cretiuque my design, will this mold kill well?

[Andrew Mason]

i modified an existing design from accurate molds and added ssome weight to make it approx 175 grains.
this boolit will be used for both .38 special plinking, and .357 magnum plinking.
i do also intend to hunt with this bullet, coyotes to smaller bears and anything in between, including 2 legged critters.
it needs to feed relaibly in my lever action rossi 92, all of mr revolvers with speed loaders,
and the possibility of a semiautomatic .357 magnum.

i have been reading more about effective bullet design on animals, and i am unsure if the truncated cone is the design i want, i figured it would be a good one, as co. jeef cooper was a champion of the TC.

what do yall think?
i was going to have it cut in either a 5 cavity brass, or 6 cavity aluminum from accurate molds.

thank you
andrew mason
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj143/ANDY_MASON/36-175S-D_zps14558eec.png (http://s271.photobucket.com/user/ANDY_MASON/media/36-175S-D_zps14558eec.png.html)

[williamwaco]

Looks good to me but I wouldn't pay for it.

Your design has a nice large melpat.
You don't list the width of the meplat but it looks as wide as most SWCs

I really like the Lee 358 158 RF.

You can buy a two cavity for $18.
You can cast 500 of them in an afternoon.
It will feed flawlessly in your M-92
It will kill as reliably as your design.
I use it in revolvers, single shots, M 92 and Ruger 77-357
It feeds very reliably.

I can't comment on speed loaders.

[Andrew Mason]

Looks good to me but I wouldn't pay for it.

Your design has a nice large melpat.
You don't list the width of the meplat but it looks as wide as most SWCs

I really like the Lee 358 158 RF.

You can buy a two cavity for $18.
You can cast 500 of them in an afternoon.
It will feed flawlessly in your M-92
It will kill as reliably as your design.
I use it in revolvers, single shots, M 92 and Ruger 77-357
It feeds very reliably.

I can't comment on speed loaders.

the meplat is .18"

i have used a few of the lee 2 cavity molds, and none of them seem to cast well, except my 440 grain .50 cal molds for my .500 S&W. i think it has to do with the volume of lead vs aluminum.

i have considered a pair, or even a trio of lee 6 cavity molds, but even my 6 cavity .45 acp molds only cast OKAY.
one of my reasons for getting this mold is to get a GREAT quality mold,
also, i prefer heavy .357 bullets, so with whatever design i go with, i want to keep it in the 175grain range.

[leadman]

If you haven't tried the new design 2 cavity Lee mold you should. They cast really well. I cast some 255gr 45 cal swc tonight and the boolits fell out of the mold when opened. At the worst I had to shake the mold a little.
Andy Lee has been doing some good work on improving the molds and they are even more of a bargain than before.
The 38 cal. 158gr RFN is a very good boolit and casts really easy.

[paul h]

Personally I prefer a meplat in the 75-80% of bullet diameter range, your meplat is 50%. I also like a fairly sharp transition between the meplat and nose. I haven't seen anything conclusive to say that an ogival wadcutter is superior to a truncated cone, but the ogival wadcutters have more weight in the bullet nose, hence more case capacity and are shorter for a given length which I think is good in heavy for caliber bullets.

I guess that's a long way of saying I'd opt for a 180 gr WFN over your design, no offense.

[Aunegl]

Nice design, it would make a good handgun silhouette bullet. I prefer gas check design, myself. I have a .44-320 grain bullet with a meplat of 58%. This works on 200 meter rams and mule deer.

[dragon813gt]

Killing paper, yes. Killing game, more than likely. More meplat has been a proven formula for decades. Fifty percent seems low to me. All the bullets I hunt w/ are in the 70% range. I have a Marlin so the larger meplat gets the weight in the short nose I'm restricted to.

[AlaskanGuy]

If your gunna hunt with it, bigger meplat = bigger hole = more damage = faster kill = shorter tracking job = less lost game.... And that equals more meat in the freezer... :drinks:

Nice work on giving it a go though... Much better then i could do. I doubt that i would even try with so many good designs out there... I dont think i could re-design the wheel anyway...

AG

[Andrew Mason]

leadman, i do have one of the new lee 2 cavity molds, iv found it to cast just okay.
i am not completly opposed to lee by any means, i would like to get a 2 cavity lee 440 grain .501 for my .500 S&W that i could hollow point,
but untill i try out my other new lee more and test it, i am hesitant.

i will look at designing up a WFN with a 65%-80% meplat design.

and i will look at the lee 158s again.

[gray wolf]

I don't think I like it

[taco650]

What about simply buying some of these? Design work is already done and your hard earned $$$ can go to something else.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/images/bullets/BTB-357-185gFNGC2.jpg

[Wayne Smith]

I too would increase meplat to closer to 70% for hunting. It should feed in your rifle, check with some of those using a similar loading design. I don't have a 357 rifle, only revolvers. I have read plenty here about what boolit designs work with these rifles so you might want to do a search.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

[/url]

[Blammer]

this one feeds great in my win 94 lever gun and kills deer well too.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=408

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=460

this one too. I'd browse around NOE's place you may find something you like. :)

[Blammer]

I would recommend the Ranch Dog version as he specifically set up the nose to hunt and feed well in leverguns.

[Andrew Mason]

are these available in a larger mold block with more cavities and in brass?

[Blammer]

as far as the design, I would make the lube groove shallower, not so deep, height is fine. Shallower is usually better for accuracy.

if you could square of the nose from the side to the ogive that may help the 'smack' it puts on target, but then about feeding, not so sure how that would affect it.

I'd put a GC on it so you could drive softer alloy's fast and it would be easier for load development in the rifle.

[Forrest r]

Another vote for mihec's 359640.

Excellent design that fits/feeds well with 2 different crimp grooves. Has the ability to cast 170gr solid or 158gr hp's & casts extremely consistent boolits between the 4 cavities. The large meplat & ease of casting with these molds are things to consider.

88950

I cast these boolits with a soft alloy (around 10bhn/air cooled) & will use bp gas checks on them with hot loads in 8" & 10" bbl's.

88951

[Blammer]

are these available in a larger mold block with more cavities and in brass?

just have to browse around the website (NOE's) and see what's available.

his moulds are alum but they are NOT the Lee type alum

[Bret4207]

If your gunna hunt with it, bigger meplat = bigger hole = more damage = faster kill = shorter tracking job = less lost game.... And that equals more meat in the freezer... :drinks:



AG


Ditto.

[Walter Laich]

nice to see you developing this. Figure all the present molds started out as an idea in someone's mind.

Keep it up

walt

[Dan Cash]

I think it will kill quite well. I did not notice if you will use this in a revolver or rifle. It would not be my choice for a revolver as you loose the ability to position the bullet in contact with or in close proximity to the cylinder throat. Bullet can wobble before hitting the throat.

[nanuk]

I did not notice if you will use this in a revolver or rifle.




it needs to feed relaibly in my lever action rossi 92, all of mr revolvers with speed loaders,
and the possibility of a semiautomatic .357 magnum.
andrew mason


your answer

[MtGun44]

There is a balance between a large meplat for killing power and feeding thru
a levergun. I tend to think you are a touch farther on the side of 'feeding nose'
than I would be, but I have never tried to feed a Rossi and I do know my
Browning B92 has zero interest in feeding my Keith loads in .44 Mag! I have yet to
select a mold for that carbine that will feed reliably.

So - make your balance as the two competing requirements seem to
work out for your situation, but a bias towards a larger meplat is something
I would share.

+1 on William's Lee 358 158 RF, works great for me in revolvers, but not
sure if it would cycle in the levergun.

Bill

[rintinglen]

The brass mold will be a better weapon than the aluminum one. The extra weight makes for a more effective bludgeon. However, I think you will be better served to cast up boolits with it and shoot them at your intended targets. It is hard to club Deer, they run too fast!:kidding: