Lyman's 335 Grain 38-55 Boolit

[doubs43]

I've been debating whether to buy a mold for the Lyman #378674 boolit to try in my 38-55 Winchester High Wall rifle. It's supposed to drop a 335 grain boolit but it may be too long to allow effective use in my rifle.

Is the "nose" a bore rider or is it too large in diameter to allow seating the boolit out far enough to give adequate powder room?

I'd appreciate hearing about anyone's experiences with it, especially in a Miroku made Winchester High Wall.

[Boz330]

I shoot that boolit in my CSA 75 Sharps. The twist is 15 and it shoots very well with 47gr 2F Swiss. It has a Badger barrel. The boolit does seat fairly deep in the case. The farthest that I've shot it is 600yd.

Bob

[Don McDowell]

I shot that bullet in a Uberti 38-55 out to 1000 yds on gongs.
Best bet might be to order some of those in from Montana Bullet works and some of their other selections and see which bullet your rifle will get along with and then buy the mould.

[Kraschenbirn]

Haven't tried the 335 grain Lyman but the gas-checked 330 grain NEI didn't shoot worth diddly in my Uberti HighWall with its 1-18 twist. BP or smokeless, just couldn't get it to stabilize. Sent the mould to Buckshot and had him mill off the top of the blocks enough to remove the GC shank. Mould now drops a 304 grain plain-base boolit that shoots a lot better than I can consistently hold with iron sights.

5-shot group @ 100M, shot using a .50 cal. ammo can, padded with a folded towel, as a field rest. Won't claim to do this well every time but rifle/boolit combination will hold inside 1 1/2" all day so long as I do my part

Bill

[doubs43]

One of my concerns was whether the 1:18 twist of my rifle would stabilize the long boolit. At the moment I use the RCBS 312-BPS boolit that drops at 318 grains from my mold. It's quite accurate in my rifle and leaves the muzzle at approximately 1325 ~ 1350 fps. In my last match I hit 10 x 10 rams at 350 yards with 9 going down and one staying up because - IMO - it was set incorrectly. It's possible that the extra 18 or so grains of weight would have made the difference.

Bob, those C. Sharps rifles are top drawer IMO. I have a late 1980's 1875 Business Rifle that supposedly has a Douglas Premium 28" barrel chambered in 45-70 and it's one accurate rifle! I bought it second hand in October, 1991 for $700 and have won many a match with it.

Don, that's not a bad idea and I may try it.

Bill, that's an excellent group. The 38-55 is a sweet cartridge IMO.

[Boz330]

I got my first CSA 1885 in 91' and it had a Douglas barrel. I changed it out for a faster twist Badger barrel a couple years ago. Caliber was 40-65. A friend got a 75, also in 40-65 at the same time, also a Douglas barrel.
I'm not sure when they went to Badger but my 38-55 was purchased in 2004 and had the Badger barrel. I use the Lee 250gr boolit for hunting. It shoots fine for hunting but not near as accurate as the 335gr. BTW that boolit is a scaled down Postel. I haven't shot it much with smokeless but what little I did it was just as good, but leaded some.
I tried some Montana boolits in my highwall but I wasn't that impressed with the QC. When I weighed them there was what I considered unacceptable variance in weights. If you would like to try some drop me a PM with an address and I'll send you a few. I have a pile sized and lubed at .376 IIRC. If you don't like the lube just melt it out and add your own.

Bob

[doubs43]

Bob, PM sent.

[Irascible]

I have the same rifle and the mould for the Lyman bullet. I have not yet shot that bullet out of that rifle. I usually shoot the RCBS GC bullet and it is superbly accurate out to 300 yds (so far). That is at 1800fps with a load of H322.
The Lyman bullet cast of #2 alloy casts at .379+. The rear part of the nose is of bore riding diameter a requires a VERY LIGHT push to insert it into my muzzle. Of course if your shooting a lead tin alloy it is going to be smaller. I have shot this out of my Ruger #1, but nothing is accurate out of that .3805 bore. I have hopes for a custom RCBS mould which is the same style as their std. mould, but with .385 diameter. I guess I'll have to size that one a little.
I hope that this helps.

[John Boy]

One of my concerns was whether the 1:18 twist of my rifle would stabilize the long boolit. doubs, my favorite 38-55 bullet is the available Lyman custom remake of the Ideal 375166 that wasn't made since the late 1960's. Lou Sellman, a Lyman distributor owns the cherry and has the mold.

The bullet calculates to maximum stability using the Powley Calculator in a 1:18 barrel. Here is the initial testing of it and since then, have shot it with excellent accuracy out to 500 meters, again using Swiss 1.5
http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13911

The bullet will be put through it's paces in a couple of weeks, again out to 500 meters using the new 2010 KIK powders in 1.5Fg and FFg

[doubs43]

John, how does one go about getting a mold for that boolit? I'm going to try the 335 grain Lyman first but if it doesn't work out, maybe your boolit will. I'm like most shooters in that there's always another carrot hanging out there! It's what keeps the game exciting. LOL

[Buckshot]

..............I've shot 310gr boolits in my Uberti Hi-Wall, but not at long range. I didn't figure the 18" twist would stabilize much over 300 grs?

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

[doubs43]

..............I've shot 310gr boolits in my Uberti Hi-Wall, but not at long range. I didn't figure the 18" twist would stabilize much over 300 grs?

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

Buckshot, my Winchester High Wall in 38-55 has a 1:18 twist and it stabilizes the RCBS-312-BPS boolit just fine. It actually drops from my mold at 318 grains so 335 grains isn't a great deal heavier. Of course, it could be over the edge but I'll soon find out. A member here has graciously donated some Lyman 335 grain boolits for me to try. I'll let you know how they do.

Last Saturday our club had our monthly "Buffalo" match; chickens at 100 yards, pigs at 150 yards, turkeys at 200 yards and rams at 350 yards. Five of the chickens must be shot off-hand and two of the pigs are about 1/4 the size of the big pigs. I missed the 9th ram for a score of 39x40 with my 38-55. I use Lyman 248 grain boolits for chickens, pigs and turkeys. I use the 318 grain boolits for the rams. The Match Director doesn't want any perfect scores so he's promised to make it tougher in June.

[John Boy]

Ordering Instructions ... Ideal 375166:
Order By Mail, Check or Money Order …
Price of the Mold - $75
Shipping - $10.00 plus $1.70 Insurance ($11.70)
Price of Top Punch - $8.50 (Optional)
Price of the Sizing Die - $19.95 (Optional
Send a letter with your shipping information and a check or money for your total purchase to:
Lou Sellman
2003 Ewings Mill Rd
Corapolis, PA 15108-3311

Order By Credit Card
Call Lou at (412) 299-0412

Lou Sellman email address … reloadersequipmentonline.com or customcastbullets@yahoo.com
.................................................. .................................................. .............
Gents, I shoot pretty exclusively 38-55 bullets that are 320grs+
I do a stability check using the Powley Stability Calculator program. With 1:18 twists these bullets calculate to maximum stability with black powder loads.

[doubs43]

JB, thanks for the information. I've looked in all my old Lyman manuals but can't find an illustration of that specific boolit. I'll keep it in mind although I still need to try the 335 grain boolits first.

[Boz330]

Doubs try this web site: http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm. It lists a lot of the out of production molds. The one JB listed is a Loverign (sp) design.

Bob

[doubs43]

Doubs try this web site: http://www.three-peaks.net/bullet_molds.htm. It lists a lot of the out of production molds. The one JB listed is a Loverign (sp) design.

Bob

Bob, thank you. I have at least two molds designed by him; 6.5mm & .30 caliber. They are both accurate boolits in the rifles I've shot them in. I'll definitely keep the one JB mentioned in mind.

[peerlesscowboy]

I've been debating whether to buy a mold for the Lyman #378674 boolit to try in my 38-55 Winchester High Wall rifle. It's supposed to drop a 335 grain boolit but it may be too long to allow effective use in my rifle.

Is the "nose" a bore rider or is it too large in diameter to allow seating the boolit out far enough to give adequate powder room?

I'd appreciate hearing about anyone's experiences with it, especially in a Miroku made Winchester High Wall.
(Miroku) Browning 1885 Hiwall .38-55 "Traditional Hunter";
Yes I shoot the Lyman #378674, sized .377" & lubed with SPG propelled to just over 1100 fps with either Pyrodex Select RS or IMR4198.
In my experience, yes the 1 in 18" twist stabilizes the bullet. Shot a bunch of 'em just today, 3" groups at 200 yds if I did my part.....nice round holes in the paper with uniform grease smudge all around the holes indicating the bullets were trailing well when they went thru' the paper?

John C. Saubak

ps--yes, the nose is a bore rider

[wade]

i have the same gun as you could you give me your smokeless loads for 335 lyman and a couple of sight vernier settings if not thats fine thx wade

[wade]

my tradional hunter has a 1-15 twist ,, you shoud double check that ,,,,,wade

[shortlegs]

Yea mine does too. I just ordered a305 gr bullet mold from accurate molds. My lee 250 mold does ok but I wonted something heavier for sillywet shooting if I decide to try bp loads.

[fayettefatts]

John Boy, how many cavities is that mold Lou Sellman offers, and what is the diameter as cast? I have a Miroku/Winchester Traditional Hunter and have been sizing .377-.378. I may try the Montana Bullet Works 378674 as well. If I remember correctly, the twist in mine measured between 1-16 and 1-17. Thanks Guys!