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Just Seeing These Slugs Benjamin .357, 147 Grain

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Looks like a decent hunting slug. I like the meplat. That ought to punch a nice hole. 100 for $49.99 that’s about $0.50 per slug. https://www.airgundepot.com/benjamin-flat-point-357cal-147gr-100ct.html

Anyone using these? Any Bulldog shooters? If so, what’s your impression?
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That works out to about $23.80 a pound.

The average price of lead per pound in the United States in 2021 was $1.10. there ain't no profit margin there is there? 😉
 
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Well you know the other side of that coin is if you want good stuff you have to pay a good price.

Of course the argument here is hey I got a tool up to make them. That cost money hey I got to pay shipping on the lead and that cost money. The profit margin isn't as high as I make it sound but they're not losing money either. 😁

I tell you if I was you and I wanted to shoot big bullets like that I'd be casting them.

I've got a couple of molds for 177 and 22 that I can cast pellets with in a pinch but I've never had very good luck with them because the casting such a small pellet is very difficult.


 
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That's a better price than the Nosler, but I just don't like what I'm seeing. Are they lubed or is that the bare lead we see in the photo?

Should I start selling the stuff I cast and use? I have a 125 grain that is accurate, but it is also one of my cheapest molds (from Lee Precision). Haven't tested the 155 grain for anything more than power (up at 200 fpe) and not really great in stock barrels. With small modifications the 125 round nose will go 185 fpe which is right where the Nosler shot with a stock Bulldog.

For the price of about 300 rounds, you can cast a similar thing, so I guess it depends on how much you shoot. At the price of the Nosler, it is far easier to justify casting over buying ($1 vs $0.10).

Going to 457 or larger and you would see a return much faster for casting.
 
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The 457 I saw on another seller looked, well, rough too. When my cast stuff starts looking like that, I drop the temperature and toss the frosted stuff in the reject pile.

Maybe they will be present at the airgun show in Baldwinsville at the end of July and I can look at them in person.

I haven't seen a mold that looks quite like this, but I bet if I looked around I could find one. It is almost a truncated spire point that you might find at NOE, drop a BB in the pointy end and you would have something close. I need to try this with a Lyman hollow point mold that I have, probably get a 140 grain result.
 
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@oldcrow Thanks I’ve actually looked at some of these, some Lymans, and a couple other brands. I just have zero experience using them and I haven’t spoken to anyone in depth about them. I’ve come across quite a few molds that I thought might work, I’m just totally ignorant in this area. I’ve watched videos and it looks easy, but I know it’s not as easy as it looks. So for now I buy slugs for experimenting and hunting. 
 
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It is not that hard casting either. I would suggest a Lee mold because with a small amount of prep to clean them and maybe smoke them, and you are going to be turning out stuff you can use. Of note, the Lee 356-125-2R has been very good for me at 50 yards, I have not tried taking it our farther yet. Accurate and simple to cast. Out of pure lead it will probably drop right around the size you need or .357. Of the molds that I've bought, the Lee stuff always seems to be easier to get goin. Only exception is the Accurate Molds .510 that I bought, it is definitely a cut above but it also costs 4 or 5 times more money.



I suggest getting 2 cavity molds. I find this to be the right amount of weight vs production. I have a 4 cavity Lyman steel mold, and it is just heavy, especially when you get the 4 155 grain cavities filled. I can turn out ammo with it, but I do not enjoy it as much as using the single cavity hollow point Lyman steel mold of similar design. The lighter aluminum molds with only 2 cavities are easy to use and I don't get fatigued using them. Part of this is getting older and getting joint issue, part of it is hand strength which seems to have gone away in the last couple of years. It also holds in my non-dominant hand which also doesn't help me. But I feel I can turn out just as much ammo from a 2 cavity mold as I can with that 4 cavity. I'm actually thinking about buying the 2 cavity version of that Lyman and selling the 4 cavity. I'll take a loss but I just don't like using that heavy mold as much as others.



Back to Lee, there is the above 125 grain, there is a 102 grain of similar design that I may buy, and there are a couple up in the 150 grain sizes that I may look at before the end of summer. Some of this depends on testing of the Lyman mentioned and a small NOE design that is 88 to 84 grains depending on the size of the hollow point. If both the Lyamn and the NOE work well, then I'm done experimenting.



Lube or powder coat what you cast, same for what you buy if they don't come lubed or coated. The pressures from these larger bores seems to cause more leading than smaller bores, so they need a little help. I have a lube I need to try, but so far powder coating and a decent barrel seems to be working really well.
 
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Looks like a decent hunting slug. I like the meplat. That ought to punch a nice hole. 100 for $49.99 that’s about $0.50 per slug. https://www.airgundepot.com/benjamin-flat-point-357cal-147gr-100ct.html

Anyone using these? Any Bulldog shooters? If so, what’s your impression?
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I just noticed these too, and am wondering the same thing. The eXTREMES worked great for me to about 40 yards. I did not test beyond. But I cannot find them anywhere.
 
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It is not that hard casting either. I would suggest a Lee mold because with a small amount of prep to clean them and maybe smoke them, and you are going to be turning out stuff you can use. Of note, the Lee 356-125-2R has been very good for me at 50 yards, I have not tried taking it our farther yet. Accurate and simple to cast. Out of pure lead it will probably drop right around the size you need or .357. Of the molds that I've bought, the Lee stuff always seems to be easier to get goin. Only exception is the Accurate Molds .510 that I bought, it is definitely a cut above but it also costs 4 or 5 times more money.



I suggest getting 2 cavity molds. I find this to be the right amount of weight vs production. I have a 4 cavity Lyman steel mold, and it is just heavy, especially when you get the 4 155 grain cavities filled. I can turn out ammo with it, but I do not enjoy it as much as using the single cavity hollow point Lyman steel mold of similar design. The lighter aluminum molds with only 2 cavities are easy to use and I don't get fatigued using them. Part of this is getting older and getting joint issue, part of it is hand strength which seems to have gone away in the last couple of years. It also holds in my non-dominant hand which also doesn't help me. But I feel I can turn out just as much ammo from a 2 cavity mold as I can with that 4 cavity. I'm actually thinking about buying the 2 cavity version of that Lyman and selling the 4 cavity. I'll take a loss but I just don't like using that heavy mold as much as others.



Back to Lee, there is the above 125 grain, there is a 102 grain of similar design that I may buy, and there are a couple up in the 150 grain sizes that I may look at before the end of summer. Some of this depends on testing of the Lyman mentioned and a small NOE design that is 88 to 84 grains depending on the size of the hollow point. If both the Lyamn and the NOE work well, then I'm done experimenting.



Lube or powder coat what you cast, same for what you buy if they don't come lubed or coated. The pressures from these larger bores seems to cause more leading than smaller bores, so they need a little help. I have a lube I need to try, but so far powder coating and a decent barrel seems to be working really well.
Click to expand...

Do you have info on powder coating or lubing? Can I use bore butter for example?
 
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@bd2021 Nosler Extremes did well for me out to about 65 yards from a stock Bulldog. At 70-75 yards they dropped significantly from what I recall.

3c8fb0c1-da7e-4d00-89a8-93b6f10267bb


I didn’t like how they started dropping so I’d limit them to no more than 60 yards. I’d like to see what you can get from yours and where your comfort zone is.

Check to see if they can be shipped to you. I haven’t seen a shipping warning like this one. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Benjamin-BPN357-Nosler-Extreme-357-Pellet-Lead-25-Count-Ammunition/19866112


 
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I hate to say this but, the airgun crowd is getting gouged to hell on big bore ammo. That bullet is the standard subsonic 9mm Para that has been used for decades. You can find it everywhere in 500 count boxes for the same price....maybee a bit more for the coated varient.
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@babaganoush I’m not surprised. Do you have a link to a reputable source?

edit: They do look very similar

C1987522-7439-4D72-A24A-7E2C6A86D21F.1650555150.jpeg



 
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