Shooting the Lee, 38/357 , 105 gr. SWC

[Ben]

Lee 105 SWC , 38/357 Mold

I have many 38 Special and 357 Mag. revolvers. They have always shot the Lee 105 gr. SWC very well.​

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Many years ago I purchased a Marlin 1894 , CBC, 38 Special lever action rifle.​

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I had a Lee , 2 cav. 105 SWC mold on hand and cast about 200 bullets that I tried in the rifle. The rifle shot the Lee 105 SWC so well that I decided that I needed to get the Lee 6 cavity mold in the 105 SWC.​

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I own more than a dozen Lee 6 cav. moulds. Every one of them work well and deliver good value for the modest investment it takes to own one.​

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I cast these ( in about 35 - 40 minutes ) after the mould was 101% clean and up to temp and HOT !​

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You can see that my rifle really likes the 105 SWC, sized to .3585 ". 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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A very nice mold :​

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This should keep my lever rifle fed for sometime to come :​

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[Pistolero]

My first mold, ever. I used it with a Rock Chucker Christmas gift from my lovely wife,
a Lee pan lubing, and hammer through sizer system for several years feeding my Browning
HP. Accurate, fed perfectly every time. That old mold hasn't been used in at least a
decade, should get it out and see how it does today. First bought it in 1977, IIRC.

When I saw my first .45 cal H&G 68, I saw the similarity. Great design, sure works in that
rifle, Ben. Easy on the lead supply, too.

Bill

 

[Hawk]

What is "Russian Unique".

 

[Ben]

Hawk :

Many yrs. ago, some of the surplus powder vendors got fairly large quantities of a powder labeled " Salute ". As I remember, I bought mine from High Tech in MO.

The powder had an " approximate " burning rate = to our Unique.
I paid $9.40 a pound delivered to my door in the late 90's for the powder. I found it to shoot well using our Unique data less a 1/2 gr. or so for safety concerns. Never had a problem with it.
It came in 4 lb. jugs.
I bought 4 of them.
I wish I'd bought 40 of them.

Ben

 

[Ben]

My first mold, ever. I used it with a Rock Chucker Christmas gift from my lovely wife,
a Lee pan lubing, and hammer through sizer system for several years feeding my Browning
HP. Accurate, fed perfectly every time. That old mold hasn't been used in at least a
decade, should get it out and see how it does today. First bought it in 1977, IIRC.

When I saw my first .45 cal H7G 68, I saw the similarity. Great design, sure works in that
rifle, Ben. Easy on the lead supply, too.

Bill

Yes Bill, the little bullet just performs in just about anything you can shoot it out of.

Ben

 

[oscarflytyer]

So... Like I need another mold... But, what load data for the 105 grn works well for you in a 38 SPC 4" (or close) revolver? Sounds like a good rat/snake/squirrel/rabbit/paper killing/FUN bullet/load.

 

[Ben]

4.3 of Bullseye / Lee 105 gr. SWC, / 38 Special

 

[oscarflytyer]

what velocity? That must scream!

 

[Ben]

???????

 

[oscarflytyer]

???????

Was curious if you had chrono'd it. I was assuming it went faster than the load data shows. Prob ~975-1000 fps. Just figured faster.

 

[fiver]

quite often those short little bullets with strong drive bands will shoot some silly little groups at high speeds.
I shoot the 358091 at around 1200 fps and it really responds to the velocity.

I remember that salut powder, it's an odd flake shape/size.
airc the big discussion we had about it centered on the ability to work with several brands of primers to basically tune the load instead going of up/down with the powder volume.

 

[oscarflytyer]

I have an old 358091 mold. Plan to cast it and the H&G #50 and see how they do. Interesting to know the 091 responds well to those velocities.

 

[KHornet]

Good little mold, casts a lot quick, just keep it HOT!

Paul

 

[M3845708Bama]

Have you ever tried pc on the 105s? Have the same gun and revolvers and had tried the 158 gr. Lyman 358;156 mold. Works really great on the marlin but a little much on the 2” revolvers and was looking for something a little better. Thanks for posting!

 

[Ben]

The problem with most 2" revolvers is they don't have adjustable sights.
The 105 gr. SWC will most likely strike low when compared to the standard 38 Spec. 158 gr. load.

 

[KHornet]

Ben, that is true with my wives 2" EAA.
About 2 1/2-3" low. No adj sights.

Paul

 

[Hawk]

That's why my wife's S&W model 60 has laser grips. Inside the house, the bullet hits the red dot on the target. Do not have to worry about seeing the sights in the dark, either.

 

[Ben]

That will work !!!!!!!!!

 

[made in China]

my Ruger LCP's love those from my 2cavity mold with 3.1gr. 231 under it, strange that I am having feeding problems with 105 gr. s.w.c. from my 6cavity mold as the difference in those 2 molds is rather slight , I do not have a .35 cal. Rifle but shoot 9x19 pistols, modif. a Tokarev to 9x23, also have a Largo which is 23m.m. but have not used the 105gr. in them as I like to stay with max o. a. l. (saeco#383)

 

[Rockydoc]

Like Pistolero, this was my first mold.
It was a one cavity and I loaded it in 9mm Luger for a WWII bring back FN Browning Hi-Power with Nazi markings.
I had at that time a large supply of used up Linotype. It cast beautifully in that mold, and shot well in that pistol.
I have since bought a 6 cavity version of that mold.
I shoot it in my S&W K-38 and my Win '92 as well.
When I was loading for the 9mm I sized and lubed in a Lyman 450. In the '92 carbine and S&W revolver I roll them in BLL and load as cast.