Lyman 358156 mold [Archive]

Harry

03-13-2009, 03:07 PM

I have an old Ideal/Lyman mold from the mid '50s. It is clean the vent grooves are all open. I cast some boolits last week using pure ww's (no other alloys added). I air dropped them. Today I tried to size one in my 45 lubricator/sizer with a 358 H & I die. It was almost impossible to get it through. So, I measured several and found them all to be around .363. No wonder I almost broke the table trying to size. Why would my 358 mold be dropping ww at 363? I'm new at this, so I must be missing something. The boolits all have good fill, and barely visible seam. The mold was my dad's, so I'm sure it has not been beagled.

runfiverun

03-13-2009, 03:23 PM

it is probably for the 38 s&w not the 38 special.

BABore

03-13-2009, 03:37 PM

I bought a 1C 358156 mold to HP. It went about that size too. They vary and it was probably a new cherry. Size them right away and maybe put a spray lube on them like Hornady One-Shot. I use a push thru sizer on most everything and lube in a oversized die so to avoid such things.

leftiye

03-13-2009, 03:43 PM

Good self portrait there in your avatar Bruce! :kidding:

mroliver77

03-13-2009, 03:43 PM

My 358156 drops around .360. It is 4 cav lyman. I am looking for a single to hollow point and will watch for oversized. I size my boolits .360 to match my Astra's throats.
Jay

Harry

03-13-2009, 05:49 PM

Runfiverun,
I believe my dad would have bought the mold for his 357/38spl S&W Highway Patrolman (which I now have).
Is there that much difference in the bore dia. of a 38 S&W vs a 38spl/357mag?

high standard 40

03-13-2009, 06:27 PM

SAAMI spec on the 38 S&W called for a bullet diameter of .361

Bret4207

03-13-2009, 07:05 PM

If it was a Special Order oversize mould for the 38S+W (.361) then it would have an "S" after the mould #, ie- 358156S. At least that's the way the story goes.

Rather than lament over that fat mould, consider selling or trading to someone who needs and oversize or "fat" mould, like myself and other guys who shoot 38S+W's. The Lyman 358156 is still cataloged and will probably be among the last boolits Lyman ever removes from the list.

MT Gianni

03-13-2009, 08:07 PM

If the sizing die was your dad's too it may be an older step down style. Modern dies have a taper and I have sized .363 to .358 OK with them.

David R

03-14-2009, 08:06 AM

Case sizing lube makes them slide right in the sizer die. I hit the pile with some One Shot. It makes my life easier. Just like BABore sez.

David :)

runfiverun

03-14-2009, 11:48 AM

a new sizing die with the taper is an option if it messes up the boolits too much pan lubing then sizing might help too [with the new sizing die]
one other thing ,have you measured your gun to see if the bigger boolits will fit? or maybe a 359-60.
my star would just size them down dry but with a bit of oomph.
and even if you do size them to 358 i bet they grow back up a least a thou.
a bit of dish soap and water will help too i have sized down flat sided boolits 3 thou with this mix about 4 parts water to 1 soap.

codgerville@zianet.com

03-14-2009, 02:39 PM

Was someone looking for a 358156 HP mold? I have one, an old Ideal, doesn't even have Lyman's name on it. Don't use it anymore.

Harry

03-28-2009, 04:45 PM

dwtim

03-28-2009, 06:28 PM

My '156 drops at .359" to .360", but it's been worked over to remove rust.

If you make a dummy round with the big bullets, and they chamber, then they should work fine in your M28. If they chamber but they're tight, then you're going to have problems as the gun gets dirty. If they don't chamber all the way, then you have a big problem.

Safety would be an issue if you plan on loading them to the maximum.

softpoint

03-28-2009, 10:46 PM

I once cast some of the 310 grain Lee .45 cal. bullets, the mold had a little burr and wasn't closing quite all the way. I wasn't getting fins or anything, But when I tried to size those things I nearly couldn't push them through the sizer. Checked the mold and found the problem right away (after casting about 400 bullets!) Be sure and check to see if there is a burr , or little piece of foreign material holding the blocks apart a few thousandths:Fire:

rhead

03-29-2009, 06:38 AM

Still sorting out this sizing issue. My S&W Highway Patrolman cylinders measure 0.3570-0.3575. Is it safe to have a cast boolit 0.002 larger (0.359) than cylinder dia.? If so, I will get a 0.359 H&I die to size these 0.362-3 boolits. I measured several of them and found that the OD of the upper rings are 0.362 to 0.363 while the back of the boolit is around 0.359. This was a suprise, as I thought the dia. would be the same the full length of the boolit. Any thoughts?

The 38 Smith and Wesson cartridge, for a revolver chamberedfor that cartridge. not a Smith and Wesso revolver chambered for the 38 Special. I haven't seen any on the shelf in years but it may still be available as a special order. The powerlevels were some less than the 38 special.

Harry

03-29-2009, 02:35 PM

rhead,
I'm a little confused. The 358156 mold is shown on the Lyman chart from the 41st edition handbook as being made for the 38 special ( bracketed along with 357 mag, 38 auto, 380 auto, etc.) as well as being listed in the 38 spec. standard load table as 158 grain Thompson cast gas check #358156 (p. 117). This same mold number is also listed in the 38 spec high vel. table (p. 118)as a 150 Grain Thompson H.P. Gas Check #358156 and 158 grain Thompson Cas Plain Base #358156. How can the same mold # be gas check and plain base, as well as 158 gr. and 150 gr. My WW cast 358156 boolits are weighing around 160 to 161 grains. I will purchase the .359 H&I sizers and use case sizing lube to size these boolits. I may recast them and size them right after casting, rather than wait 2 or 3 weeks. I'm new and trying to learn the ropes. Within safe limits, I guess experience is a good teacher.
As to the difference in diameter of the forward portion of the body to the back end, is this normal ( .363 vs .359 )?

Firebird

03-29-2009, 03:33 PM

Prior to Lyman becoming part of corporate America a lot of the Lyman molds that were listed as being 358" for the 38 Special, 357 Magnum etc could be custom ordered for the old 38 S&W cartridge which takes a .360-.361" bullet. Sometimes Lyman would change the 358xxx mold number to 360xxx when stamping these molds, sometimes they didn't.

mainiac

03-29-2009, 05:20 PM

I have an old 358156 that casts .364, it is by far the most accurate boolit i ever fired in any of my .357,s. Dont bother me any sizing down to .359 in 2 different lube/sizers....

Char-Gar

03-29-2009, 11:28 PM

Lyman 358156 was designed by Ray Thomson for the .357 Magnum. It has two crimp grooves. The bullet can be used in either the 357 Mag. case of the 38 Special case. When used in the 38 Special case and crimped in the bottom groove, the round has the same length at a 357 round and the same powder capacity. When the bullets is crimped on the top groove in 38 Special cases, the rounds will chamber in 38 Special handguns.

This bullet would have to be included in anyone's list of great all time cast bullet designs.

As to the chart in Lyman 41, Lyman was very generous in their notions of what bullet would function in what roiund.

I have a 4 cavity mold that cast bulets .361. Sound like your mold was cut with a new cherry. Lyman keep sharpending these things, and each time the bullet cavity got smaller. When the cherry was sharpened for the last time, the did a run of molds and marked them "U" for undersized.

There is no problem to size a .363 bullet down to .358, jut get a Lee push through size die and you are in business. It is a better way to size anyway.

Char-Gar

03-29-2009, 11:42 PM

Harry, there is no problems shooting cast bullets larger than charge hole throat diamter. They will size down as they go through, and there will be no pressure problems in doing so.

Knowledgable folks with several sixguns in the same caliber size the bullets to fit the one with the largest cylinder throats.

I have numerous revolvers (Colt and Smith and Wesson) in 357 Mag. or 38 Special. Their cylinder throats run from .356 to .359. The barrel groove diameters run from .354 to .358. I size all of my bullets .359 and don't worry about which sixgun they go in.

I have several 44 Mag and 44 Special sixguns that run from .430 to .432 in the cylinder throats and .429 to 431 in the barrel grooves. I size all of my bullets .432 and shoot them in any of the pistols.

I size all of my 45 colt and 45 Auto rim bullets. 454 and have no problems.

This bullet sizing business is made far to complex and many folks get confused and frustrated.

cptkeybrd

05-02-2009, 12:26 AM

Are all Lyman 358156 moulds, gas checks? I have 2 DC's and they look the same.

stubshaft

05-02-2009, 12:51 AM

My old (1980) 358156 dfrops at .360 with straight Lino. If I use WW it comes in at .358.

1Shirt

05-02-2009, 08:55 AM

Agree with Charger! One of the finest blts that ever came out of a Lyman Mold.
1Shirt!:coffee:

TREERAT

05-02-2009, 10:55 AM

codgerville: (Was someone looking for a 358156 HP mold? I have one, an old Ideal, doesn't even have Lyman's name on it. Don't use it anymore.)

I am interested please pm me, thanks

Tazman1602

01-05-2010, 07:18 PM

Rex

01-06-2010, 01:31 PM

I have a one hole 358156 Lyman that drops wheel weights .360. Sure wish it had two holes.
Rex

Tazman1602

01-20-2010, 03:53 AM

Can this bullet be used in .357 without the GC as long as you'r not pushing it too hard?

Bass Ackward

01-20-2010, 07:49 AM

Can this bullet be used in .357 without the GC as long as you'r not pushing it too hard?

Many have. You just have to try it.

Tazman1602

01-20-2010, 10:56 AM

Many have. You just have to try it.

I pretty much thought so Bass, thanks. Leading isn't an issue with me. One wrap of bronze wool around a jag, little hoppes #9 or Barnex copper/lead solvent, three strokes and it's gone.

Got some GC's coming just don't want to wait to try these.......casting is funny. A grown man acting like a little kid at Christmas..............