Lyman/Ideal 35863

[hanover67]

I have an older Lyman 35863 .38 caliber mold. I have seen it listed as a double ended wadcutter and wonder what that means. My mold casts boolits at .359" and 149gr with range scrap, and I size them down to .354" for use in a Colt Officers Model which has a .353" bore. They shoot as well as I can hold. My powder charge is 3.0gr of Bullseye.

When I made my first casts, I noticed that the boolit base seemed rounded and wondered if I was doing something wrong because the bases were not square, like the noses, which are perfectly flat. After some research, I've discovered that Lyman molds of this design/model number vary, so what I have is a flat-nose bevel-base wadcutter.

I'm wondering what effect using these boollits upside down, with the flat end in the cartridge case, would have? Has anybody tried this? Would a better "seal" on the back end improve accuracy?

[Ben]

Colt Officers Model which has a .353" bore.

UUmmm, that is pretty tight.

I also have a Colt O M Match, maybe I need to slug mine ?

[saint_iverson]

wow, tight! wonder if that was done to compensate for the smaller diameter of factory spec'd ammo... ... ...

[MT Gianni]

I believe the 35863 was set up for the model 52, a 38 special target autoloader. It had to have a wc that would chamber with a flat nose, even with the end of the brass. The wc was reversable with both ends flat. The only way to tell the top end was from sprue markings. It should shoot well out of your OM with the bevel facing out.