Lee 358 mold, 170gr SWC ??

Casual Smith Nut · Oct 16, 2022

Anyone else have this mold?

I recently was given a six cavity Lee bullet mold from someone whose deceased father once owned. It was unused except until this past weekend.

It looks like any other Lee six cavity mold. Same design and function. The box is not marked for caliber or bullet weight. The mold isn’t marked either unlike my other Lee molds. I assumed it was a 158gr SWC keith style mold until I weighed the bullets. Using my alloy of have pure half wheel weight, they drop 177 - 178 grain and about .360” diameter.

My 158gr RNFP Lee mold drops at about 165gr, so I’m guessing the newly obtained mold is probably a 170gr. I checked the Lee website and find no matching mold.

Anyone here have one or know of a 170gr SWC Lee mold for 357/38 use? I can call Lee sometime this week and see if they know anything. Figured I’d see if anyone here had any info.

After powder coated and sizing, I took a photo next to the 158 RNFP for reference.

ArchAngelCD · Oct 16, 2022

It's possible it isn't on the Lee site because they discontinued that mold.

Is there any numbers on the mold at all?

IMO that would make a great .357 Magnum bullet for use in maybe a levergun? Maybe a hunting bullet in .357?

Alk8944 · Oct 17, 2022

The last few years Lee didn't really mark their moulds in the ways other companies do, but rather they simply stamp the moulds with just a 5 or six digit stock number. That is basically the same as the Lyman 173 SWCFP, which is the true Keith bullet for .38.

It's possible it isn't on the Lee site because they discontinued that mold. They do that too frequently.

max503 · Oct 17, 2022

Yes. I have that mold. Mine came from a group buy over at the Cast Boolits website. Lee did a special production run of them for us.
In all honesty, I've never found a good use for that boolit. It seats so deeply it often bulges 357 cases to where they won't chamber. If you crimp it in the crimp groove it is too long for many revolvers. About the only use for it is to load it long in 38 cases and shoot them in 357 guns.

gwpercle · Oct 17, 2022

Max503 in post #4 nailed it ... Special run - group buy Cast Boolits it is based on the 170 gr. Keith type SWC .
This design has always been Length sensitive ... it's a long one .
But if you have a need for it the 6-cavity Lee will churn them out .
As far as I know it was never cataloged by Lee as a standard design ... BIMBW (but I may be wrong )

Gary

Casual Smith Nut · Oct 17, 2022

Thanks Gary and Max503. Interesting on the special run.

Yes I loaded up 50rds last night.
Seated in top crimp groove. Yes the OAL is very long. It barely makes clearance in my m686 and m66. Definitely would be too long in a m28.

I suppose, for shorter cylinders, you could seat to the top of the shoulder. That would risk swaging the bullet down though and kind of ruin the purpose of that big driving band, potentially losing some accuracy. I’ve deep seated other bullet designs for similar reason and decreased powder charge accordingly.

mtgianni · Oct 17, 2022

Lee's heaviest cataloged was a 166 gr that had a meplate the same size as their 140 gr, ie minimal. That might chamber in a Blackhawk 357.

Lee ran a lot of group buys for Cast Bullets in the 90's and early 00's. Some of them were even run to specs. A few were designed by those who knew exactly what they wanted.

Lee 358 mold, 170gr SWC ??

Casual Smith Nut

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