help with info on a couple of Strange Molds Pic included

[Smoke4320]

a friend of mine was cleaning up his reloading room and came across 2 old molds that have NO marking .. he had forgotten why/when or where they came from.
we cast 1 bullet and have attached a pic of said bullet
Both are of the same design .. 1 is 357 caliber and 1 44 Caliber Both are sharp pointed
like the pic..
any help with ID' ing the maker or even the practical intended use ( please no pun intended) would be appreciated
129499

[Dusty Bannister]

Lyman 45th shows a 429303 at 200 grains with this form.

[Dusty Bannister]

ABC's of Reloading (probably first edition) shows a Lyman 35893 at 125 grains with this form.

edit: Yes, texassako is correct. That would be the current number for the same mold. At some point, they merely added the "0" to make a 5 digit number into the current 6 digit number.

[texassako]

Lyman 358093 on the .357 one.

[Smoke4320]

Wow That was quick .
I really appreciate all the Info.
Will pass it along to him ..
Thanks

[runfiverun]

now I don't remember the nick-name of those molds.
anyway they were designed for penetration and to bust things.

[FLHTC]

The penetration tests were with steel plates if I recall correctly. I would imagine that a hard mix would punch through Kevlar too, if it was necessary. An early edition(1980's)of The ABC's of Reloading featured both of those bullets and their designer. I had the 357 mold at one time but really had no use for it so up the road it went.

[rintinglen]

Velo-pen, IIRC, is what the designer, Carl Hudson called them. I think there was an article by Mr. Hudson in the Lyman 1st Edition Cast Bullet Handbook. I wanted to try the 358-093 but never found one for sale at a price I was willing to pay.

[Smoke4320]

Great info .. I greatly appreciate all the responses

Just goes to show all the knowledge on this board

[Shuz]

I've had the 429303 in both DC and 4C, and neither one would drop boolits cleanly from the mould due to the deep loobe grooves that would cause hang ups. The design calls for a gas check, so being the frugal(ok cheap) guy that I am, I decided to PB the DC mould. Neither the PB boolits or the gas checked boolits, with or without gas checks, shot to my satisfaction in any of my .44 mag revolvers, so I sold or traded off both, and have never regretted it. YMMV.

[beagle]

Both designs carried too much lube. I unloaded my 429303 DC on Shuz. See it didn't do well for him either. I had the 358093 and it didn't impress me so I removed the GC shank and tried it in the 9mm. No joy there either.

I wish you better luck than I had. They have to be driven fast and I found that Lyman's seating depth was critical./beagle

[45 2.1]

I would imagine that a hard mix would punch through Kevlar too, if it was necessary.

It does... in spades. A know several LEO that got several samples when that material came available. They found an ice pick would go thru it as well as the Fairbain-Sykes daggers. I showed them what these Lyman numbers would do... at 38 & 44 Special velocities.


Both designs carried too much lube.

You have to remember what was available when these were designed and made. Use those lubes and all was fine... use a modern high viscosity lube and you would be correct. Use a low viscosity lube that predates the 50/50 Alox/Beeswax and things work right.

[HATCH]

Bet it would work great with a coating

[Smoke4320]

Bet it would work great with a coating

Something I am going to try if I can convince the owner to let me cast 100 or so for testing

[phaessler]

Carl Hudson creations....

[Smoke4320]

phaessler
Thank you very much for that article

[Sgt Petro]

Regardless the design or claimed "performance" features, it's a fun bullet. You'll always get a few looks on the range when you pull a box of those out! Always an excellent way to entertain yourself with the more "gullible" shooters :)

On a side note, because of their unique look, they always get top dollar on eBay. I've seen them gor for between $90 and $175.