Lets talk about the 38-40 again....

[Harry O]

I ran across a bunch of 180gr 38-40 bullets from Cheyenne casting cheap a while back and finally got around to loading and shooting them. I used 6.0gr of Trail Boss powder. It filled the case about 80% full with the bullet seated and metered well. Accuracy was certainly acceptable and at least as good as anything I have tried before (and better than most). In the past I have used the Lyman 40143 and 401452 with BP, 5744, Unique, W231 and Bullseye.

I am wondering about the Cheyenne bullet. I would like to get a mould like it. It has a round nose with a flat tip. It has a small bevel on the base, one lube groove ahead of that, an angled crimping groove ahead of that, and a small driving band ahead of that. The key is the crimping band. I have looked in my catalogs (including NEI, LBT, and Ballisticast) and found only TWO bullets currently available that have one. Neither looks like the Cheyenne bullet.

One is the RCBS Cowboy mould. It does not have the driving band ahead of the crimping groove. It looks like it has a flat base, which is good, though. The other is the Saeco #401. The crimping groove looks small and square on that one. The driving band is larger, which is good.

Any clues on what they use?

[shooter93]

Either one really...the round nose flat point is a traditional type bullet used a lot in Cowboy action shooting. LBT will make anything you want though. A keith type or LBT's LFN's and WFN's work well in handguns too. I don't know what you're shooting it in but my SAA's I shoot 8 brains of unique into 1.5 inches at 25 yds.

[Slowpoke]

Does it look like this one

http://www.magmaengineering.com/bulletmolds.php?bm=3840

[405]

Harry O,
A similar thread is down under the "Leverguns" category. I don't mold (40 cal) 38-40 but shoot the cartridge quite a lot. The best , by far, low pressure, low velocity bullet I've found for my .401 rifles and revolvers is made by Desperado. It is 180gr and sized .401 and soft cast. I'll link the pic in here of that bullet for reference. I don't know the mold they use but it is traditional in style and is flat based. The base bearing band is fairly wide and robust and the front bearing band just ahead of the crimp groove is not significant...... almost a bore riding nose??
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6133&d=1201402732

[Harry O]

Does it look like this one

http://www.magmaengineering.com/bulletmolds.php?bm=3840

That looks just like it.

[Harry O]

Harry O,
A similar thread is down under the "Leverguns" category. I don't mold (40 cal) 38-40 but shoot the cartridge quite a lot. The best , by far, low pressure, low velocity bullet I've found for my .401 rifles and revolvers is made by Desperado. It is 180gr and sized .401 and soft cast. I'll link the pic in here of that bullet for reference. I don't know the mold they use but it is traditional in style and is flat based. The base bearing band is fairly wide and robust and the front bearing band just ahead of the crimp groove is not significant...... almost a bore riding nose??
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6133&d=1201402732

That looks even better. I prefer flat bases to bevel bases, although I have not actually tested two of them head-to-head. Any idea if the mould is available anywhere?

[Harry O]

LBT will make anything you want though. A keith type or LBT's LFN's and WFN's work well in handguns too.

I don't think that Veral does any custom moulds since he got out of jail. In any case, Veral's bullets don't work well in lever actions (at least the wide meplat ones). I do have a lever-action in 38-40, also.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

I've been shooting the 401043 in my lever gun. Cycles really nice and very accurate for CAS style shooting. My only issue is that I have the 2 cavity mold and really need the 4 cavity so I can produce a lot faster.

Anyhow, I tumble lube them with JPW. The bullets cycle nicely in my Uberti 73 and clean up is almost nil.

[Harry O]

Blcackhawk: I have had problems with that one setting back in the case in a lever gun when using smokeless powder. No problem with a compressed case of BP, though. That is pretty messy, though, and will bind up my revolvers pretty fast. I wonder if Starline has a thick enough neck to keep that from happening?

[405]

Harry O,
Here's a link to Desperado. Might browse their site, give em a call see what they say. No, I'm not a rep or employed by Desperado:mrgreen:

http://www.cowboybullets.com/index.html