Need Cast bullet for 357 Carbine

[bronco45]

Have a nice Marlin carbine and I need a lead gas check bullet for the Marlin. Seated the Cartridge Overall Length cannot exceed 1.60 inches. And would like a 158-160grain weight.

I like the looks of the LBT design but don't know how they fit for cartridge length.

Thanks for your help, I plan on purchasing these bullets.

 

[growr]

I have been using 147 grain truncated cone 9mm (.356) in my Marlin and they are incredibly smooth in feeding when I use in SASS shoots. Not a gas check however. Marlins are notorious for being a bit on the finicky side on OAL and type of bullet being used.
Might work for you as well.
Randy

 

[lebomm]

I have a Rossi Puma in .357 and the best bullet I found for it is the Thompson-designed Lyman 358156. That bullet over 15.0 gr 2400 and a CCI SR primer will reliably bust soda cans at 75 yds with dead-on hold.
It may make a difference whether your Marlin has Micro-Groove or Ballard-style rifling. I have seen reports that the Micro-groove doesn't like lead bullets much except in .22RF.

Larry

 

[PhilOhio]

From the structure of your question, I surmise that you are just getting started in reloading. With a nice rifle like that, this would be a good time to jump in and learning a bit more, so you can shoot that Marlin often and at lower cost. First comes forgetting about purchased bullets, casting your own instead.

Your question caught my eye because yesterday I cast 600 of the exact bullet type you need, a Keith-style 158 grain, flat nosed, gas check bullet from a new Lee #C358-158-SWC 2-cavity mold. They are for my new S&W 649 and several others.

That took an hour or so, after which I melted 100 pounds of scrapped wheel weights (a fairly good bullet alloy) and cast them into one-pound ingots, for future use, making many other bullet types.

For safety reasons, stay with this type of flat nosed bullet in tubular magazines. You don't want points against primers in a gun with significant recoil.

The 158 grainer is pretty much an old standard for .38 Special, .357 Magnum...in all revolvers and your carbine. Placement of the crimping groove on most of these designs will make your cartridges well under 1.6" OAL; I just measured. Any commercial bullet of this weight should do the same. The Marlin designers took all this into consideration.

If you begin buying commercial bullets, you will belatedly discover that it might have been much more cost effective to invest the money in some simple, inexpensive, basic casting equipment, of the type Lee sells. This particular bullet is extremely versatile, probably useful in other handguns you may already own, or will own eventually.

It's all about having fun, and making your own bullets assures having a lot more of it.

There's a wealth of information on bullet making on this website: Cast Boolits - Dedicated To The World Of Cast Bullets! and you can learn a lot about Lee's fairly good quality, low cost equipment at: Lee Precision

I know that all of this is not a direct answer to your original question. I'm simply playing the role of the friendly old dope peddler, trying to redirect you down a slope along which many of us here have happily slid for decades.

 

[Bruce51]

I'm wondering why you want a gas check bullet.
If you have a microgroove barrel then 158JHP or JSP work very well.
As far as cast bullets I found the 158TCFP work through the action the best and at 1500fps or less give reasonable accuracy.
I have never had any leading problems with them in a microgroove barrel.
The 158LSWC bullets tend to hang up when trying to feed them into the chamber. Any bullet with a flat point or round point will feed OK.
I have even used the plated bullets from Rainier and found they worked well for target practice.
Considering that Roze sells 158JSP bullets for $88/1,000 with free shipping that is what I would buy for full power loads. You just have to check daily for availability.
Tell us more about your gun/rifling and intended use so others will chime in with information.

Bruce

 

[6thtexas]

+1 on the 358156 suggestion. With Micro-groove rifling, you may need to cast them hard and size them on the large side (.359"). Some Micro-grooved Marlins drove me nuts until I caught on to this. I currently have a 1894 in 44 Mag. that took me forever to get to shoot. I finally learned via an old article by Paul Mathews to use a gaschecked bullet with a long bearing surface, heat-treat them and size them as large as possible. The gun will keep such bullets in a fifty cent piece all day long @ 50 yds. with the peep sight that's on it. Jacketed bullets won't do but 2-2 1/2".

Seat the 358156 so you crimp in the top crimping groove and it will function fine in the carbine.

 

[Alk8944]

Have a nice Marlin carbine and I need a lead gas check bullet for the Marlin. Seated the Cartridge Overall Length cannot exceed 1.60 inches. And would like a 158-160grain weight.

I like the looks of the LBT design but don't know how they fit for cartridge length.

Thanks for your help, I plan on purchasing these bullets.

Beartooth Bullets > Home And they're in Idaho! The PO Box is in Dover.

They will have what you want in whatever hardness, gas check or plain base, and sized the diameter you need.

And, it is simple to cut back the cartridge stop on the Marlin carrier so you can use a slightly longer cartridge OAL, up to about 1.725.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I would use a very hard cast bullet with a Micro-groove barrel if you want good accuracy. Missouri Bullets makes an 18 BHN plain base bullet that works well in a .357 Magnum Carbine. (no lead fouling) Any Hard Cast will do a good job...

 

[Erich]

I buy 158-gr gas-check bullets from Jessie at Tennessee Valley Bullets (he's a member here - nkj nut) for my carbine. I have used his standard 158s and 180s in the carbine as well, but I start to get some leading (not nearly as much as you'd think) when I push them really fast.

Gas check is 3rd from left, reg. 158 is 2nd from left:

Anyway, you might give Jessie a shout.

Tennessee Valley Bullets

 

[bronco45]

Thanks OhioPhil, I used to cast the Lyman/Thompson but don't have the time to cast, or location as I moved next door to some Greenies.
Sold most of the casting stuff when I moved only have the Lyman/Thompson molds left.

Alk8944 thanks for the tip on the cartridge stop don't know much about Marlins. I forgot about Beartoooth, they are about 200 miles to the north of me. Have used their product with other weapons a long time ago and it was a good bullet.

Thanks for all the tips on "hard cast" and "large diameter" in the Microgroove.

Erich I will look at Jesse's website. Is frieght outrageous from Tennessee to the Northwest, or even to New Mexico?

Do enjoy shooting 357s with a carbine platform!!

 

[mack1]

I would use a very hard cast bullet with a Micro-groove barrel if you want good accuracy. Missouri Bullets makes an 18 BHN plain base bullet that works well in a .357 Magnum Carbine. (no lead fouling) Any Hard Cast will do a good job...

Why is a hard bullet better I regulary shoot 155gr 14bhn up to 1500 and gc a bit faster

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Why is a hard bullet better I regulary shoot 155gr 14bhn up to 1500 and gc a bit faster

Microgroove barrels are designed for shooting Jacketed bullets. Because they are so hard they will work well with the shallow rifling. Very hard cast bullets have a better chance on engaging the rifling than softer cast or swagged bullets.

 

[Cary]

I've used Oregon Trail bullets in my Winchester M94AE Trapper in 357 Mag and like their performance. They are located just south of you in Baker City, Oregon. My gun likes their 180 gr. TC FP bullet. It's not a GC design but they are hard cast with a BHN of 24.8. At this time they have 10% off on all Internet orders.
Home

Cary

 

[mack1]

Microgroove barrels are designed for shooting Jacketed bullets. Because they are so hard they will work well with the shallow rifling. Very hard cast bullets have a better chance on engaging the rifling than softer cast or swagged bullets.

Makes sense I may try to stiffin mine up a little and do some 75 yard testing. I would think .359 or so would be needed to prevent leading?