MM Keith 175 gr. 358"

[Ben]

Buckshot mailed my Mountain Molds Keith, 175 gr. 38/357 mold back to me.
Rick HP'd the mold. I received it today and couldn't wait to try it out.
It is 65 degrees here today so I got outside and fired up the pot.

About 3 yrs. ago, I owned a Lyman 358429, but the front drive band only
measured .355 and the other bands barely .357". My MM Keith is the same
dia. on ALL of the bands miking at .3595 ". I like this mold much better than the Lyman.
It weighed 181 grs. prior to HP'ing, it weighs 171 grs. now. So......the bullet has lost
a full 10 grs. of weight. That 10 gr. loss will be a big help to my 38 Spec. as it has
limited " boiler room " space for propellant. The mold is a real joy to cast with
after Buckshot has completed his HP work .

I wonder if Elmer would give his blessings to this design ?

Rick did a great job of HP'ing the mold.

Photos :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/006-12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/010-8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/011-10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/012-9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/015-4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/016-5.jpg

I'll be shooting a lot of these in my 1894 Marlin, 38 Spec. CBC ( with Ballard rifling ) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Marlin%2038%20Special/PICT0003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Marlin%2038%20Special/PICT0007.jpg

[PacMan]

Ben i really like all the things you come up with but seeing as your are asking i think that the HP is to deep.
HP design is great as long as you do not give up too much weight to get it.
Just my two cents worth for what ever it is worth.
Dwight

[Ben]

Dwight ,

You may be right, but keep in mind that shooting these from a 38 Spec. vs shooting these from a 357 Mag. will make a lot of difference in how they open up. I'll be doing a lot of testing with these out of 38 Spec. cases.

Also notice that the walls on the nose are a little bit thicker than some of the HP's that you'll see here on the forum.

Shortening the pin ( if needed ) is always real easy.

Historically, I'll start out with a long pin and test, and shorten, test and shorten until I reach the optimum length.

Ben

[MtGun44]

Elmer may have thought the nose is a touch short, but for sure you have a LUBE GROOVE
to be proud of!

Bill

[Ben]

Bill,

You're right, this thing carries a " wash tub " of bullet lube.

[GP100man]

Ben

First off great lookin boolits!!

I think they`ll be fine at 38 velocitys , but proof is in the pudding or mushrooms in this case !

NOW ,here`s a topic to talk about !! HP wall thickness .

I see alot of designs & conversions that just look way to thin for my liking , & think the nose will just blow off & basically be a wc design ???

I like how Buckshot leaves the pins long ,now I know he does it on purpose !!

[Ben]

Give me some ideas for good loads with this bullet in 38 Spec. brass out of my 1894 Marlin that you see in the photos.

Ben

[GP100man]

Ben

Since I have this powder I`d start with `bout 4.5grs. of SR-4756

This gave me close to 700 fps out of a 6" barrel ,but felt it needed more bore time to see full potentual from it ???

The slow burners will have to get up into the upper pressures to perform consistently & I don`t like doing that with a cartridge that may find it`s way to an old revolver somehow.

[Ben]

That's fine GP100man , I'll try that load.

Thanks,

Ben

[MtGun44]

Ben,

NICE mold, nice looking boolits, and great photography, as usual.

That shorter nose is probably a whole lot more likely to be compatible with the
feeding requirements of a levergun, too.

Personally, I like about 3 gr of Clays for .38 Spl loads. VERY clean powder and
such a small quantity makes loads cheap.

Bill

[Clinebo]

Very interesting looking boolit Ben. I will watch to see how your tests turn out. Which lube do you think you'll use?

[Ben]

Ben's Red. Details below :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=81031

[Grandpas50AE]

Ben

Since I have this powder I`d start with `bout 4.5grs. of SR-4756

This gave me close to 700 fps out of a 6" barrel ,but felt it needed more bore time to see full potentual from it ???

The slow burners will have to get up into the upper pressures to perform consistently & I don`t like doing that with a cartridge that may find it`s way to an old revolver somehow.

That's very close to the load I used years ago for the 358429 boolit and even the Hornady 148 gr. HBWC thurned backwards. Very accurate loads at 25 yds or less, never tested them at longer ranges.