New to reload,have 38/357 older reloading parts given to me

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Antimony

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First post, hello, intro, i have a 1851 repro colt BP, navy model so cast and shoot. I had a person give me a reloading set before he passed away. Here is what i have,
single stage c-press,
set of 38special dies, Texan brand, Beam scale
hand primer, 1000 cci 550 magnum primers
Powder measure dropper, Primer cleaning tool, Case trimmer
some sort of primer tool that goes into press but i think i am missing 2 parts, the sleeve, and holder for tube
I have the part with the spring on it
Question,i think i will sart with trying the 38 special as soon as i can find powder, but i need bullets, so i was wondering if a bullet with bhn of 9 would be ok for the first loads. O
Or should i go with about a bhn of 12 like missouri bullet company.
i need to to try the dies first, dont know if the seater die is also a crimp die, the 3 dies i have say sizer,seater,expander, just the 3.
Now about proper size of bullets, i have a Rossi 4 inch barrel.
My cyclinder exit is .362, i slugged the end of barrel and got around .358,kinda hard because its a 5 groove barrel, and it has small grooves. so what would be a good size of cast bullet, .358, or .359
I also will buy my own mold as soon i see how a couple sizes work out, am going to try both .358, and .359 unless someone here has a better answer, thanks, have a great year.
 
Antimony said:
First post, hello, intro, i have a 1851 repro colt BP, navy model so cast and shoot. I had a person give me a reloading set before he passed away. Here is what i have,
single stage c-press,
set of 38special dies, Texan brand, Beam scale
hand primer, 1000 cci 550 magnum primers
Powder measure dropper, Primer cleaning tool, Case trimmer
some sort of primer tool that goes into press but i think i am missing 2 parts, the sleeve, and holder for tube
I have the part with the spring on it
Question,i think i will sart with trying the 38 special as soon as i can find powder, but i need bullets, so i was wondering if a bullet with bhn of 9 would be ok for the first loads. O
Or should i go with about a bhn of 12 like missouri bullet company.
i need to to try the dies first, dont know if the seater die is also a crimp die, the 3 dies i have say sizer,seater,expander, just the 3.
Now about proper size of bullets, i have a Rossi 4 inch barrel.
My cyclinder exit is .362, i slugged the end of barrel and got around .358,kinda hard because its a 5 groove barrel, and it has small grooves. so what would be a good size of cast bullet, .358, or .359
I also will buy my own mold as soon i see how a couple sizes work out, am going to try both .358, and .359 unless someone here has a better answer, thanks, have a great year.
Click to expand...
---
I'm not familiar with Texan brand dies so I can't help you there. As for the rest, since you have a hand priming tool - and I'm guessing it is complete since you didn't say otherwise - don't worry about the press-mounted tool. Hand priming is faster and easier for most folks, in my observations. Someone will no doubt disagree. They always do. :)

As for hardness, 9BHN is pretty soft but with the right powder - a mid-burn rate pistol powder like WW231/HP-38, Universal, AA#2 or Unique - that should be just fine. Keep the velocities low and you won't lead up. Harder will give better range and higher velocities with less lead left behind but, it really depends on what you want to do, shoot paper at 30 paces or shoot wild pigs in the swamp.

Primers - you don't need magnum for .38Spl but since you've already got them, use them. You aren't likely to find more anytime soon.

Most often lead is sized to .358" for .38Spl. and it might be best to stick with that until you get the hang of handloading and can make some efforts to get a baseline on how your loads perform. Stepping up to a .359" projectile isn't most likely going to make a big difference in accuracy or wear. Unless you use hardened cast lead or jacketed bullets... then you may stress the forcing cone.

Hope this helps. Other people will fill in where I left off and correct any errors I may have made. They always do. :)
 
Bhn 9 is great for 38 special speeds up to max but is down on the list of important things. Size is most critical and is easily fixed a little with powdercoat if your doing it. Find a pass through snagging die set that is your desired size and use that. If the bullet is to small then size before PC and you should get close to the larger size you need. Finding anything you need right now is tuff including casting equipment....
 
Thanks for replying, the hand loader is a single primer at a time,put a primer in,then squeeze handle, then put another primer, but i have it so will use it for now,
Texan went out of buisness years ago, and cant find any info on web, so will probably buy some better dies that say .357 also, since these dies only say .38 special, the sizing die only says .38 sizer.
Probably stay with .358, ill buy some, load and shoot them and see how they do
I was also thinking of powder coat and resize, but will have to figure out more,not going to buy a bunch of molds and stuff just to find out they dont work right
just looked at the beam scale and powder measure dropper, they are both Redding
The press is black, kinds like powder coat with a ruff texture but no name on it.
 
A first great mould would be a 158 lee tumble lube. You can use alox for a few cycles until you get the rest of the gear you need.
 
Antimony said:
Thanks for replying, the hand loader is a single primer at a time,put a primer in,then squeeze handle, then put another primer, but i have it so will use it for now,
Texan went out of buisness years ago, and cant find any info on web, so will probably buy some better dies that say .357 also, since these dies only say .38 special, the sizing die only says .38 sizer.
Probably stay with .358, ill buy some, load and shoot them and see how they do
I was also thinking of powder coat and resize, but will have to figure out more,not going to buy a bunch of molds and stuff just to find out they dont work right
just looked at the beam scale and powder measure dropper, they are both Redding
The press is black, kinds like powder coat with a ruff texture but no name on it.
Click to expand...
---
Redding makes good equipment. He was a good friend that left you his stuff. Sorry for your loss.

Reloading .357/.38 with one set of dies is typical. I haven't run across anything yet that was .38Spl only or .357Mag. only. Some sets might be less than ideal for the longer/shorter cases but, typically they are interchangeable.

It would probably be helpful to the really smart people if you could post some pictures. There are folks on this board who can tell what you had for breakfast by the kind of reloading equipment you use but they need clear pictures to work from. No way to tell if your dearly departed friend repainted his Lyman press at some point in time or if he bought some custom item or if it's old, new, etc, just from the description.

You'll get lots of help around here, that's for sure! :)
 
dies
die.jpg sizer die
expander die.jpg expander
seater die RN.jpg seater RN
texan case.jpg Texan case
reloading tray.jpg Tray, 50 rounds, this side says rifle, then 38/357, other side says 9mm and 45, just forgot to put in my list, it was in box under my press, forgot it was there
 
Antimony said:
First post, hello, intro, i have a 1851 repro colt BP, navy model so cast and shoot. I had a person give me a reloading set before he passed away. Here is what i have,
single stage c-press,
set of 38special dies, Texan brand, Beam scale
hand primer, 1000 cci 550 magnum primers
Powder measure dropper, Primer cleaning tool, Case trimmer
some sort of primer tool that goes into press but i think i am missing 2 parts, the sleeve, and holder for tube
I have the part with the spring on it
Question,i think i will sart with trying the 38 special as soon as i can find powder, but i need bullets, so i was wondering if a bullet with bhn of 9 would be ok for the first loads. O
Or should i go with about a bhn of 12 like missouri bullet company.
i need to to try the dies first, dont know if the seater die is also a crimp die, the 3 dies i have say sizer,seater,expander, just the 3.
Now about proper size of bullets, i have a Rossi 4 inch barrel.
My cyclinder exit is .362, i slugged the end of barrel and got around .358,kinda hard because its a 5 groove barrel, and it has small grooves. so what would be a good size of cast bullet, .358, or .359
I also will buy my own mold as soon i see how a couple sizes work out, am going to try both .358, and .359 unless someone here has a better answer, thanks, have a great year.
Click to expand...


Here's a great resource of casting info. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

FWIW- I don't cast but have loaded the MB 12BHN slugs for years with great success.

Good luck, be safe.
.
 
Antimony said:
Thanks for replying, the hand loader is a single primer at a time,put a primer in,then squeeze handle, then put another primer, but i have it so will use it for now,
Texan went out of buisness years ago, and cant find any info on web, so will probably buy some better dies that say .357 also, since these dies only say .38 special, the sizing die only says .38 sizer.
Probably stay with .358, ill buy some, load and shoot them and see how they do
I was also thinking of powder coat and resize, but will have to figure out more,not going to buy a bunch of molds and stuff just to find out they dont work right
just looked at the beam scale and powder measure dropper, they are both Redding
The press is black, kinds like powder coat with a ruff texture but no name on it.
Click to expand...
Unless you want 2 different sets to match the task, a .357 is loaded by not screwing the .38 die as far into the press, lee carbide .38/.357 is labelled and instructed as such for an easy reference.
 
What i figured i am going to do is keep an eye on ebay and buy a newer set from there, i also noticed some Hornady nitride dies going for low prices, since
midway, lee procision, and a lot of places are empty, and no back order, i guess im a late newcomer to the game LOL.
I thought i could maybe get some not so sought after powder and just get whats available to start but cant find anything yet,
Trail Boss, for example i think i will statrt with a 140-158 grain bullet, LSWC, or LRNF, i can buy a few of those in 100 count for around 12 dollars
 
Antimony said:
What i figured i am going to do is keep an eye on ebay and buy a newer set from there, i also noticed some Hornady nitride dies going for low prices, since
midway, lee procision, and a lot of places are empty, and no back order, i guess im a late newcomer to the game LOL.
I thought i could maybe get some not so sought after powder and just get whats available to start but cant find anything yet,
Trail Boss, for example i think i will statrt with a 140-158 grain bullet, LSWC, or LRNF, i can buy a few of those in 100 count for around 12 dollars
Click to expand...
Can find Hornady .358 158 lswchp in 300/$37...... Powder available off and on locally, truly best of luck on that
 
rammy said:
only thing I can find on them is they are based in K.C. Looks like a specialty gun shop that carried everything even reloading supplies. They may be out of business. yours doesn't look like the back is round enough, could be a newer model?

similar item maybe?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CR-RELOADI...070587?hash=item343ab26a7b:g:MIgAAOSwpoBgCLdy

https://www.nextechclassifieds.com/listings/1844165/
Click to expand...
looks like close, my handle has a offset so its off to the side instead of straight underneath, but the primer attachment i have looks identical, ill have to set it up just to check it out
now that i saw a pic of it, thanks
 
horsey300 said:
Can find Hornady .358 158 lswchp in 300/$37...... Powder available off and on locally, truly best of luck on that
Click to expand...
no luck on that yet, ill keep calling basspro,ect and see whats in plus check shops around me. ill have to keep looking for bullets, but i dont want to buy 300-500 at a time until i fire some,
 
Antimony said:
What i figured i am going to do is keep an eye on ebay and buy a newer set from there, i also noticed some Hornady nitride dies going for low prices, since
midway, lee procision, and a lot of places are empty, and no back order, i guess im a late newcomer to the game LOL.
I thought i could maybe get some not so sought after powder and just get whats available to start but cant find anything yet,
Trail Boss, for example i think i will statrt with a 140-158 grain bullet, LSWC, or LRNF, i can buy a few of those in 100 count for around 12 dollars
Click to expand...
Those dies will work great for you. I wouldn't worry about spending money on new ones.
Buy a Lyman manual with the money you would spend on dies. Then read the intro to reloading part. It will answer 99% of your questions in a clear, orderly fashion.

Cast bullets are cheap. Coated cast are cheap and save a lot of potential headache.
Universal makes a great combination 38/357 powder in my experience.
I've shot everything from 125-180 gr cast in 38 special with excellent results.
 
Unfortunately this seems the worst time for finding componants to reload with in many years. The hardest part is primers and you have those! Powder and bullets are available off and on but you need to put in the time to find them. Let me look and see what I have for 158 LSWC bullets. Should be able to spare you some to start you off. Do get that reloading book to read up on how to do it. Then ask more questions. Oh yeah welcom to THR and the reloading forum.
 
Bfh_auto said:
Those dies will work great for you. I wouldn't worry about spending money on new ones.
Buy a Lyman manual with the money you would spend on dies. Then read the intro to reloading part. It will answer 99% of your questions in a clear, orderly fashion.

Cast bullets are cheap. Coated cast are cheap and save a lot of potential headache.
Universal makes a great combination 38/357 powder in my experience.
I've shot everything from 125-180 gr cast in 38 special with excellent results.
Click to expand...
Thats what im trying ti figure out, a good all around pistol powder for 38 and 357 that has some case volume to it, and its easy to use in a powder measure dispenser, ive read that some powders dont flow to good through some dispensers. the only thing about my dies is i dont have one that says crimper, so the only thing i can do is put a bullet in a case, and see what happens if i use the seater die and see if it crimps at all, i cant tell by looking down the inside of die what it would look like, maybe a small cone shape of some sort. I have 2 manuals i bought when i started shooting BP,
ABC of reloading by Rodney James (th edition
Lyman BP handbook
So you mean a Lyman reloading manual, ill look into that right now. Thanks
 
FROGO207 said:
Unfortunately this seems the worst time for finding componants to reload with in many years. The hardest part is primers and you have those! Powder and bullets are available off and on but you need to put in the time to find them. Let me look and see what I have for 158 LSWC bullets. Should be able to spare you some to start you off. Do get that reloading book to read up on how to do it. Then ask more questions. Oh yeah welcom to THR and the reloading forum.
Click to expand...
Thank you, i am looking for the book right now, i assume a Lyman reloading manual, although i have the one already
 
I have to look for a book i thought i bought after looking on amazon for the lyman book, it is called lyman load data book revolver, i need to find it
 
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