Cast Bullet Hardness vs Speed

[kynardsj]

I've read a lot of the previous posts but didn't find what I was looking for about cast bullet hardness. I use Lil Gun powder for my magnum loads in my 357's. All my guns shoot a .358 bullet and the barrel lengths are 4 and 6 1/2 inch revolvers and a 10 inch Contender. What hardness rating, BHN, should I stay at to keep from leading my barrels and at what point should I use a gas check bullet ? Thanks in advance.

[jhalcott]

YOUR guns may be different than MINE, but I use Wheel weight for loads to about 2000 FPS in several calibers. Lube and bullet fit are the most important things to look at when loading cast. One load will work very well in one gun and lead another for SOME reason. IF (big IF) the mold design calls for a gas check ,I use one.You may have to go to a harder alloy ,such as Lyman#2, to get highest velocity in your guns. Remember that revolvers and the Contender are different in that there is NO barrel/cylinder gap. Another thing is the difference in throats of the cylinders have to be considered. A HARDER bullet MAY cause more leading than a softer one.This is due to harder bullets NOT being able to "slug up" to fill the bore! In short, use wheel weight to start and work up to linotype for a really hard bullet IF needed.

[Lloyd Smale]

lil gun is a very hot burning powder and i dont use it much anymore because it causes throat errosion but if your going to use it you will benifit from shooting harder then normal bullets and you about for sure will need a gas checked bullet to get optimum accuracy and lack of leading. I would recomend at least an alloy like #2 that goes at least 16bhn and a gas check along with a good lube. What id really recomend is you dump the lilgun and try somehting like aa9 or 110 or 2400 or 4227 for your full power 357 loads.