I would like a 357 mag mold. I want to push velocity for true magnum rounds. I intend to powder coat. Gas check is fine. Perhaps even best? or does it matter with powder coat.

I have had bad luck with Lee molds. Prefer steel.

What you using?

I have had good results with RCBS

I can't recommend a mold because all of mine (over a dozen) are Lee but from my experience shooting cast and powder coated cast I think what you want to do is doable and quite possibly done with powder coating without gas checks in .357s mag. Of course gas checks won't hurt.

I'd say alloy with a hardness of about 18bhn would be a good place to start.

Motor

Is Applegate still around to make moulds?

Some fine looking bullets came out of Applegate moulds.

Really love my RCBS but 2 cavity's is too slow. Lyman's have been just ok. Maybe I try a Lee again. Definitely cheaper.. and 6 cavity is so tempting. I just can't get them to dump so well. Maybe I need to smoke a bit more.

Depends on what you're smoking. Sorry I couldn't help it.

Some of my Lee molds work great perfectly clean without any smoking at all. When I get a new one I clean it as instructed then try it. I know a lot people don't smoke their Lee molds.

It seems temperature has a lot to do with it but not always. Sometimes holding your tongue in just the right position helps too.

Figuring out what makes them work well is the price you pay but it usually isn't very difficult you just have to be willing to try different things.

Since you intend to go for full power I'd definitely powder coat and I would not use a TL mold. I like the TL bullets but a non TL design would probably hold up better at high pressure.

Motor

Read this Cast boolits thread about modifying Lee molds.

I actually sold almost all of my Lee molds but have been recently reacquiring them. I normally polish the cavities with toothpaste and they end up dropping very well- my 401-175 mold had a cavity that would not release without literally prying the bullet out, now it is golden.

The lee molds are a fantastic value, and their designs are modifications of well known designs that are very popular and effective.

Failing that, go check the group buys section on Cast Boolits, although most of those will be aluminum or brass. Accurate will make iron molds for you for a reasonable price, and they have an enormous catalog, or you can make your own design.

My favorite 357 designs are the 358158, any big fat WFN mold, and the 358093.

Thats pretty cool. I think I will give that a try on an old unused mold. Cheers!

Any idea what volume of shooting you plan on doing in a year (1000/5000/10,000 bullets a year)???

Some of the bullets I use for full house 357's.

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Any of those will work, just depends on what you're trying to do. Out of those bullets pictured the green bullet in the top row and the pink bullet in the bottom row are more accurate with a wider verity of loads in 10+ 357 bbl's.

Actually that picture above represents some of the classics from the golden age of the 357 along with a new commer the 640 series/devestator design (green bullet)

There's:
Lyman 358156thompson gc150grhp/358439keith158grhp/358477keith138grhp
h&g #51150grhp
cramer 25158grhunter/26akeith150grhp(their version of the 358477)
swaged 147gr hp
Mihec custom 158grhp (640's)

Another mold that does extremely well in the 357's is the lyman 358477. It has a large bottom drive band and equal top (2 of them) drive bands that are the same size. They weigh 150gr as a swc and 138 as a hp. They have performed well in anything I've tried them in.

Anyway tons of molds & bullet designs out there. If you have the means, go custom. You'll get a better quality bullet. I'd spend the $$$ and get a mold that made hp's and solid nosed bullets like that mihec 640. I cast 158gr hp's or 170gr solid flat round nosed thumpers. You take a full house load of 2400 and that 170gr thumper and you end up with a load that will put the smack on anything it gets a hold of doing 1400fps out of 6" bbl's.

I've shot countless 1000's of hot 357's over the decades, most of them were with wc820 powder (used to buy #32 at a time) and of all things used the lyman 358311 rn bullet.

I like the LEE 158 SWC GasCheck,  they are really about 167gr





I also like the LEE 158 flat point

I run so many calibers, that it is rare that I get through more than 2k/yr in any one caliber even though I shoot weekly.

Sounds like your take is gas check is definitely optional. Which molds are the green and pink bullets? Who is doing your hollow point mods?
Thanks!

Thanks. I have been leaning towards that Lee with gas check. But if not needed... Might skip gas check.

I make my own gas check makers and make them out of al roof flashing. But rarely use them.

The pink bullet is from an old "cramer" mold from the 40's, the mold is extremely rare.

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The green bullets are from a custom mold maker named Mihec. Here's the stats on that bullet.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=58932

A link to mp molds.

http://www.mp-molds.com/

I also hollow point my own molds or make different pin designs for molds that are already hollow pointed. I test different hp depths & shapes along with cantering the hp pocket. Why canter a hp pocket??? Because it changes the yawl of the bullet making it explode sideways when it hits something/stops the over penetration.

Anyway, I've been using allot of power pistol for the last couple of years, 8.0gr for all those bullets pictured above. That's a full house load and those bullets will do 1200fps to 1300fps out of a 6"bbl depending on the bullet being used.

I asked about the volume of your shooting simply because if it's not a lot (you're 1000 a year/23# of lead) really isn't all that much. If you shoot 9mm's perhaps you could use the same mold for both the 357 and the 9mm. 125gr bullets are sweet in the 9mm and the 357. You can easily get 1200+fps in a 4" bbl'd 9mm and 1800fps (17.6 gr of 2400) with a 6" bbl'd 357 with a 125gr bullet. Just something to think about, 1 mold for 2 calibers.

I'd spend the $$$ and get a mold that made hp's and solid nosed bullets like that mihec 640. I cast 158gr hp's or 170gr solid flat round nosed thumpers
once you go brass you never go back ...visit castboolits.com great please to ask and read ..

I don't know, I adore my brass mihecs and love casting with them, but when I want to make a thousand bullets or more in a setting, I reach for a six cavity Lee.

Sometimes production matters... and while I enjoy casting, casting an absurd amount with a heavy brass mold, even with a mold guide, can be hard on the wrists.

Man you think the mihec's are bad. Try a couple of the eagan brass molds. Their bigger than most mihec 2-cavity molds and only have a single cavity cut into them.

A lee 6-cavity mold that casts 175gr bullets and mold handles weighs 24oz
A eagan single cavity that casts a 190gr bullet with lyman handles weighs 27oz.

When you fill a 20# pot with alloy and start casting, you're there awhile with that single cavity mold.

At the end of the day, it's hard to beat those custom molds made out of brass. They simply cast excellent quality bullets pour after pour after pour. I have 25+ custom molds and another 8 or 9 custom ordered molds from production mold mfg's. I've shot my own cast bullets since the 80's and allot of them, free lead for decades. And I can honestly say custom or quality molds are the way to go.

When I 1st started getting setup to cast my own bullets I didn't have much $$$$$. Bills to pay and 2 small boys to raise, The very 1st mold I bought was an h&g #50 6-cavity 148gr wc with handles. A wc mold doesn't sound like a good 357 bullet but it is!!!
You can use a 148gr wc in the 357's for 38spl target/plinking loads that stretch a # of powder. And they can also be used to load some extremely hard hitting thumpers. 15.0gr of 2400 pushing a 148gr wc will get you a 1500fps+ thumber out of a 6" bbl 357.

The RCBS was more accurate than the Saeco for me, but i wanted a 4 cavity mould. The weight of the RCBS is better/closer to the 158gr standard. Best with Alliant 2400 in 357 mag.  

I agree fully. I had a ten cav h&g 51 and I ladle poured that monster.

I also had one of the eagan mx bullets that I think was intended for the 30 american. It was a good shooter, but I traded it at some point. Definitely a heavy monster and had a tapered sizing die that came with it.

I'm running the NOE 360-160-SWC RG4 and have been very happy with it - http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?products_id=2248

It's the second from the right, next to the .44 Mag.

Ya, got a 8-cavity h&g #50 I don't wrestle with anymore. Last time I used it , it pined me to the floor within 7 pours.