Lyman 357466

[tazman]

Does anyone have a picture of a Lyman 357466 boolit or picture of the mold cavity?
I would like to see what it looks like before I buy one.
Thanks

[Beagle333]

Lyman 357446
'Never heard of a 357466.
http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/cast%20boolits/357446003_zps3a7cf86e.jpg

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/cast%20boolits/357446013_zpsab0505f0.jpg

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/PowderCoating/jan26002_zpsfaa5038e.jpg

[Ben]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/357446/PICT0005.jpg

[tazman]

Thanks gentlemen. That is exactly what I needed.

[dragonrider]

Has this one been done in a group buy yet? Looks like a mold I need desperately.

[GP100man]

Here`s a nice article on the 38 swc by Mr. Fryxell. I like the history part of it the most.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=24

Enjoy, GP100man

[Ben]

Many have been critical of the 357446.

I for one have always found it to be a good shooter.
I've never stretched things out to 50 yards.
At my normal pistol distances 15 - 25 yards, it seems to do just as well as any other SWC 38/357 Mag. cast bullet.

My 357446 is a HP mold done by Buckshot.
A very fine mold !


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/357446/PICT0002-1.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/357446/PICT0003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/357446/PICT0008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/357446/PICT0010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/357446/PICT0004.jpg

[Beagle333]

Tazman and Dragonrider..... pm me if you wanna try out one of these molds. I'll loan you one each. (double cavs) :mrgreen:

[rintinglen]

I have a bubba'd up 4 cavity Lyman. It has not been a winner for me, typically shooting groups half again as large as those from the 358-477 or 358-429 in target 38 revolvers. YMMV.

[Beagle333]

They don't like to go slow. This definitely isn't a plinking boolit. If you get some speed on em, they fly true and very well at that, but they'll wander if you don't push them fast.:Fire:

[tazman]

They don't like to go slow. This definitely isn't a plinking boolit. If you get some speed on em, they fly true and very well at that, but they'll wander if you don't push them fast.:Fire:
I have been doing some research around the web and it seems some agree with you as far as needing to push the 358446 to get it to shoot accurately. Many are like rintinglen who say the boolit just doesn't work for them. This doesn't make the boolit sound like it is worth pursuing unless you want to shoot max loads(which I don't).

I guess the question I need to ask is how fast do you push them in order to get them to work well?
Do I need max 38 loads or light 357 mag loads for them to work?
Does it work any better than a 358477 or 358429 at these speeds?

I like to experiment, but I have no need to waste money and effort on something that probably won't fit with the type of shooting I do.

[Beagle333]

You don't have to go magnum. I rarely shoot full house loads with anything. 6.8gr of Unique will give you about 1225-1250 fps. I can slow them down to 1100 without seeing any loss of accuracy.

I don't have a 358477, but the 358429 is good for me at any speed. I think the 357446 is a good boolit, but just don't put it in the same box with your wadcutters. :cool:

[Bzcraig]

Tazman, I recently got a NOE 360180 that shoots to point of aim at reduced speeds out of two 38 and 1 357 that was using 4227 next try will be with 2400. The load data came from an older Lyman book that is available on Castpics.

[dragonrider]

Thanks for the offer Beagle333, If it is a solid I would be interested.

[GP100man]

Well, the 358446 likes the gas !!! it was designed in an era of speed hungry shooters! & it does it`s best above 950+fps loads . I like Ben have a HP mold ,but just with the smaller cavity pin & find the hp version will go lower in fps & still give acceptable accuracy.

This boolit does have a sweet spot , trust me , ya just gotta do the load work to find it for your gun.
I`ve posted before `bout the front bands on the 358446 & like the 429 it has different deminsions.

[tazman]

You don't have to go magnum. I rarely shoot full house loads with anything. 6.8gr of Unique will give you about 1225-1250 fps. I can slow them down to 1100 without seeing any loss of accuracy.

I don't have a 358477, but the 358429 is good for me at any speed. I think the 357446 is a good boolit, but just don't put it in the same box with your wadcutters. :cool:

I rarely shoot 357 mag loads of any kind. Most of my shooting is 38 special trying to become a better shot. I already have the Lyman 358477 and 358429, both of which shoot well in my revolver.
I guess I won't be concerned about another boolit that needs to be a baby magnum in order to work well.
Thanks for all the input and offers. It helped me make up my mind.

[Beagle333]

Dragonrider...... mold comin' at ya. :mrgreen:

[dubber123]

I have one that casts a perfect boolit, but I never got anything to write home about in any of my .38 Spls. accuracy wise. I may have to give it another go in a .357 to see if it shows me anything.

[sawzall]

I have an old Ideal single cavity that drops a perfect 160gr boolit @ .360" and it drops them easier than any other mold I have, and I have a bunch of NOE, an LBT and a few MP molds so that's really saying something. It's by far the easiest casting mold I have out of over 40. Lubed with 50-50 and loaded over 10gr of Blue Dot with a standard SPP it shoots 1/2" 8 shot groups (one full mag tube) off bags at 50yds with the factory sights and my crappy eyesight out of my 16" Rossi 92. I use water dropped coww with no added tin as this mold just doesn't need it. I love this little old mold!

[Ben]

In relation to the 357446, I wonder if any mold design has as many detractors on one end of the spectrum and happy shooters on the other end of the spectrum as the 446' seems to have ? ?

Ben

[tazman]

In relation to the 357446, I wonder if any mold design has as many detractors on one end of the spectrum and happy shooters on the other end of the spectrum as the 446' seems to have ? ?

Ben

I have been noticing that very thing.

[btroj]

Don't own one but it certainly looks like a good shooter. Some moulds don't cast sexy looking bullets but somehow they just work anyway.

[skeet1]

The Lyman 357446 is the first bullet mold that I purchased around 45 years ago. It is a single cavity and it still is my favorite .38/.357 bullet. I wish I had a double cavity but the old single still works very well.

Ken

[GP100man]

To be honest I believe PB to be nearer the mystery than he thinks , as GP100s twist rate is 18 3/4" & I find most heavy for caliber boolits aren't quite as accurate as when I stay in the 1k fps range, of course there`s exceptions , as deminsions of chambers & sizers vary , not to mention all the loobes we have at our disposal !

Now , what`s heavy for caliber ??? In my opinion the perfect weight for the 357 is between 140-150 gr range. Even Mr. Keith made the comment that his 357429 was a bit heavy & something in the 160 range would fill the bill. BUT he insisted it be the same length of the 44 boolit & that`s what gave those short cyl revolvers trouble.

Anyways I still like the 173 gr NOE 358429 & the 360-180 rnfp design , they make 2 holes everytime I shoot something & at 1k -1200 fps still comfortable in the GP100.

[dubber123]

Over the years I have read more than a few threads stating that the Lyman #357466 would not shoot well at lower velocities.

While reading through this thread it occurred to me that perhaps there is nothing wrong with the #357466. Maybe the fault is with the revolver. The statement concerning poor accuracy at .38 Special velocities and acceptable accuracy at magnum velocities leads me to believe that there is nothing wrong with the #357466 design, otherwise it wouldn't shoot well at any velocity. Maybe it has to do with the rate of twist of the revolvers being used.

A quick check of Speer's #10 manual lists rifling twists for .38 Special and .357 Magnum revolvers as follows:

.38 Special
1:14" Twist - Colt
1:18-3/4" Twist - Ruger and S&W

.357 Magnum
1:14" Twist - Colt
1:16" Twist - Ruger Blackhawk and T/C Contender
1:18-3/4" Twist - Dan Wesson, Ruger "Six" series, and S&W

An interesting experiment could be conducted by someone with access to a Ransom rest and examples of revolvers featuring common barrel lengths of all three twists listed above. A lot of ammunition loaded in the neighborhood 800 F.P.S. or so with the #357466 and fired through all three twists just might prove that the Lyman #357466 will shoot well at .38 Special velocities with the proper twist.

Just a thought.

PB

I don't know, the twist is the same for S&W regardless of .38 or .357, and I have tried the 466 in several of my revolvers, (.38 Spl.) that are capable of 2" or less at 50 yds. with ammo they like. I can't get much better than 4" with this boolit, and I have tried. It cast perfect slugs, and I could find no faults with it, and I actually like the look of it, but it just would not shoot in any of my .38's. I should wheel out a .357 and step on the gas a bit to see what happens.

[rintinglen]

^^^What he said. I believe that the fault with mine is that the front band is slightly undersized, so that there is less bearing surface and more chance of the boolit being off-center as it leaves the bore. Back in the eighties in my PPC days I looked at the three SWC boolit designs in the hopes of finding a boolit design that would load easier than the wadcutter designs I had been using yet still punch clean holes in the target for scoring purposes. I found that the 358-477 was a smidge better than the 358-429, but not by a statistically significant amount, either would group right at 2 inches @ 25 yards from my custom S&W M-10 bull barrel. The 466 came in distinctly third place running nearly an inch larger. I ended up staying with my wadcutters, which would reliably shoot into 1 1/2 inches at the same distance from the bench. This vexed me, because I had high hopes for the 4 cavity 358-466--all my other molds were 2 cavity and visions of me piling high mounds of super accurate boolits had danced through my head. Sadly, at least for me, it was not to be.
I have since read that the 466 likes to be pushed harder, but I don't run plain base in my 357's at magnum velocities. It is my experience that while PB boolits work well in the 44 magnum and the 45 Colt, with minimal or no leading, everything has to be just right in the 357 or you can end up with a boolit's worth of lead slathered down the bore.