38 s&w

[linus9]

does anyone know where to get the mold for the correct bullet for the 38 S&W? i dont like shooting .358 bullets and i cant seem to find the correct .361 146 gr lrn bullets.

mike

[jdgabbard]

There are a couple of places to go. But what I would do is go to Mountain Molds' Website and design one. You can get up to a three cavity, and specify weight and type. Check it out.

[beagle]

Find you a 358311 and 'beagle" it and it will get you started. Close enough to start with./beagle

[kyle623]

this may or may not help. I took a lee .358 mold, cast some boolits and then lapped the molds with valve lapping compound to open them up. works fine in my enfield no1 mk2

[Edubya]

I can't believe that someone hasn't referred you to: http://www.castpics.net/memberarticles/Bare%20Bottomed%20358156HP.htm
One of the above respondents is the author of this.

EW

[kywoodwrkr]

How close of a match would this be?
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=17952&highlight=steen
Most folks said the sprue plates on these were not drilled adequately for good base fill out. New plate might solve this.
FWIW

[linus9]

maybe im being stubborn, but i want the original type of high domed, round nosed bullets used on the factory 38 S&W, but in .361 and i cant find it anywhere. i used to be able to buy the correct bullets at gun shows, but i havnt seen them for a while. im looking into the mountain molds website to see if i can get close, but they all seem to be flat point.

still lookin.

mik

[beagle]

Yeah, that one would work but that's probably a mould that you'd not encounter very often as must of my 358156s cast smaller./beagle


I can't believe that someone hasn't referred you to: http://www.castpics.net/memberarticles/Bare%20Bottomed%20358156HP.htm
One of the above respondents is the author of this.

EW

[jdgabbard]

maybe im being stubborn, but i want the original type of high domed, round nosed bullets used on the factory 38 S&W, but in .361 and i cant find it anywhere. i used to be able to buy the correct bullets at gun shows, but i havnt seen them for a while. im looking into the mountain molds website to see if i can get close, but they all seem to be flat point.

still lookin.

mik

Linus, if you're wanting the "Same Type" of boolits that were originally loaded, they I'd have to agree with you're opinion that you're being a bit picky. Unfortunately this is one of the times when that type of mold is just not commonly available. Take that for what its worth.

If you are wanting that kind of high dome boolit, I would do like is mentioned above: Get either a Lyman 358311, or a Lee 358-150-1R and lap the molds. Doing so will give you up to .002 extra. Which should throw you in the .360-.361 area depending on "as cast" size...

But honestly what I think you should do is contact mountain molds. Thats just about the only place that is going to be able to sell you a mold in the weight AND diameter you need. The problem, you're not going to get a "high domed round nose" from them. This is where you're going to need to not be so picky....

Just my .02

[happy7]

Linus,

I was like you and I wanted an original bullet. Lyman did make a mold that casts a correct looking bullet. It is the 35864. The 358246 was also listed in early handbooks as for the 38 S&W. However, neither of these molds normally drop big enough in diameter, for whatever reason. If you can find a 35864 on ebay, you could beagle it though and that might be a good option. However, finding one is very difficult. From what I have seen, they come up for auction like once a year. You can find a picture of the 35864 on castpics.net

I solved the problem by running a group buy for a Lee six cavity copy of the Lyman 35864. The only difference is that it drops at .363. We only had about 15 of these made and so you are not likely to be able to get your hands on one of them. Lee will make you a custom mold for 150 dollars and I would be willing to send you a copy of the drawing, if I can find it.

Another option is to watch ebay for one of the old ideal tong tools that have a mold on them. These are all single cavity molds and usually come with reloading capability as well. They do come up regularly, but usually go for over $50. In my experience with a couple of them, they do cast .360 or better, but there are no guarantees.

Finally, I have not found that these bullets shoot that well. Softer alloys do seem to work better, though. If you want something that shoots accurately, I would recommend just buying a couple boxes of the Hornady hollowbase wadcutters. They are probably your best bet and they will expand into the rifling. You could also get a 358395 mold to cast your own, but they are also hard to find (although a lot more common than the 35864) and are tedious to cast. I am currently trying to get Mihec to make us a 4 cavity cramer version.

[lathesmith]

If you are looking for something in the 200-grain, .363 range, the slug on the right is the GB mold that happy7 was referring to. I've seen one of these float around occasionally, but they may be a little hard to come by. The slug on the left is the Lee GB 358430, not quite right for 38S&W, though it will work in a pinch. I'm definitely fond of my S&W GB mold, it feeds an old-time S&W and ain't going anywhere.

lathesmith

[happy7]

Actually Lathesmith, that is the second group buy I did for the 38 S&W. The first was a copy of the 35864, a 145 grain boolit. The second is the one you show, a 200 grain.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=173675

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm157/happyjoyfully/Img_7063.jpg


The boolit on the left is the 200 gr group buy I ran, the same as pictured by lathesmith above. The second from left is the 145 grain group buy I ran. Both drop at .363. The second from the right is a 358246, and the far right is a bullet pulled from a Remington 38 S&W factory round.

[lathesmith]

Yes, I forgot about that 145-grainer, it should work great as a more"traditional" S&W load for the tons of pocket pistols out there in this caliber. Good work!

lathesmith

[BCall]

Wish I could find one of those lighter ones, or maybe get another group buy for one? Thanks, Billy

[happy7]

You might approach NOE about a group buy. This is the kind of mold that does not sell in great numbers (like a 44 cal mold will), but there will always be some demand for it so it would be a good stock item for NOE to carry.

[Johnny_Cyclone]

I'd jump in on a NOE group buy of the 145gr style in an 3cav Hollow pointing one cavity.

Now, if it could be had with a crimp groove like the the 200gr or the Remington.
I might even go RG2 with optional extra pins. Just ta make it look all mean and nasty..dang..I'm gettin' all tingly just thinkin' about it.

[Hip's Ax]

Here's the link to happy7's 38 S&W group buy. The drawing is still there.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=15478

[jimb16]

Has anyone tried the lighter 9mm Mak bullets? Those should at least be the right diameter.

[Bret4207]

The Lee 9mm Mak is right diameter wise, but it's a good 40 grs light. The Lyman 360271 is another possibility, but getting a "fat one" is luck of the draw. Many run much closer to .359 than .361 and the "S" or "U" markings on the mould (360271S) tend to mean they run skinny. That's a SWC by the way.

[cast367]

In the past I cast the 168 grs SWC Keith bullit for the M&P 10 S&W.
Its works very well

[anachronism]

If you can find one, an "Ideal" made 358311 might throw big enough bullets for your purpose. I say this because I've noticed that many of the Ideal marked moulds I've purchased over the years were pretty generous on bullet diameter. They are heavier than you're looking for, but it might be an option for you if nothing else works. I have a really old single cavity 358311 that casts .362 with wheelweights that I keep around for such an occasion. 146 gr is a really odd weight, and I believe all the bullets in current factory ammunition is swaged.

Another possibility would be to go to Castpics & look at the Lyman mould reference charts & see if you can fins an older mould design that suits you, and try to find one.

[9.3X62AL]

I got very lucky with my most recent addition to the family in 38 S&W, a Colt Police Positive. Throats run .359", and grooves are .3575"-.358". Lyman #358477 falls out of my mould at 149-150 grains, and at .360". It is a SWC, and when run at 700-725 FPS it goes right where the sights are looking. I prefer a SWC to a RN design, so this works for me.

A S&W and a Webley-Enfield here both have .362"-.363" throats, and I have an NEI 200 grain RN design much like that long-nosed critter shown in the pics below. There is also an out-of-print Lyman 150 grain version of the #358430 high-dome RN. I have the 195 grain version, and by Beagling I was able to boost it to .361".

[Buckshot]

...............I understand that quite a few of the Ideal 35863, 150gr WC's moulds drop larger then .360", and in fact a couple thou over that. I have 4 cav I bought from BruceB, and they drop at .363" and that's with very soft lead! I've seen a few around here and there.

http://www.fototime.com/15427C2B47E63FD/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/CD1F80B43CD4C22/standard.jpg

Iver Johnson 5 shot 38 SW @ 25 yards benched. Lyman 35863 pure lead, TL, 1.6gr Red Dot 510 fps. I figure that's pretty snazzy shooting for a pistol meant to shoot across a bedroom.

..............Buckshot