RCBS bullet and holes:

Lee TL358-158 mold:

Lee holes: