Old .38 S&W molds?

[JWFilips]

Has there ever been a specific mold made to Cast a good ( fat .362") .38 S&W boolit?
I'm not talking any mold that will work for this caliber..........
I mean a mould that was designed specifically for that caliber in the past
Thanks

[rintinglen]

Well, way back in the day, the Ideal Company made the 35864 and the 358246 especialy for the 38 S&W, while the 358-430 200 grain boolit was made by Lyman, originally to cast at .361 for use in either the 38 Special or the 38 S&W. Hensley and Gibbs made their no. 63, a 146 grain RN, and they'd cut it to your specsBelding and Mull also made a 146 grain round nose mold, but I don't have one of their catalogs to hand. Lachmiller, and Ohaus most likely made them as well. Those are older molds.

In modern days, (Like, now), NOE ran a group buy recently for a 200 grain 38-200 boolit for owners of british guns out their, Webleys, Enfields and the like. One of the sponsors here, Ballisticast now makes the H&G line, an e-mail to them might bear fruit while Tom over at Accurate molds will make you a mold to cast the size you want from the Alloy you select.

[Nobade]

I used to have one Walt at NEI made me, .362" and 200 grains. I foolishly sold it when I sold my little S&W revolver, wish I had both of them back. Don't know if they still catalog it or not, I haven't done much business with them since he died.

-Nobade

[Bigslug]

In modern days, (Like, now), NOE ran a group buy recently for a 200 grain 38-200 boolit for owners of british guns out their, Webleys, Enfields and the like.

I've got one of those, specifically to shoot in one of those, and it is a FINE thing that makes wonderful boolits that drop about .363"-364". I'm sizing to .361 and they're working GREAT!

. . .Tom over at Accurate molds will make you a mold to cast the size you want from the Alloy you select.

I've done business with Tom on an aluminum .45 mold that I am absolutely in love with, and his extremely diverse catalog offerings of .35-.36-ish caliber designs has got my brain contemplating his wide, flat nose profiles for my .38 S&W Webley. He can cut 'em to any diameter you need.

[Buckshot]

.............There was a group buy done here a couple years ago through Lee for a 6 cavity to drop a copy of the original S&W 146gr RN slug at .362" which it did. Maybe if you posted in the WTB section someone might be willing to part with theirs? Another option would be to see if you could find an old Lyman 35863 mould. This drops a 150gr WC with 3 lube grooves. They drop their slugs at about .362" with pure lead and .363" with WW alloy. I have 2 Victory model Smiths and a nice old Iver Johnson break top revolver in 38 S&W.



From the left is a loaded round with the 200gr Lyman 358430, used in the V models. Next is the Lyman 35863. It's loaded to the same OAL as in 38 Specials so I can use 38 Special loads for it in the S&W's. Next 2 are Lee 100gr WC's. They drop at .360" and are useable in the S&W's. Next 2 are the 146gr RN's from the Lee GB, and then one in a loaded round. Next to last is an original Colt New Police.

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

[JWFilips]

Thanks Guys.......great information at least now I know some old mould numbers & brands to start looking out for!
Right now I have my 6 cavity lee 158 grain SWC mould beagled up but I would rather have a dedicated mould for my .38 S&W boolit casting

[texassako]

The old Ideal catalogs in the Castpics link below show the molds made long ago for the .38 S&W. They turn up, and I recently bought an old 36072 in the WTS/WTT section here.

[SwedeNelson]

Shameless plug
Look at this one
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.p...er4s9j0l7sgma4
Have them in stock

Swede Nelson

[Nobade]

Perfect! That's the one to get.

When I had my little S&W, it wouldn't hit to where I was looking until I used the 200gr. boolits. Then it went where it was pointed and accounted for quite a few rabbits. I could get it to shoot accurately with hollow base wadcutters, but they hit about a foot low.

That boolit you show is also useful in 35 Whelen and others for light plinking loads...

-Nobade