358429 casting HUGE

[paraord]

Here's another one for ya. Got a 358429 that I cast about 150 boolits the other day and I went to go size them down to .357 (a little too snug in my 686 so I am going to get a .356 die). Anyways I start putting them in and notice the crimp band is all kinds of distorted. Like darn near gone in some spots. So I do a few more, same thing, few more, same thing. Check my die, its clean anyways. Mould is clean too.
I then checked some of the unsized boolits and to my dismay they are casting at .364-.365 Thats an awful big jump to get down to .357.

Can ANYONE think of why someone would have this opened up this much? Also if I had the mold opened 5 thou I am sure I would get a blade of lead on the end of my boolits.

And anyone interested in a large dropping 358429?

[clodhopper]

Somebody had an old pistol with generous bore diameter, we can just hope the cylinder mouths were large too and it shot well for him.

[paraord]

Unfortunately its something that wont work for me and my 686. Some cursory looking it might fit a makarov at .364? Who knows if it will fit an OAL. And for some reason I dont think many here cast for a makarov....

[GWM]

Could fit some .38 S&W perhaps.

[BrassMagnet]

PM sent.

[dubber123]

If it truly casts that big, and round, you won't have an issue getting rid of it.

[Wayne Smith]

Make sure that there is not a piece of lead holding the mold open, or that the alignment pins aren't doing the same thing.

[dogrunner]

Betcha it'll shoot.....and well too! Had a Lyman 358429 for about 40 years that dropped a far less than round bullet.........hell, thing looked oblong if viewed top to bottom.....but still shot like a champ. Sized 'em .357, lubed with alox and never really had any reason to complain. Wish mine HAD come a bit oversized like yours!

After all those years I one day looked at that thing and on a whim sent it back to Lyman.........got a brand new version for free that shoots not one lick better than old oblong did!

[rwadley]

My mentor, one of the members here, had the same problem several years ago. It was probably a Lyman issue, not a modification. He said it would probably make a great plinker for a 9.3 mm rifle.

[TCLouis]

I have one that I cast up 25 lbs of boolits before I stopped.
I then cast 25 lbs of 358156 out of the same alloy, the same day.

Sized and GCed the 358166 just fine. Some time later II went to size the 358429s and the were difficult and I was in awe with the age hardening that had occurred utill I looked at the boolit and found almost NO lube grove . . . Boolit before sizing miced 0.368, the plan was to find someone that could use the boolits and send the mold back to Lyman for a replacement. Mold was not new, just new to me.

Somewhere I still have the boolits I cast and this may just stir me to get out that mold and send it back and see what Lyman will do.

Been busy launching the 140grain 6.5 GCed GB boolits out of type 38s and when I actually get it worked out will redo some of the work and post workup and Milsurp data here.

Guess Robert was listening to my rant!