.358" 158gr SWCHP Cramer style mold

[Maximumbob54]

I'm looking for this type of mold to cast and duplicate the Chicago or FBI load. Can anyone point me towards someone that makes such a mold?

[Bodydoc447]

See if this one is close to what you want:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=116318

Doc

[Max Brand]

Erik at hollowpointmold.com offers this one

LINK (http://www.hollowpointmold.com/forsale/sale-pictures/?item=194)


Max

[Lefty SRH]

Erik at hollowpointmold.com offers this one

LINK (http://www.hollowpointmold.com/forsale/sale-pictures/?item=194)


Max

Is Eric a good guy to do business with?

[Max Brand]

Is Eric a good guy to do business with?


Erik is great to do business with, a nice guy and a real craftsman.


Max

[Ben]

Hard to beat Erik. I highly recommend him.

Ben

[Echo]

Hard to beat Erik. I highly recommend him.

Ben

+1 for Erik

[Maximumbob54]

See if this one is close to what you want:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=116318

Doc

Thank you, I just added my request.

[MtGun44]

This was cast in a Lyman 358429 mold converted to Cramer style HP pins by
Eric at Hollowpoint Services.

Expect right at twice that penetration in ballistic gelatin.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=3952

Bill

[Lefty SRH]

This was cast in a Lyman 358429 mold converted to Cramer style HP pins by
Eric at Hollowpoint Services.

Expect right at twice that penetration in ballistic gelatin.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=3952

Bill

Thats got me interested in this mold now!

[MtGun44]

I was specifically looking to duplicate the "FBI load" and I have. It also shoots right
to the sights on the little ultralight S&W, and nothing else that I have tried (and a spent
a bunch on fancy self defense ammo) is very accurate or very close to the sights. Many
high dollar loads ($1 per shot or more, often) shot 6-10" at 15 yds and was 12-18 inches
from POA in all cases. This load shoots about 2" groups and right to POA at 15 yds.

Buy a Lyman 358429 double cavity mold and send it to Eric. If you want I can measure
the pins so you can spec them the same.

Bill

[Maximumbob54]

I might try that as an alternate if the other doesn't work out for me. That mold is now saved on a wishlist.

[rintinglen]

I have the Mihec 359-640 RF HP, and I load it for the same reasons that MtnGun Bill does. I seldom can find factory 158 grain +p hollow points. When I do, they cost an arm and a leg. I have used Speer and Hornady Swaged Lead Hollowpoint bullets, but availability has been spotty here locally. I cast the MP boolits and load them "for serious social purposes" and do most of my practicing with Lyman #358-311's that I cast in bulk using a sweet old 4 banger. I prefer the more rounded profile for ease of loading with speed loaders.
I believe there is a group buy going on right now, and it is cheaper to buy a Cramer-type Mihec mold than it is to buy a Lyman or RCBS and then have it converted. But if you already have a mold, especially if, like me, you are gradually replacing your 2 bangers with multi-cavity molds, sending a mold off to Eric for hollow pointing makes perfect sense. I have a 44-250 kt someplace that is going to make the trip pretty soon. Can't ever have too many molds....

My name is Glen and I am an addict...

[MtGun44]

. . . . . but I can stop any time. :bigsmyl2:

Bill

[fredj338]

I like casting my own, but if you only want a few 100 for SD, the Speer swaged 158grLSWCHP is a good bullet that will expand @ snub vel. Just practice w/ 158gr solids.
Another +1 for Erik's work He's done a number of molds for me & his work is just pure quality & he's a good guy to do business with.

[Maximumbob54]

Note to M-P Molds...

This thread has well enough over a thousand views and I still have yet to find a true Cramer style SWCHP mold in .358" that isn't a converted or wrong style mold for mass production.

Just a thought for a future mold design that I know I would order one in a hearth beat...

[fcvan]

Lee use to make a hollow point version of their C358-158 SWC which has a gas check shank. I have both the double cavity and hollow point versions. I don't know when Lee stopped making hollow point molds but it is pretty darned disappointing. The hollow point pin was auto-locating and worked very well for me. 25 years ago, the hollow point and double cavity molds were the same price. Frank

[H.Callahan]

Note to M-P Molds...
...snip...
...wrong style mold for mass production.
What do you consider a right style for mass production? This GB (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=116318) that was listed earlier in this thread is available in a 4 cavity HP. You can also get it as a 5 cavity solid that you could have Erik modify it for you (a bunch more expensive alternative to the 4 cavity HP, but if it is what you want...)

I think the buy is closing or may have just closed and production is supposed to start this month or next. You might be able to wheedle in and pick up an extra.

[MtGun44]

The only issue with the Keith 358429 design in HP is that some short cylinder guns in
.357 Mag using .357 Mag brass will not be able to use it, notabley the S&W N-frame M27 and
28. All the K frame and L frame S&W revolvers will take it fine in a .357 case, and the
N-frame will take it in a .38 Spl case.

Other than that it is excellent, and winds up right about at 158 gr when HP'ed.

Bill

[TheBigBang]

This was cast in a Lyman 358429 mold converted to Cramer style HP pins by
Eric at Hollowpoint Services.

Expect right at twice that penetration in ballistic gelatin.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=3952

Bill

You got a purrrdy boolit!

I prefer a .45acp for defense & generally wouldn't choose a .38spc. I haven't really put too much thought into a cast defensive HP .38/.357 bullet. I DO however shoot quite a bit of .38spc - just for fun, usually out of single-action revolvers, I REALLY enjoy it too! I have occasionally thought about such a bullet however, as one just might have need of a small-frame .38/.357 snub now & then & having your own HP mold might come in handy. If using .38/.357 for defensive purposes a good HP that RELIABLY expands well & PENETRATES SUFFICIENTLY is a VERY attractive option!

That bullet looks just BEAUTIFUL, that expansion, that weight retention! Did it lose any bits in the paper at all? Will you be MY friend & give ME the measurements of your pins, maybe even tell me the composition of the alloy you cast that bad boy from? IF you happened to chrono it, I'd like to know what vel. you got from that 2" bbl. When I get enough time available, I'd like to do some extensive testing with that bullet, or something very similar.

[Wayne Dobbs]

And it is going to penetrate more than 9" of gelatin. Look for that to run 12-14" in properly calibrated 10% gelatin. In other words, just about perfect.

[MtGun44]

The pin is 0.170" at the top, 0.106" at the bottom (7 deg taper, IIRC) with a spherical
end - not flat. Depth is 0.350".

It doesn't appear to have lost any weight, but I have not reweighed it. I expect the
velocity to make 800 fps. Lyman reports a 162 gr over 5.2 gr Unique at 914 and a
173 gr 358429 (non-HP) with 5.0 gr at 860, both from vented 4" barrels. Mine is the
snubby ~ 1 7/8", so I will guess at 800.

Note that the boolit, expanded, is ~3/4" long, so the depth to the front is 5". Multiply
by 2 to get the ballistic gelatin equivalent of 10" penetraton.

Bill

[TheBigBang]

The pin is 0.170" at the top, 0.106" at the bottom (7 deg taper, IIRC) with a spherical
end - not flat. Depth is 0.350".

It doesn't appear to have lost any weight, but I have not reweighed it. I expect the
velocity to make 800 fps. Lyman reports a 162 gr over 5.2 gr Unique at 914 and a
173 gr 358429 (non-HP) with 5.0 gr at 860, both from vented 4" barrels. Mine is the
snubby ~ 1 7/8", so I will guess at 800.

Note that the boolit, expended, is ~3/4" long, so the depth to the front is 5". Multiply
by 2 to get the ballistic gelatin equivalent of 10" penetraton.

Bill

Thank you again sir for the information, I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in that bullet. My compliments to the chef! ;-)