Short on lead ? ?

[Ben]

If you're short on lead but still want to shoot your 38 spec., this may be the mold for you.
( if you can find one of them, these are fairly rare )

I ordered a Lee single cav. , 82 gr., 38/ 357 wadcutter mold in the early 70's.
During those days, if you had 1 pound of alloy, you'd get 85 bullets from that pound of alloy. That is some pretty cheap shooting.

Back in those days, I would seat an 82 gr. w/c in a 38 Spec. case, then seat a Lee 105 SWC on top of the 82 gr. WC. Sort of a duplex bullet load. Seems like I was shooting about 9 grs. of 2400 with that load ? ?
I would use load data from the old Lyman manual for the hvy weight 358430, it listed 9.5 grs. of 2400 as a top load in the 38 Spec., so I'd shoot 9.0 grs. or less and never had a problem.

If the range was less than 7 yards, the 2 bullets would spread out about 1 - 2 inches from each other and make multiple holes in the target ( or the bad guy ). If you had a 6 shot revolver, you could quickly put twelve holes in a " bad guy."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/023-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/024-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/025-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/026-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/022.jpg

[Ronbo256]

Those are so cute, like real boolits, only smaller! :D

[Ben]

I've tried them in penetration test, you certainly don't want to get hit with one of them.
They aren't that cute.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

These were always a good idea for short yardage work, accurate and conservative of lead. Dean Grennell did some work with multiple loadings and wrote it up in his series of handloading books. He even got H&G to make him a WC mold that was a bit shorter. IIRC it was #333 and he used to load 3 of them in the same case. LLS

[Ben]

The bad guy would have to have some " stop leak " handy wouldn't he ?

[GRUMPA]

That's a mighty cute little bullet, I got the one in 110gr and the other half just loves it in the lever action, it kinda feels like 22. And as far as those multi projectile loads go I just use the shot capsules and smash down 7 #4 buck and stack them.

[94Doug]

Ben, that sure looks a lot like the 358101. I have one of the Lyman/Ideal moulds. I have a manual that lists some loads, very little gunpowder required.

Doug

[Boolseye]

Hearkens back to a simpler, more frugal time....although frugality is making a comeback in some quarters.

[TXGunNut]

Pretty cool, should be good out to 15, maybe 25 yards. Handful of those pushed by maybe 2grs of 231 or BE and snubbies would be a lot more fun.

[Ben]

I"m planning on getting out in a few days and trying some of these out.
I'll report back.

Ben

[turbo1889]

. . . ( if you can find one of them, these are fairly rare ) . . .

I know of a couple nice friendly mold makers who could make some up. One of them could even do it for a reasonable price as a "one off" although he would need to put a slight 35-degree angle on outer edge of the nose so the nose profile wouldn't be a perfect copy but it would certainly be close enough.

[a.squibload]

Nice boolit, and useful.

Used to shoot a .433 round ball in the SBH, sometimes would stack 2 of 'em.
They spread about 1" at 50'. Good cheap fun!

[Ronbo256]

Ben, notice I didn't volunteer to catch any of them for you! I have no doubt about the effect they would have on a bad guy, and they must be a lot of fun to shoot!

[Ben]

I've never shot them for accuracy, but plan on a trip to the range today . The 82 gr. W/C with 2.7 grs. of Bullseye will be going with me .

Thanks,
Ben

[Ben]

Yesterday I shot the 82 gr. W/C and 2.7 gr. Bullseye load in my 38 Spec , Colt Officer's Model Match . I shot this load at 12 yards, it shot just as accurately as any 148 gr. W/C.

As expected, it shot low. A few clicks up on the rear sight and I was chewing out the center of the bull.

A few pounds of alloy will go a long way with this bullet.

[theperfessor]

Ben, would you be willing to send me a couple bullets? I'd like to get the dimensions and maybe make a form cutter and cut a mold of my own. I'd be glad to pay for shipping and packaging expenses.

[Ben]

Certainly,

PM sent.

Ben

[rintinglen]

My daughters learned to shoot revolvers using the 358-101 cast at about 78 grains from wheel weights. 2 grains of Bullseye and you had a nifty pop-gun load for transitioning to a center fire from a 22! 10 pounds of metal makes for a lot of boolits. There are some happy memories from those days.
For those considering the use as a multi-ball, I tried them in two fashions, both in 357 brass. Two boolits for an effective weight of about 158 grains in 357 brass at target velocities, and one boolit under a 115 grain swc for greater performance at about 950 fps. Penetration was not too great, but the boolits would group in about 4 inches at roughly 10 yards. They were a little too heavy for me to try 3 boolits per bang, but it could be done if you crimped the top boolit on the base. Hmm...sounds like a project

[1Shirt]

I have loaded 3 of them in a 35i7 case, also two in 38 spec brass, and also loaded one down with a round ball on top as the first projectile. All worked well within limitations. For dispersion at 15-20 ft, I nicked the bottom projectiles with a file causing it to fly slightly off from the preceeding blt.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[a.squibload]

For a bigger boolit you could glue two of 'em together...

[JSnover]

I tried both round balls and multiboolits, years ago in my .357 up 25 yards. Other shooters (a couple of young guys) were grinning about my patterns but I don't think anyone hit by these would whip out a caliper and measure the dispersion.

[theperfessor]

Got some bullets from Ben yesterday. A public 'thank you' to Ben. I've got some aluminum 5 cavity mold blanks made up, just taking up drawer space. I think I see my Christmas break project...

[SwedeNelson]

Ben

Shameless plug.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=1238859#post1238859
I shoot my 75gr. in a Ruger LCP
And the 100Gr. in a S&W 52
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i80/swedenelson/RugerLCP.jpg
"A few pounds of alloy will go a long way with this bullet"
And it doesn't take much powder!

Swede Nelson

[a.squibload]

...I shoot my 75gr. in a Ruger LCP...

I see the cavity diameter is .360,
is that about the size it drops for you?
Did you size it down for the LCP?
What diameter?

Thanks, wifey got a LCP and I'm trying to decide what to feed it.

[SwedeNelson]

a.squibload

Drops .360
I size them .357
I just shoot them for the fun of it.
Was very surprised when they would feed at all.
A better bullet would be the 358242 92Gr. RN
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=113110

The WC is a great little bullet in the .38/357 like Ben and others have posted.
A lot of fun for the pound.

Swede Nelson

[MT Gianni]

I wonder about taking a milling machine to a LY mold to accomplish near the intended weight. You would have to retap for the sprue plate but that is not a major issue. With a Lee mold the alignment vee & pins would be too much work,IMO.

[a.squibload]

a.squibload
Drops .360
I size them .357...

Thanks, now I'm glad I got a .357 lubersizer die.
I was afraid it would be too small for 38s, and too big for .380s.
Might still get a .358 die for 38s but at least I can start loading for the LCP.
If it works out I might have to get your 92gn mold, love those HPs!

[MGySgt]

You could also have a SC or DC mould 'Hollow pointed' but the pin could make the boolit shorter.

Take a Lyman 358477 and have the pin go into the shoulder. It would have one decent grease groove.

Maybe Buckshot (or who ever) could put a button nose in the pin.

[SSGOldfart]

Humm kinda looks like 1/2 of a soup can 148gr,are you planning to have another mould made???I could use one myself

[rintinglen]

In these photos you can see the little experiment I did last week end. The first photo shows 9 holes from 6 shots at seven yards with a 78 grain wad cutter under a 115 grain semi-wadcutter. The second is a photo of the boolits in front of some loaded cartridges. Those on the left have 3 WC boolits totaling roughly 236 grains. Those on the right have one WC under 1 SWC. The third is a photo of 18 holes from six shots, also at 7 yards. The wadcutters are Lyman 358-101's while the semi wadcutters are from a Lyman 358-345 mold.

[Lucky Joe]

Back in 2008 this boolit was run as a group buy. I have used the Lyman 358101 for years and when I got a chance to get this boolit in a 6 cavity I grabbed it. I have used it in all my .38/.357 guns and and it is one of my favorite boolits of all that I cast. Kinda wish I would have bought two of them. My S&W 686 is my squirrel and small game gun loaded light the 74 gr. is accurate and no recoil ( I don't even own a .22 handgun) and you can drive it supersonic if you want to. You have to work with it at first but I think you will like it.

There was trouble getting this mould but I was one of the fortunate if you want to read up on it here is the link. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=20237&highlight=jdhenry
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k168/Luckyjoe_01/360-75-swc-01.jpg

[SwedeNelson]

Lucky Joe

Thats the same bullet / drawing that we used for our run.
Have a buy going on it.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=1238859#post1238859
Great little bullet.

Swede Nelson

[Gunnut 45/454]

Short on lead - heck no I got 525 lbs!! All in nice 1 lb ingots!