Rossi Rifleman

After taking my pot to empty a couple months ago and cleaning it well, I tried again today. I wanted to better fit the pour valve to the seat to prevent leaks. I also redid all my molds and fixed them up back in the summer. Today was the test. The pot leaked much worse than ever before but the molds all performed very well. I haven't made .357s in a while and I didn't have many of these in stock so I used both of my two-hole Lee molds to pour a handful of each of these.




Feels good to be back among the reloaders of the world. Aside from commenting on this site and RD's other site, I really don't do any gun stuff other than buy things.

that top bullet looks a whole lot like the 358-158 RF I used to get from a local buddy. That particular bullet he made, even though just plain bevel base and not the highest consistency/quality, has been the best overall cast .357 bullet I've ever used. I've pushed them 1100 fps out of a 3" SP-101 and near 1700 fps in a 16" Rossi R92 with no issues .... and as accurate as any commercial cast, or jhp, I've loaded in the last (near) 9 years.


jd

Look great GG. Sorry to hear about the pot.

Ha! No worries about the pot. I'm a fixer and will get it right one day. I was proud of the molds though.

For what it's worth, the backdrop is an old cloth diaper (yes, my kids were breast fed, home schooled until elementary, and wore cloth diapers) I wet then wring out to use as a drop for most bullets I cast. For some rifle bullets I drop them into water. I use a plastic coffee can with some old 3T pajama pants cut to fit with a drop hole to minimize splatter. I wet the modified pants too so a missed drop doesn't burn through.

I also use silicone cookie sheets in may applications to keep hot stuff off my wooden top bench. Some of you might try those for powder coating or I will one day when I decide to try PC.

Good morning
After lapping the "pore valve" we also added some lead weight to the handle so there was more down pressure.
Being a round ball shooting in muzzle loaders and shotguns there was no problem adding weight. A caliber .72 round ball was first drilled slightly small that handle rod diameter. Then like "split shot" cut to the drilled holed. Pry open some and crimp on.
Our Lee pots finally stopped leaking.

That is a great idea!

It's been too long since I posted it so no one remembers but mine has a custom handle. I made and installed the handle before the pot ever melted lead the first time.

I bored a 1" diameter dowel then poured it full of lead. I stained it then cut a shorter 1" dowel for a cap then stained it a different color and glued it over the lead. I drilled and tapped the other end and threaded it in place of the original handle.

None of that helped the drip in the least but it looks cool.

Nice handle! That is a lot of splattering around the pot!

The spatter is because of and indicative of how badly it leaks.

Those bullets came out perfect.
good sharp edges.
Wish mine came out that good.