I got some feedback over the previous post asking for clarification on my 35 caliber bullet casting project. I went back through my previous posts, and realized I never really wrote this up in any detail. I guess it is time I do. Mind you this is not a end-all article with step-by-step instructions. I am not here to teach bullet casting in this missive. This is more of a checklist.

The Basic Premise

Back during the Obama years, I decided to see how much of my firearm inventory I could feed using cast bullets. For a proof-of-concept, I picked 35 caliber guns. They were quite a few of them and they covered the basic range of my shooting endeavors. I did some research and I figured out that I could cover all the bases with just three basic molds. From about 2014 to 2017, I worked on getting all this accomplished. The answer is a resounding YES! You can cover all your bases with cast bullets.

Let me give you some link. They are valuable resources if you are getting into bullet casting. The first is The Cast Boolits Forum. If you have questions about bullet casting, you will quickly go over my head. These are the guys that really know their stuff. The second is Glen Frixell’s book, From Ingot to Target, A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners. This is a free web book. Lastly, Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. This is THE book to buy.

The Molds

I ordered three molds:

• The Lee 358-125-RF
• The Lee C358-158 RF
• The RCBS 35-200-FN

The latter two are gas-checked bullets. All three were two-bullet molds. The Lee molds are aluminum. The RCBS mold is steel.

I also ordered a Lee .358 BULLET SIZING KIT.

The Rest of the Gear

Most of this stuff was already on hand. I used a PRO 4 20LB 110V bottom pour melter. I had been pouring bullets for my front-stuffers for over a decade. Any good bullet furnace will do, and I have actually used just an electric hot plate and a cast-off kitchen pan. I also had the whole rest of the general kit: an ingot mold, pliers, ladle– I really did not need anything special for this project.

The Bullet Sizing Kit comes with some Lee Liquid Alox. I used an old sherbet tub and lubed with this per instructions when needed.

The Alloy

If you take wheelwright alloy and mix it 50/50 with pure lead you get something that ends up about BHN 10. That’s probably good enough for most of this project. Remember that once I got into powder coating, the bullets required are somewhat softer than what you would be using for higher velocities in rifles.

Pouring for the Ruger Blackhawk

I started out with the 125 Grain Lee .358 caliber 125 grain bullet. This was by far the easiest project. I had more than enough bullets in about a half-hour’s casting. I dropped into a 5 gallon bucket of water and then let the bullets dry out in the summer sun. The next day, I lubed and sized and then let them set up so they would be ready to load the next weekend. I think I did 50 rounds using .357 used mixed cases, CCI small pistol primers and Hodgdon Universal powder. As far as how much powder, it was a few percent over a starting 38 Special load, whatever that is. Remember, this was just checking for function, not trying to blow any doors off.

If you are not using one yet, make sure you buy a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die. The reason is two-fold. First, I always put at least a light crimp on all my finished pistol rounds. If the bullet somehow gets moved back into the case either in a revolver or a tube-fed rifle, the resulting change in pressures can be a disaster. Second, the Lee die re-sizes the outside of the round to conform to original-intended specs. When you are working with cast bullets, it usually requires a bit more belling with the expander die so that you do not shave the bullet. The Lee die gets rid of that extra belling and trues the round back up.

Pouring for the Marlin 1894

I have a Marlin 1894 lever gun in 357 Mag. It shoots just about anything I try to feed it equally well. I frequently take it with me down at the farm when I am out and about the property in case I come across coyote or feral dog. I cast the Lee 358-158-SWC and used aluminum gas checks. Again, as with the 125’s, my first load was water-dropped, dried, lubed and sized and then loaded into mixed 357 mag cases with Hodgdon Universal underneath. I used just a wee bit more powder and the resulting batch of 50 fired well out of both the Ruger Blackhawk and the Marlin 1894. Whatever the velocity, it still was not pushing the 1400 fps limit for unchecked lead bullets. However, the mold was built for gas checks, and it is not a good idea to shoot bullets meant for gas checks without them. Remember that these were the first steps in a gradual process.

Pouring for the Remington 7600

Okay, now it was time to put on my big boy pants. It was also time to up my game. I am skipping ahead here. Several month of casting and loading transpired, and by the time I tackled the big 35 Whelen centerfire part of the project, I was well on my way. However, let me cover all that a bit later. Let me also reference the previous post in the weblog:

Powder Coating for Dummies

as well as this posting from 2015:

The Whelenizer Makeover

The latter will give you details on how I worked up the final load using the the RCBS 200-grainers. Suffice it to say that by the time I tried to tackle The Whelenizer, I had already had to up my game and I started powder coating my bullets. It adds a whole other layer of complexity to the process, but the Yondering Shake and Bake Method I use makes it as simple as possible. Also, let me add that if you are going to put cast bullets into a bottle-neck rifle case, you will need to buy a Lee Universal Expander Die. You just need the barest amount of belling.

I used H4895 for my loads along with CCI Large Rifle Primers. The results? I never got an accurate 100-yard group out of these bullets with 35 Whelen or even 358-Winchester-ish velocities, but I did get group going a bit past the max velocity of a 35 Remington. A hotter than MAX 35 REM is plenty for taking a whitetail at 150 yards. I called it a success.

Further Developments

Using the 158-grain mold, I made up a bunch of gas-checked powder-coated bullets and loaded them up using H110, a powder I had previously used in 44 Mag. This is a real shock-and-awe powder. It produces a loud report and a large muzzle flash in a pistol. I cranked things up so I was close to the MAX velocity and tried them in the Marlin 1894. The result was a 100-yard/deer-dropping round. The report and flash were mollified considerably due to the rifle barrel’s length. It at least got the blast farther away from my head.

The only time I met with a “scratch that one of the list” scenario was when I tried the same load in my Ruger Blackhawk. Yikes! It is the only time I’ve fired a pistol in 40-some years where the revolver ripped itself out of my hand. Luckily I was shooting in the grass. Luckily no harm was done to me, or the firearm, and luckily nobody was around to see. This was embarrassing, but I do not want anyone else getting that surprise. The Ruger Blackhawk is one of the strongest-built in its class. I would not want someone trying this load in something weaker. I remarked this load as “RIFLE ONLY!!!”

The 125 grain 358 bullets ended up being a wild success. They ended up working well in any of my 357 Mag and 38 Special handguns. One of the big boons was that this bullet shot to the same POI as my EDC carry load out of my Ruger LCR.

Finally, I got the idea after reading up on it to try them in my 9mm pistols as well. Eureka! Yes, 9mm is nominally .356 and these are .358. However, that is when you are shooting jacketed bullets. If you are shooting lead, .358 is not only safe, but preferrable. I’ve used these bullets in everything from a P38 to a Hi-Point carbine. The only problems with feeding I had were when I was too stingy with the Hodgdon Universal powder. For some guns, I had to up my load two-tenths of a grain.

The 358-125-RF mold became so well used that I ended up buying the 6-cavity version. This bullet has become my Go-To bullet for all sorts of loading projects.

I have since bought molds for loading 44 Magnum and 45 ACP and worked up loads for these pistols as well.

All this loading finally got me into buying my Hornady LNL Auto-Progressive press. (See Going Progressive) and that ended up requiring a new reloading bench. To tell you the truth, this project turned my whole reloading experience upside down and sideways, and most of it was for the better.

Conclusions

This project ended up going way beyond its original scope, but to go back and evaluate this on its original premise, I can say that I covered all the basic goals.

• I developed a general-purpose pistol load in 357 Magnum that would work for self defense using a 125 grain and later a 158 grain bullet
• I developed a round that would feed easily in a 357 Magnum carbine that would suffice for vermin control.
• I developed two rounds that could be used for hunting whitetail deer with a rifle. The first was a hot 357 Mag 158 grain load for the Marlin 1894. The second was a 35-Rem-ish load for the Rem 7600 in 35 Whelen.
• I ended up covering about a dozen 35-cal firearms, but I found out that 2 molds would suffice for getting everything done except the Whelenizer part of the project, and the 158 grain mold would cover everything except the 9mm part of it all.
• The one thing I know I could do, but I never tried was using the 158 grain gas-checked mold to make plinking rounds for the 35 Whelen.

One other thing: You’ll notice I used almost all LEE Precision products in this, except for the one RCBS mold. I was trying to get this all done with the least cost, and Lee generally has the cheapest stuff out there. However, I just want to say that I never found myself wanting for quality on any of this.

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