Mountain Molds Custom 3 Cavity SWC, 358-429 Keith Style

[357shooter]

For folks that can't seem to get a Lyman (or other) 358-429 mould that drops full diameter bullets & a better fit, here is one great solution. Or if whatever mould can be tweaked to improve it, or you just want your own bullet design, this is for you.

The last couple of Lyman 358-429's that I bought cast .356-.357 bullets. Too small to be lapped, especially since they are made of a steel/lead material. It's too difficult to lap them to .3604, which my guns like sized to .360.

Below are the Lyman 358-477, the Lee TL-358-158-SWC, the Lyman 358-429 and my custom Mountain Mould 358-429. It has a broader meplat and is close to 178 grains when cast with BHN8 lead. A beefed up Keith:

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/BulletKings.jpg

How do you design your own mould?

Go to http://www.mountainmolds.com/, and select 35/9mm in the drop down. The measurements that I used are in this screenshot:

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/MountainMolds429.png


What does a Mountain Mold look like (after casting about 10lbs of bullets):

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/MM429-1.jpg

The RCBS handles fit it, or Lee handles fit as well. It's easy to cut the sprue, and the bullets just drop out of this mould.

Nice looking vent lines and a big block help make this cast so well. Note the block size in the design tool screen shot above.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/MM429-2.jpg

Attention to detail is evident in the alignment pins, and the overall look and feel, This mould is a joy to cast with. Now you can get any bullet you want, without having to waiting for group buys. Modeling a design after a known bullet can get you started quickly.

This is too much fun!

[Don Purcell]

357 shooter, You can't go wrong with Mountain Molds. I have three and they are right on the money for diameter and weight. By the way those are some beautiful cast bullets you made. Don

[RobS]

The Keith design you made up looks good as to the "true" Keith with equal drived bands and a flat bottom lube groove. Dan does nice work and since the last mold I had of his he has started to design the sprue plate a bit different with the small cut between cavities.

I see targets in the back ground and suspect you'll be putting a few holes through them!!! :)

[white eagle]

Dan does really good work
I don't know but you have the mold on bass akwards
is that a true Keith or a sensible Keith

[RobS]

is that a true Keith or a sensible Keith

Original Keith according to the screen shot of Dan's online design program.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab341/prgallo/MountainMolds429.png

[mellonhead]

That is exactly how I mount my Mountain Molds on handles and it works great.

Toby

[geargnasher]

That's the way I mount mine as well, it doesn't matter how you do it as long as it works. That's a good looking mould!

Gear

[357shooter]

357 shooter, You can't go wrong with Mountain Molds. I have three and they are right on the money for diameter and weight. By the way those are some beautiful cast bullets you made. DonThanks. Casting with this mould is sa-weet!

[357shooter]

Dan does really good work
I don't know but you have the mold on bass akwards
is that a true Keith or a sensible Keith
It's a true Keith, not the sensible Keith. If I mounted with the sprue plate facing the handles, how would I hit it with the sprue wacker without hitting the handles? I'm not that good a shot with it...

Anyway, that's how I mount my all my moulds, seems to work.

[357shooter]

The Keith design you made up looks good as to the "true" Keith with equal drived bands and a flat bottom lube groove. Dan does nice work and since the last mold I had of his he has started to design the sprue plate a bit different with the small cut between cavities.

I see targets in the back ground and suspect you'll be putting a few holes through them!!! :)Thanks, you are right on all counts! Now it time to hit the range. These even cycle in my Rossi Lever Action, a little bigger meplat and it wouldn't. I'm glad it worked out that way, over some H110 it's an excellent shooter.

[JSnover]

I only have one mold from them but it is sweet! If you have a good idea, the software can bring it to life. And if you have a bad idea it will warn you.

[357shooter]

Thanks guys, not everyone gets how cool a new great mould is!!! :Luvcastboolits: :Luvcastboolits: :Luvcastboolits:

[white eagle]

ya only gotta whack it a couple of times till it warms up then open by hand
I really like Dans online program you can really make some nice mods to a design
or leave it alone
sometimes I sit there for hours till I hit buy now

[Ben]

357shooter

Yours looks just like my Mountain Molds Keith :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/MM%20%20358429%20Clone/019.jpg

[bearcove]

Ben! you can't shoot them they look tooo PREATTYYY!

[357shooter]

Ben, great looking bullets! Pretty bullets shoot well too! :smile: :smile: :smile:

[redneckdan]

Yup, excellent moulds. My huge 375cal that I had Dan make is the only mold I have where the bullet literally jumps out of the cavity when you crack it open. Every other mold I have requires at least one tap with the wackum stick.

[Ben]

That Keith 180 gr. will put a real thumping onto something !

[357shooter]

Luckily the nose punch I had fit's it nicely. It would have been smarter to order a punch with the mould. I will for the next one.

[Ben]

357shooter

Have you ever tried a flat nose punch ?

They work REAL WELL on bullets with a flat meplat.

Ben

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/013-8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/012-4.jpg

[357shooter]

I have used a flat punch with all the bullets in the picture. I had some erratic accuracy problems and suspect the flat punch doesn't align the bullet well enough, and that might be the cause. I'll find out later this week with some tests I have loaded up.

It might work with this huge meplat, I'll give it a try again and see.

[Ben]

357shooter

One of the things I like to do is put a very tiny amount of grease on the flat suface of the flat nose punch. If the bullet isn't lining up and entering the die straight, the grease " encourages " the bullet to slide into it's proper aligment as it enters the sizing die.

The meplat of the bullet will slide on the face of the flat punch until it finds it's center.

Try it, it works.

Ben

[357shooter]

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.

I did get to test the 358-477 in my Rossi Lever Action. This bullet wouldn't group in this gun at all. I happen to have a deep punch that fits it to a T! Wow, it shot better than my Lee TL-357-158-SWC. It blew me away.

It was a bit better in the Blackhawk.

I'm guessing the BH throats help the bullet align and for the Lever Action, it needs to be better aligned from the start. I'll test some more and see if it's repeatable before I'm 100% sure it's the nose punch that made the difference.

It was a bit of a shocker, if it holds up.

[fredj338]

ya only gotta whack it a couple of times till it warms up then open by hand
I really like Dans online program you can really make some nice mods to a design
or leave it alone
sometimes I sit there for hours till I hit buy now
My exp as well w/ MM molds during casting. My buddy had a mold made for his 357sig. We basically duplicated a factory FMJ & added a large lube groove. It is a very nice casting mold & yo ucan definetly have it your way, as long as it fits the design program.

[phatman]

One of the things on the Mountain Molds site that I love is the minimum rifling twist required for each bullet design.
That has really come in handy.

Cheers, John