stumpy

I would have considered going, but this is the heart of deer season.  It's all about priorities.  The deer woods are my laboratory - for testing a new rifle, or a new load, or a new scope, or a new whatever.  With so many new tests to perform, there is very little chance I would go to a show between early November and sometime in January.    Stumpy

There used to be only taper and roll crimp dies available, now we have the Lee factory crimp die.  No, I don't have one of these and have never seen a case that has been passed through one but have to expect it would give results very similar to a taper crimp die.  Musicman said it right, all you need to do is remove the flare from the mouth of the case.  Die adjustment can be a bit of a challenge for this without an accurate measuring tool like a micrometer or dial caliper.  Your bullet diameter should be .356", and the case walls about .010" at the mouth of the case.  Final crimped diameter for the case mouth should be right at.376" (remember, you are measuring 2 case wall sections - on both sides of a single bullet).  If the loaded case measures larger than that you may have feed issues.  Feed is also affected by the overall loaded length of your ammo, and again by the profile of the bullet nose.  Taper crimp dies are available as a single item, are not all that expensive, and Midsouth should have them in stock.  I have bought several Lee taper crimp dies over the years and find them excellent at giving perfect results when correctly adjusted.   Stumpy

I left the CTD bandwagon (as did a friend who also was their customer) several years ago when they started playing games with their pricing.  There are too many other places to shop and be treated fairly in pricing than to maintain any loyalty to a business that has none for me.  I'm not going back.  When I receive one of their brochures in the mail it goes straight into File 13, unopened and unread.   Stumpy

I loaded 125, 158 and 180 grain cast bullets in 357 cases for a Rossi Trapper, off to the range for accuracy tests.  By far and away the 158 grain gave the tightest groups.  The mold pattern was the Lyman 358156, a gas check semi-wadcutter, wheelweight alloy, crimped in the top groove to give the shortest loaded length.  These cycled through the Rossi without any problems.  Sorry, I don't have the load data nearby, but remember this was a stout load (they all were) and would be perfectly satisfactory for hunting.  I would expect the same results with reduced recreational loads in this rifle.   Stumpy

Like primers, the issue with powder availability is a supply-and-demand story.  When the rush began and reloaders bought the store shelves clean, the components manufacturers were unable to satisfy the demand.  Their productiion could not keep up with the buyers' appetite for more and more and more components.  The wholesalers brought in their own response to ease the recovery.  It is rationing.  In times past when a supplier posted they had a product in stock any retailer could buy up all they could afford.  That has changed.  Now the wholesalers have the title "Allocated" beside the product they have in stock.  If the retailer has been a continuous customer with a respectable volume of purchases from the wholesaler they might get a portion of what is in stock, but not all they want.  As for the new customers, and the small volume dealers, they are routinely denied access to these rare products.  Sounds stingy, but at least the wholesalers are able to spread out their inventory to more of their established customers rather than flooding all they have to 1 or 2 who then may charge bootleg prices ans saying "we have it if you really want it" kind of marketing.  Be patient, I am seeing more and more powders and primers offered by wholesalers as time passes.  This is something like waiting for Christmas morning.   Stumpy

Sup[erduty, you did not mention the rifle you are using, also whether this is a recreation load or an accuracy hunting load you need.  As for the cost factor, you will save $$$ loading for both applications.  The down side is finding the correct components, at an agreeable price, in your quantities.  Such is the nature of the industry at this time.    I am loading hunting loads for a scoped AR upper (unknown manufacturer, was an estate find) over a Rock River lower.  After comparing H4198, BLC2 and H335 at the range, the clear choice was H335 for this project.  My load detail is a Hornady 123 grain .311 diameter bullet, Hodgdon's recommended top load of 31.5 grains of H335, and care in COL so the bullet will chamber (short leade in this barrel).  Groups routinely hover at 1-1.2 inch 5-shot groups if I do my part.  You will find a lot of reloading data on the Hodgdon web site (data.hodgdon.com) to give you options for powder, given the current scarcity issues.    Some time in the future I will work with cast bullets in this rifle, Lyman mold 311410. This is just one of the many projects on my to-do list, along with so many others.   If you wish to dive into casting, the best resource for support is the Castboolits website (castboolits.gunloads.com).  I spend more time on this site than any other.    Good luck with your project.   Stumpy