I Have To Share My Experience, W/ Question - Lyman #358156

[DODGEM250]

I do not have my own 38/357 mold yet, though I am shopping for one, so, I decided to borrow my neighbors old Lyman SWC #358156 and "for the heck of it" cast up a few bullets while I had some free time this evening. All of my other molds are Lee and aluminum of course. This is my first experience with a Lyman mold, and with all due respect to those out there that prefer Lyman over Lee, I honestly can say, I'm not impressed. However, I also don't know much about the Lyman molds, but, with this experience, I don't think I would buy one.

The first thing I noticed is how the lead sticks to the mold, more so, than on my Lee molds, is this the way Lyman molds are ? Can't be.

The second thing I noticed is that this mold had a tough time making flat bases, a lot of the bases came out rounded, and went back on the pot.

The really annoying thing is those short little handles. Are all Lyman handle the same size ? I mean these things are tiny compared to my Lee handle lengths.

It's also a single cavity mold, and after 50 bullets I said "screw this" I want a double cavity.

[Mk42gunner]

All molds are different, in my opinion. I have four or five sets of Lyman handles, none of them are the same. One set of small handles is about a foot long the rest are the shorter handles, but they all close differently when a set of blocks are in them.

I have a small SC in 313445 that the only way I ever got decent boolits from it was to pressure fill it from a full Lee 4-20. I also have a small SC in 308284 that can't seem to drop a bad boolit, no matter how it is filled.

I almost forgot, I also have a small SC 358429HP that I bought from a member here, missing the HP pin. After making a pin; it drops good boolits, but boy is it fun keeping a small SC mold and HP pin hot.

I think the only single cavity molds Lyman makes now are for holow points or hollow based boolits, and they are in the double cavity blocks.

Robert

[gasboffer]

I have the Lyman 358156 double cavity. Works great! No problems and is very accurate in several pistols and .357 Lever-action carbine. Have killed a lot of deer with this boolet in .35
Rem. rifle.

[jimkim]

I have a few of both. The only thing that is certain is that every one of then regardless of brand or even if it's the same mold number, has a "personality" of it's own. That's the long way of saying I agree with Mk42gunner. One thing I've noticed is that I have more trouble casting lighter bullets than heavier ones. The 125 and lighter bullets give me fits. Brand has nothing to do with it. The other thing is if you are turning out good bullets, make as many as you possibly can in one sitting. The next time around for me is usually nerve racking. My favorite moulds are a couple of single cavity Ideal moulds, my two cavity Lachmiller, and two(one Lee one RD) of my six cavity moulds. The others are downright finicky. I'm thinking of moving the Lachmiller up on the list. Every bullet seems to look like it's chromed.

[felix]

If I were a deer hunter, the 358156 would be my choice too, Gasboffer. The reason would be to get the trajectory flatter for another 50 yards or so. My family has seldom killed deer with anything weighing more than 150 grains after smokeless powder has come aboard for the masses. ... felix

[beanflip]

A mold is like a woman treat it good it treats you good. If you treat it bad it will %&#* in your face.

[462]

Don't condem the mould or Lyman. I may be that your neighbor hasn't learned, or doesn't want to learn how to get the best from his mould. Too, it may be that he has, and can cast perfect boolits, but you didn't have the time nor inclination to learn its quirks. As has been stated, each mould has it's own personality -- it's up to the caster to understand it and then capitalize on it.

As with any casting or reloading tool, single cavity moulds serve a purpose. I have an Ideal 308291 single cavity that is a treat to cast with.

[alfloyd]

I have a 4 cavity mold in 357156. I love this mold, but it is not as easy to get good boolits from as an aluminum. Reason is that it takes a longer time to get the steel mold up to temp to make good boolits. Your single cavity mold need to be ran fast to keep it hot. After the iron molds get up to casting temp they cast great boolits for me. I think that the rounded bottoms is a sign that your mold is too cold or your lead is too cold. I use a RCBS bottom spout pot and it works great with the 4 cavity 357156 mold. I have not noticed the lead sticking to the mold more with iron over aluminum molds.

Just my own opinion.

Lafaun

[DODGEM250]

Don't condem the mould or Lyman. I may be that your neighbor hasn't learned, or doesn't want to learn how to get the best from his mould. Too, it may be that he has, and can cast perfect boolits, but you didn't have the time nor inclination to learn its quirks. As has been stated, each mould has it's own personality -- it's up to the caster to understand it and then capitalize on it.

As with any casting or reloading tool, single cavity moulds serve a purpose. I have an Ideal 308291 single cavity that is a treat to cast with.

I won't condemn Lyman, I will condemn this mold, it belongs in the trash. I'm just glad I borrowed it and I didn't buy it, I be... well, I can't say it here but it's an explicative for sure. I babied this mold, lubed it, heated it, loosened the sprue to lift it after pouring to hopefully fill the base void, nothing worked.

After 2+ hours and only getting 60 half-*** bullets, I gave up and just walked away from this mold. I would rather buy the bullets already made and lubed with GC's instead of playing with this little baby bullets anyway.

[pmer]

[QUOTE=DODGEM250;1543559]I do not have my own 38/357 mold yet, though I am shopping for one, so, I decided to borrow my neighbors old Lyman SWC #358156 and "for the heck of it" cast up a few bullets while I had some free time this evening. All of my other molds are Lee and aluminum of course. This is my first experience with a Lyman mold, and with all due respect to those out there that prefer Lyman over Lee, I honestly can say, I'm not impressed. However, I also don't know much about the Lyman molds, but, with this experience, I don't think I would buy one.

The first thing I noticed is how the lead sticks to the mold, more so, than on my Lee molds, is this the way Lyman molds are ? Can't be.

The second thing I noticed is that this mold had a tough time making flat bases, a lot of the bases came out rounded, and went back on the pot.

The really annoying thing is those short little handles. Are all Lyman handle the same size ? I mean these things are tiny compared to my Lee handle lengths.

It's also a single cavity mold, and after 50 bullets I said "screw this" I want a double cavity.[/QUOTE


I was having the same issues with base not filling out on a 2 cavity 358156. It was the one near the sprew plate screw. It only did it for one batch of boolits. The possible causes I later concluded were some oil in the cavity and or the melt temperature was a little low.

The next batch was fine and the mold made great boolits. Hope this helps.

[DODGEM250]

I have a 4 cavity mold in 357156. I love this mold, but it is not as easy to get good boolits from as an aluminum. Reason is that it takes a longer time to get the steel mold up to temp to make good boolits. Your single cavity mold need to be ran fast to keep it hot. After the iron molds get up to casting temp they cast great boolits for me. I think that the rounded bottoms is a sign that your mold is too cold or your lead is too cold. I use a RCBS bottom spout pot and it works great with the 4 cavity 357156 mold. I have not noticed the lead sticking to the mold more with iron over aluminum molds.

Just my own opinion.

Lafaun

I 100% agree with that statement. I also tried higher lead temps, lower lead temps, both with the mold and with the lead. I held my time before I cut the mold open to drop the bullets, I tried backfilling the first pour, I did everything and some things against the normal practices of casting boolits, nothing worked. I said, "This is (*U$^ing ridiculous"... and as I said before, I set the mold to the side, and walked away from it.

HOWEVER, I did turnout about 50 each of the Lyman .44 #429244 255gr and they turned out great. But, those little baby boolits would not drop for the best efforts in the world. I had no intentions of casting the .44's BUT when my neighbor gave me the handles, the .44 blocks were already on there, so... before casting the .38 I just went ahead and made some of his .44's

Glad I did because some one gave me a fresh batch of 50 .44 Mag cases, cleaned primed, and polished, for free. People just give this stuff away, so, I may as well reload the fresh box of 50 I got today.

[Bullwolf]

I have a Lyman 358311 2 cavity mold that I like to use for 38/357. I also have a Lyman 356402 9mm TC mold that functions fine. Both of those Lyman molds are very decent casters, and in my opinion they are much more solidly crafted than the economical, yet higher production (faster casting) Lee 6 cavity aluminum molds.

My Lyman molds really shine when they are pre-heated on my cheap electric hotplate with a funky old skill saw blade set on top. Using the hotplate as a mold and ingot pre-warmer is really convenient for me, especially when I'm casting with 2 molds at the same time.

I wouldn't condemn all Lyman molds, or that specific design just because of 1 bad egg. Maybe it was just abused a bit before you got to it.

- Bullwolf

[DODGEM250]

I have a Lyman 358311 2 cavity mold that I like to use for 38/357. I also have a Lyman 356402 9mm TC mold that functions fine. Both of those Lyman molds are very decent casters, and in my opinion they are much more solidly crafted than the economical, yet higher production (faster casting) Lee 6 cavity aluminum molds.

My Lyman molds really shine when they are pre-heated on my cheap electric hotplate with a funky old skill saw blade set on top. Using the hotplate as a mold and ingot pre-warmer is really convenient for me, especially when I'm casting with 2 molds at the same time.

I wouldn't condemn all Lyman molds, or that specific design just because of 1 bad egg. Maybe it was just abused a bit before you got to it.

- Bullwolf

Like I said in the above reply... The .44 blocks made great bullets, the .38 blocks were useless.

[Bret4207]

I won't condemn Lyman, I will condemn this mold, it belongs in the trash. I'm just glad I borrowed it and I didn't buy it, I be... well, I can't say it here but it's an explicative for sure. I babied this mold, lubed it, heated it, loosened the sprue to lift it after pouring to hopefully fill the base void, nothing worked.

After 2+ hours and only getting 60 half-*** bullets, I gave up and just walked away from this mold. I would rather buy the bullets already made and lubed with GC's instead of playing with this little baby bullets anyway.

To be blunt, and not meaning any offense, you just aren't willing to take the time or you don't have the knowledge of the various ways you can get a mould to working right. That fine, but if you play with it and your mould temp I bet you'd have good castings after you figured it out. My particular 358156 wants an air drop gap of about an inch from the spout and to one side of the sprue hole. I get perfect boolits with complete fill out once the mould is up to temp.

There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole. But, it is kind of refreshing to see someone trash LYman instead of Lee! They all have their quirks and if you can't/won't figure them out it's very frustrating.

[DODGEM250]

To be blunt, and not meaning any offense, you just aren't willing to take the time or you don't have the knowledge of the various ways you can get a mould to working right. That fine, but if you play with it and your mould temp I bet you'd have good castings after you figured it out. My particular 358156 wants an air drop gap of about an inch from the spout and to one side of the sprue hole. I get perfect boolits with complete fill out once the mould is up to temp.

There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole. But, it is kind of refreshing to see someone trash LYman instead of Lee! They all have their quirks and if you can't/won't figure them out it's very frustrating.

No offense taken at all, I understand you are "cynical, contrary, opinionated and cranky." But, I tried everything. I even made up a few things LOL.

I'm not trashing Lyman as a whole, but, this set of blocks are junk. When I decide to buy a mold for doing my own 38/357 bullets it will be a Lee, why ?, I don't see any advantage to buying a Lyman mold for $65.00 when a Lee costs half that and does just as good, if not, better in my opinion. Slightly off topic, but, it's like buying one expensive watch because you buy something with a specific name on it, instead of buying a couple cheaper watches that still tell you the time of day.

Seriously, what are you paying for when you buy "Lyman" ? The name mostly as far as I'm concerned. (now, back to the topic)

I'm not here to trash Lyman. I am not a Lee Mold Groupie. I am simply stating my experience and I'm not impressed with the "this" mold.

[GP100man]

I cast with Lyman & Lee molds & have good results mostly .

I store my molds in a airtite container with desicant just as I finished with em .

But every mold I borrow or use for the first time I have fill out or base problems from oils or some kind of residues left behind from cleaners.

I don`t look for "perfect boolits until the 3rd heat cycle (either casting or hot plate) of the mold to get all the hydracarbons out of the pours of the metal.

I`ve read the OP twice & saw no proceedures of cleaning or preheating the mold.
Cleaning & prepping the mold saves me a lot of recycling lead & usually better boolits faster.

Venting is easily over looked , pace of pour ,speed of alloy , temp of alloy & many more things play a part in achieving good results .

My official WAG is ya were looking at each boolit ,thus letting the mold kool off , as it sounds it barely got to temp.

Steel molds were a BIG change for me also, more time for the steel to heat up mostly ,but cured that with a hotplate, just gotta remember to plug it in !!!

WELCOME to Drag up a chair & visit a spell !!!

[DODGEM250]

I cast with Lyman & Lee molds & have good results mostly .

I store my molds in a airtite container with desicant just as I finished with em .

But every mold I borrow or use for the first time I have fill out or base problems from oils or some kind of residues left behind from cleaners.

I don`t look for "perfect boolits until the 3rd heat cycle (either casting or hot plate) of the mold to get all the hydracarbons out of the pours of the metal.

I`ve read the OP twice & saw no proceedures of cleaning or preheating the mold.
Cleaning & prepping the mold saves me a lot of recycling lead & usually better boolits faster.

Venting is easily over looked , pace of pour ,speed of alloy , temp of alloy & many more things play a part in achieving good results .

My official WAG is ya were looking at each boolit ,thus letting the mold kool off , as it sounds it barely got to temp.

Steel molds were a BIG change for me also, more time for the steel to heat up mostly ,but cured that with a hotplate, just gotta remember to plug it in !!!

WELCOME to Drag up a chair & visit a spell !!!

I did the cleaning, prepping, lubing, ect. Tried high temps, low temps, quick drops, slow drops, you name it I did it, nothing seemed to work with this mold block after 2 hours. You might want to read the whole thread instead of just the OP... ?

[Pigslayer]

I've been using the Lyman 358156 in single cavity for 30 years. Never a problem. For the best part of those years I used the old Lyman Lead Pot, a propane torch & Lyman Lead Dipper.

[HangFireW8]

I did the cleaning, prepping, lubing, ect. Tried high temps, low temps, quick drops, slow drops, you name it I did it, nothing seemed to work with this mold block after 2 hours. You might want to read the whole thread instead of just the OP... ?

I don't see that you tried inspecting for burrs or lapping. Maybe u did but I didn't see it mentioned.

HF

[happy7]

First off, iron and aluminum just cast different. When I was a new caster, I started with Lee. I got pretty comfortable casting with a Lee mold. Then I got my first Lyman. It was a learning curve. The first few times I cast with it were not too successful. But then the first few times with a Lee weren't too successful either.

Now I cast more bullets a day than probably most here cast in month. And I have dozens of both Lyman and Lee molds. For someone who has only cast with a few molds, it not possible to make accurate generalizations about a certain brand of mold. I have had issues with all brands of mold, even the hallowed H&G. I will also say that issues with either Lyman or Lee molds are not unusual, but normal. In fact, I can't say that of the over 100 molds I have that I have had many cast really well the first time. Again, the question is not what brand, but how good a mold is it. Now, I am not saying that some brands are not generally better than others. But if you get a good one, take care of it. Like an accurate firearm, a really good mold is a treasure. Some give good bullets easily, and others require more technique and work. A really well working mold is a real joy to use.

Bottom line is: Give me a GOOD mold from either brand. I have had bad Lee molds and I have had bad lyman molds. Sometimes I can work with them and make them good. Sometimes I have to give up and get something else. Having used different types of aluminum and iron and brass, I will say that I will pay more for a well cut iron mold for really good bullets. For really cranking out bullets in a hurry, give me a good Lee six cavity. Too bad they don't make an eight cavity!

When I can't get a mold to work right, I spend some quality time here on Cast Boolits with the search engine. Odds are that within a short time you will find an assortment of ideas, one or a combination of which will have you casting great bullets in short order. In the case of the base not filling out, if the mold is really clean, then cutting a v into the parting line to make a vent at the top of the mold will usually cure the problem. Of course you can't do this to your neighbors mold, but it works very well. Pressure casting is also another solution, and you should fill till you see lead jumping back up out of the mold. I am guessing that this is quite possibly your problem, due to the smaller holes in the Lyman sprue plate. Also make sure the sprue is big enough. These are just some of the possible solutions.

As far as the lead sticking to the mold, I have never ever seen this happen with an iron mold. With brass, yes, but not with iron. Or do you mean the face of the mold? That is different, but will happen with any type mold. But not in the cavities. If you mean the bullets are sticking, then the mold may have picked up some burs or imperfections.

The handles on the Lyman one and two cavity molds, the older style, are among my favorites. They open wider, and are quicker to use than the Lee. You can manipulate them one handed, and anytime I find a good deal on them, I snap them up.