Need to identify three Ideal moulds - need some help please

[BigSlick]

Hey guys,

Need some help identifying a few moulds

All are Ideal moulds :

358-242174

358-439567

0358-40043

I can't find a listing on any of them in the info I have on hand, (which is limited of course).

Thought some of you with a little more history under your belt can help me figure out what these are.

I have a chance to pick these up (in excellent shape) from a friend of mine up North, but would rather see em go to someone who can/will use them instead of just store them if I can't use em.

He's pretty adamant about them going to someone who will use em, instead of just putting em up for sale. He's getting on in years and has finally decided his casting days are behind him.

He's been a good friend, for a long time and I want to make sure I can use em if I tell him I can. He's tried, but can't remember what bullets they turn out. The moulds are in his storage closet at home, and it looks like he's gonna be makin the full time move to a retirement home when he gets outta the hospital. Can't take care of himself alone, and his kids ain't worth powder to blow em all to hell.

If it turns out they aren't anything I can currently use, but are decent bullets, I might just hafta buy me a gun or two to go with em ;)

Otherwise it'll help him remember what they are so he can get them to one of his other friends.

Thanks for the help fellas :drinks:
________
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[Blackhawk Convertable]

This will help:

http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm

[Adam10mm]

That first one might be a 90gr RN like the RCBS 38-95-RN.

The Lyman number was 358242.

[floodgate]

Big Slick:

I think the numbers have gotten a bit scrambled. The six (sometimes four or five, on older moulds) large numbers stamped on one block (usually the one with the sprueplate pivot) are the actual mould numbers; the smaller numbers stamped on BOTH blocks - usually lower down - are "match numbers" to keep the blocks of a pair together, Other little numbers and letters identify the cherry and its maker, and the cutting machine and its operator, and other miscellaneous identifiers.

I interpret these as:

#358242 - 92 or 121-gr. .38 Spl. RN plain base (it came in two lengths).

#358439 - 158 gr., hollow-base (to make it lighter) version of the 172-gr. Keith .38/.357 SWC - this is a rather scarce one.

If the last three numbers on these (174, 567) appear on both blocks, these are th match numbers.

The third one is harder to "decode"; it MAY be the #40043 172-gr. RN FP for the .38-40 (also sometimes listed as #40143 plain base, and the first three may be the match number. Check these out on the Three Peaks or Castpics site and see if they check out.

floodgate

[9.3X62AL]

Slick--

I thought I sent ya a PM at GTR about this. It's hell to get old, memory has more holes than a Michigan farm country stop sign.

[Glen]

Floodgate -- You're close, but not quite right. The 358439 is the Keith hollow-point, not the hollow-base. The hollow-base bullet is the 358431. The 358439 is one of my all-time favorite bullets for hunting vermin with handguns.

I can find no reference to a 358400 (or any mould with a 400 cherry number for that matter), so I think you're right about that one too Floodgate, I bet it's the 40043 for the .38-40.

[floodgate]

Glen:

You're right about the hollow point vs. hollow base for the #358439. None of the Ideal references I had handy state which is which, and the HP is usually designated #358429HP. I had the info on ...439 somewhere else, but couldn't find it in a hurry, so guessed at it, with predictable results!

In my tables of Ideal/Lyman moulds by cherry number, there WAS a #452400 listed from 1962 - 1980, "Same as #452374 [the "standard" hardball profile] except for a slight front band [a very narrow bore diameter band just ahead of the crimp groove]". It is shown in the 1958 First Edition Lyman "Handbook of Cast Bullets", p. 159.

Fg

[Glen]

Well, there you go! I thought I had run across a 400 cherry number somewhere, but I couldn't find it anywhere, and in the 46th edition (where they list all the known cherry numbers) there wasn't anything listed for 400. I even looked in the 1958 Handbook of Cast Bullets, but I was looking in the .358 section. Thanks for pointing that out Floodgate.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

This is definitely the original Ideal mold for the 38-40 WCF. It was carried forward by the Lyman Corp as a single cav with the same designation after the 50's and eventually was updated to the number 401043 which is currently still in production. It is now a 2 cav that with WW casts at .403 which is particularly advantageous for use in the older Winchester rifles like the 73 or the 92 when the bore is a bit worn. It also works well in 10mm auto and the S&W 40.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

If that last one is a 4 cavity and IS 40 cal, I would sure like a chance at it.