In praise of the Lee 105 gr. SWC .358 mould

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I started casting with this Lee 105 gr. SWC .358 cast bullet in a single cav. Lee mould back in 1972 ( 51 yrs, ago ) .
I think the retail price of a Lee single cav. mould then was $10.98.
I shot several " bazillion " 38 Special reloads with that bullet.
It was accurate back then , it is just as accurate now.
You may have more lead than you know what to do with ( a nice problem
to have right now ), but a lot of casters can't say that.
This bullet is accurate and stingy with your lead supply.

10 lbs of alloy will provide you with with 443 cast bullets weighing
158 gr. each. That 10 lbs of alloy with the Lee 105 gr. will provide
you with 666 cast bullets ( you end up with an extra 223 cast bullets
from the same 10 lbs. of alloy ).

In the 38 Special, some shoot this 105 gr. SWC with 3.0 of B'Eye, some shoot 3.5 grs. of B'Eye. One fellow stated that he had great success with 5.0 of B'Eye in the 38 Spec.

If you have not tried it, you might want to............

Ben

I no longer cast with a single cav. mould for this 105 SWC style, now I use the Lee, 6 cav. mould :

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This mould can produce a large quantity of 105 gr. SWC's in a short period of time.

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This is a group fired with Russian Unique ( Salute ) at 50 yards with my Marlin 1894 CBC , my particular rifle has Ballard style rifling, not micro- groove rifling :
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I also shoot the bullet in my T/C Contender 9 mm :

https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/t-c-contender-10-bull-9mm-luger.5215/


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Michael

Michael

Active Member. Uh/What
Fine.

Just rub it in, twist on the way out, then put some salt on it.

6 at a time, at 105gr ea, after I spend a half a day with a single cavity Brooks DTLR eliptical mold gobbling up 700gr at a time. Don't... even talk to me about the powder charge.

Nice bullets by the way. Might need to give it some thought.
 
J

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Never tried that one, but always thought it was a good-looking bullet. I was always curious as to whether it would shoot well, but I guess that question is answered.

Maybe I should have gotten this one instead of the 148 grain WC I got last year. I AM conscious of my finite supply of lead and am careful with it.

@Ben , are you applying BLL to these?
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I use Ben's Red in the bottom lube ring only , then
roll the bullets in a thinned mixture of BLL. Then sit
them on wax paper & allow them to dry overnight.

Ben
 
CWLONGSHOT

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
Its strange looking to me. I picked up a mold last year hoping ta have another 380 bullet.
Mold casts well as yours (fine looking bullets as always!)

I have a few boxes of 38's and 380's loaded to try. When I can go to a range.

CW
 
J

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Thanks, @Ben .

I bought the red grease to make some Ben's Red, three, four years ago? I need to do that. BLL has NOT left me wanting, so I have procrastinated on the Ben's Red.
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Some 380 autos will work with this bullet some will not.
Seems that the nose profile is just wrong for some of the 380's.

Ben
 
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Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Jeff H said:
Thanks, @Ben .

I bought the red grease to make some Ben's Red, three, four years ago? I need to do that. BLL has NOT left me wanting, so I have procrastinated on the Ben's Red.
Click to expand...
You can get a lot of shooting out of a nice large container ( air tight ) of BLL.

Ben
 
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3

300BLK

Well-Known Member
Its great bullet for lightweight 38Spl and 9mm. I bought a double cavity back in the mid '80s and cast bullets until the alignment pins fell out, and then drilled and added a near center dowel pin for vertical alignment.

Back in the day, I lubed them with Lee's liquid alox and shot them as-cast. These days they get powder coat and shoved through a .358" Lee push through.
 
CWLONGSHOT

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I have almost bought that 140 too many times ta remember. I always pull it outta the basket ta save a buck... I have SO MANY 357 Pistol molds now... I also have tge disco'd 166g. Mold. That one shoots very well and shares the nose profile.

CW
 
Tomme boy

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I have the 6 cav as well. It works awesome in my Ruger lcp 380. I cast up a coffee can full for a friend that gets me all kinds of brass I need. He is at the local range almost every day so gets all kinds of stuff. I powder coated and sized them to 0.358" for his Ruger sp101 3". He loves this in his gun. I have only tried it in 38 spec in my 357. But it shot very well. Between the 6.5" barrel and the porting on the barrel it has about the same recoil as my 22 revolver!

That reminds me, I need to cast up some more.
 
R

Rushcreek

Well-Known Member
I love that bullet as cast then PC’d or Tumble lubed in my 9mms and .38 Specials.
5 grs of Bullseye in either one is a flat shooting accurate load.
My old 105 swc two cavity mould has always dropped ugly bullets- but they shoot so well I place my concerns elsewhere…..
 
Brother_Love

Brother_Love

Well-Known Member
I have this mold too, bought it to save lead. Thankfully it turned out to be a good shooter too. My old Colt Trooper loves it and it accurate too. It will dispatch a armadillo easily also . Good shootin’ Ben and use Ben’s Red & BLL all the time. I made 2 quarts of BLL 7-8 years ago, haven’t touched the second one yet. I do shake it up about once a month. If I need more I still have 4 cans of Johnson wax left
 
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