Lee reloading manual?

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2frogs posted this 10 December 2022

Question for some of your more advanced reloaders. Do lee use their own cast bullets for their loading data?. Reason for asking is when looking at the data for 200 gr. Bullets the oal,is not even close for the lee 358-200 rf mold.. and it's almost impossible to use that bullet in the 357 case in my Rossi 92. Any comments. Thanks...

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lotech posted this 10 December 2022

As a  reference-only source, the Lee manual is a good one to have in a handloading library. Bullets are often not identified and other components are unknown as well. If you have a broad handloading background you can sometimes figure out which bullet was used in the data. If you can find data on a particular load in no other source but the Lee book, start low. 

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2frogs posted this 10 December 2022

Why would lee do something as stupid as that. Now I guess I can officially give up on the 200 gr in the 357 case and just use it in 38 cases. I also want to have the gas check removed from the mold. Which I still had my lathe. I greatly appreciate all of the replies..john

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Aaron posted this 11 December 2022

Lever action rifles are very particular with regard to C.O.A.L.

When I got my first 1866 rifle in 45 Colt, I loaded the magazine tube with my 45 Colt handloads with the KTSWC bullets. I worked the action and the rifle promptly jammed up solid. The 45 Colt with KTSWC bullets is too long to cycle through the action on an 1866 and 1873 where the absolute max length is 1.60". I learned to keep the C.O.A.L. to <1.590" to cycle through these rifles. I do not know what the max C.O.A.L. is for a Rossi M92 rifle but it seems to me the 357 w/200gr bullet is too long for the action to cycle.

Some revolvers are particular to C.O.A.L. as well. Just because a load is listed in a loading manual with a particular bullet, that doesn't mean it will chamber in every firearm of that caliber. My T/C Contender loads exceed the O.A.L. for use in a bolt-action magazine. One just needs to be aware of these measurements.

Most load data published in manuals is generated with the use of a "Universal Test Barrel" and there is no guarantee the listed OAL will work in your particular gun. It's just the way it is. As a handloader, one needs to understand that with every trigger pull, you are a Beta Tester. Smile! confused

 

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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gunarea posted this 11 December 2022

Hey 2frogs

    That particular projectile was never designed to be loaded into 38/357 cartridges. The 200gr RNFP is magic for 35Rem, especially when partnered into a Marlin 336. Here in Florida, this combination is tits for our infestation of feral hogs. Bear in mind, what I am passing along is not theory and conjecture. Lee and several other mould makers market slightly different copies of the RCBS bullet that is legendary. That being said, I personaly shoot the RCBS and Saeco projectile in all three cartridges. The OAL is not a set figure because a different firearm changes everything. The crimp groove works in Contenders and Ruger Blackhawk. Not in a S&W! I suspect in your Rossi, the firearm will dictate the actual OAL that will function. My usage in the 35Rem, that it was designed for, is a little too much for our small deer but drops charging 200 lb hogs DIT. Shooting steel with it, out of a handgun, it out performs larger calibers in accuracy and knockdown. The firearms with which I have empirical information are: Marlin 336c, T/C contenders, S&W models 66 & 686, Ruger n/m Blackhawk and Uberti rolling block pistol. I have cast and fired thousands of these projectiles. Learning the ins and outs of pressing into service something out of context is not a cut and paste function. Most have a vast library of failures to go with a small list of successes, I am as most. PM me for further help.

                                                                                                                            Roy     

Shoot often, Shoot well

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Qc Pistolero posted this 10 December 2022

while I don't have a model 92,I have a Henry and I use 180gr LBT wide nose.It feeds perfectly but I have to seat it quite deep in ;I wouldn't even consider using a 200 gr bullet since that would be leaving very little space in the brass and besides the balistics wouldn't ve very good with it.For my use,I consider the 180 being the heaviest/longest bullet I can effectively use.

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RicinYakima posted this 10 December 2022

Lee always used only his own products for pictures. The problem is that a lot of Dick's designs are no longer made, but replaced with newer designs that sold better. 

The second edition was published in 2003 from data he was given by the powder companies in the early 1990's. Lee did no shooting or development work on the load data given, except to convert everything to use his powder measure system. 

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RicinYakima posted this 11 December 2022

Yes it is lotech! Keep mine on the end of the shelf as it is one of three or four I will cross reference. Why? because the data may be old, but powder companies did good work. 

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BigMan54 posted this 11 December 2022

Never bought the 1st edition.  Got the 2nd at a gunshow about 10ys ago. Wasted $5 bucks on that. 

And yes I discovered the O.A.L. with a Uberti 1866 in .45Colt.

I had only the older made Uberti 1873 in .44-40. These were loaded with old Lyman #42798, crimped on the ogive. So it wasn't a problem until a friend bought a New 1866 just as that chambering started in about 1992. 

I was teaching him to reload at the same time. All My .45Colt ammo was loaded with #454190, so this bullet was not a problem. 

We started loading with a commercially produced .45Colt bullet that My friend had purchased. And You guess it. TOO LONG.

A learning experience for both of us.

I've always relied on Lyman Cast Bullet Handbooks. They'll always tell you the truth.

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

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SkinnerD posted this 11 December 2022

@2frogs I'm interested in why 200gn in a 357? I run the same rifle, Rossi Puma 92, and use 158gn in it pretty much exclusively..in 38spl cases and 357mag. I hunt goats mainly but will also be targeting fallow and Sika deer next year. 158gn truncated cone powder coated flat points. Commercially made as have yet to get my casting up and running. But they hit super hard. We don't have dangerous game here other than feral boar but not sure I'd feel better off with 200gn over a 158. Do you have a particular reason to use 200gn? Cheers

John - New Zealand

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2frogs posted this 11 December 2022

Something different,I guess. Really don't know..I guess my love of the 38 cal. Cheers to you as well..

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