Lee Loader

I seem to remember that I have mentioned this bullet a time or two. This morning I finally had the opportunity to kill a deer with one of these bullets, RD's 375, FNGC, weighing 230 Grs. from my mould with my particular alloy.

I was hunting with my son this morning and had the deer come in from my lower left to my upper right, stopping about 50 yds away.The range was short, about 50 yds, with a slight positive angle. At the shot the deer crashed to the ground then slid down the mountainside and ended up on a tram road, dead as can be.

The rifle used is my 336A, formerly a 30-30 with a 24" barrel. About 5-6 years back I sent it to Marlin to rebarrel it to the great 38-55. This was going to be my go to rifle for hunting. I owned this rifle for a very few years before I had it converted and truly love it.

Thank you Ranch Dog for designing this bullet. Most of the time I use various powders in my 38-55s but with this conversion I only use IMR 3031 and am always pleased with the results. Saved this bit of news for last, I have two moulds for this bullet, the one I use and the other is for using this bullet for the rest of my days.

Sorry no pics. My son, who is also my butcher, said as we were cleaning up the area, we forgot to take pictures. Again, Sorry.

Outstanding! I think the 38-55 & 375 Win are very overlooked and some of the best whitetail out there.

Getting ready to send my Glenfield 30 to JES to rebore to a 38-55/375. Will be a cast bullet shooter (almost) exclusively. Looking forward to it.

One question - Jesse said that the Lee dies size the cases too much, and recommended RCBS dies. Any experience one way or the other here? Thanx

I haven't heard that about the Lee dies but I use the RCBS Cowboy dies and never full length resize. I only size about 3/4 of an inch which is enough to securely hold any bullet that I shoot. Of course I crimp the bullet in place too.

PM me your email addy and I will send you a copy of the loading procedure I use, which was given to me from a bullet mfgr.

Frank

oscarflytyer wrote:Getting ready to send my Glenfield 30 to JES to rebore to a 38-55/375. Will be a cast bullet shooter (almost) exclusively. Looking forward to it.

One question - Jesse said that the Lee dies size the cases too much, and recommended RCBS dies. Any experience one way or the other here? Thanx

Hmmm, I use the Lee dies on both my 375 & 38-55 Win with Winchester brass and have not had any issues with case life. I'm not using a real "fat" bullet because my rifles do not require it. My 38-55 Win is a JES rebore on a Rossi Rio Grande. That rifle has a .366" bore and .376" groove so it is more than satisfied with a .378" bullet.

Ranch Dog wrote:

oscarflytyer wrote:Getting ready to send my Glenfield 30 to JES to rebore to a 38-55/375. Will be a cast bullet shooter (almost) exclusively. Looking forward to it.

One question - Jesse said that the Lee dies size the cases too much, and recommended RCBS dies. Any experience one way or the other here? Thanx

Hmmm, I use the Lee dies on both my 375 & 38-55 Win with Winchester brass and have not had any issues with case life. I'm not using a real "fat" bullet because my rifles do not require it. My 38-55 Win is a JES rebore on a Rossi Rio Grande. That rifle has a .366" bore and .376" groove so it is more than satisfied with a .378" bullet.

Thanx Mike. This is exactly what my setup will be, including the Lee .378" mold. Jesse DID say that older Lee dies were an issue, and he did not know if the newer ones were better. Mine are new Lee dies. Gonna stick with them.

And, sounds like you had yours bored like I am going to do mine. Said he can run a 38-55 reamer, then follow with a 375 reamer and can shoot either/or/both. Thanx for the feedback!

Steelbanger wrote:I haven't heard that about the Lee dies but I use the RCBS Cowboy dies and never full length resize. I only size about 3/4 of an inch which is enough to securely hold any bullet that I shoot. Of course I crimp the bullet in place too.

PM me your email addy and I will send you a copy of the loading procedure I use, which was given to me from a bullet mfgr.

Frank

PM sent - Thanx!