Is this old mold any good? Lyman 358315L

[fatelk]

I picked up this old mold recently, along with some other odds and ends, but it's not a size I need at all. It looks like somebody has messed with it some, so I thought I see what you all thought about it.

It is marked Lyman 358315LP, and HO below that. Somebody has drilled a hole from the bottom up between the cavities, but it doesn't seem to cause any harm. They also machined a channel between the two sprue holes. It has RCBS handles; I assume they are worth something at least.

I heated up a pot of lead to see how the boolits looked. I didn't take the time to clean the mold good, or get it to the perfect temperature, but just dropped a few boolits to look at. With the soft alloy that was in the pot, they weigh 230 gr.+, and measure .359". The one cavity makes a good round boolit, but the other has some fins at the nose, and is a bit out of round as a result. I assume there is some way to align them so they close better, but I haven't looked at them close enough to figure it out yet.

I also wondered about the weight. The only reference I could find to this mold was 204 grains, but the cavities don't look modified, at least to my untrained eye.

Are these serviceable molds? If so, what's an old set like this worth if I were to sell them?

[MtGun44]

Nose looks non-stock. The flash is somewhat problematic, that diameter is good, may
be able to sell it for a moderate price. Flat point would be better as a hunting boolit.

[crazy mark]

Looks like somebody was trying to help the mould not get too hot. It probably be fixed on the finning. If not that finning isn't too bad. The weight is based on the old Lyman #2 formula. The RCBS handles are worth something as is the mould. I don't think it was hurt too bad.

[John D]

The Lyman 358315 is a 204gr RN. Looks like someone made a pointed tip out of it.

[HangFireW8]

I'm thinking the hole was drilled to help vent the nose... somewhere other than the other nose.

Not a bad idea.

-HF

[Shepherd2]

Looks to me like someone made the nose more pointed and lengthened the boolit in the process. That would account for the extra weight. My 358315 drops them at about 210 grs with WW alloy.

[MT Gianni]

I have a 4 cavity wadcutter mold someone has added 10 cavitys and a sprue plate to the bottom for 22 cores. Could it be that someone wanted to try a single cavity core mold without a sprue plate?
The channel between the sprue plates can add to better fillout.

[fatelk]

Thanks for the info. I cleaned them up and they close fine now. No more fin and both cavities make nice round boolits.

I can see now that they have definitely been modified exactly like you all say, and that the two cavities are slightly different. With my soft lead, they weigh 227 and 233 grains, and measure .358+. I assume that they would be slightly bigger and lighter with rifle alloy. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a visible difference between the two. If I were going to use them, I would separate the bullets from the two cavities and load them separately.

I think I'll just go ahead and sell them. Any ideas as to a fair price to ask for the molds? Handles? Or both together? Better to throw them on ebay (:() with a good description and see if anyone wants them?

Crazy Mark, from your location it looks like we could be neighbors.

[Echo]

You could probably get at least $50 on eBay - if i had the .35 Whelen I lust after I would certainly be interested.

[crazy mark]

Thanks for the info. I cleaned them up and they close fine now. No more fin and both cavities make nice round boolits.

I can see now that they have definitely been modified exactly like you all say, and that the two cavities are slightly different. With my soft lead, they weigh 227 and 233 grains, and measure .358+. I assume that they would be slightly bigger and lighter with rifle alloy. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a visible difference between the two. If I were going to use them, I would separate the bullets from the two cavities and load them separately.

I think I'll just go ahead and sell them. Any ideas as to a fair price to ask for the molds? Handles? Or both together? Better to throw them on ebay (:() with a good description and see if anyone wants them?

Crazy Mark, from your location it looks like we could be neighbors.

Which location as I have 2. Oregon or Wa.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Naw it's junk, send to me and I'll pay the shipping out of the goodness of my heart.....:kidding:

[Blammer]

it's a good mould, I'd probably look at HP'ing the cavity that causes flashing all the time, that would take care of it, and the other side would be good as is.

[scrapcan]

Blammer has a great idea, that would also make it easier to segregate when casting.

[fatelk]

Actually, after I cleaned it up, there is no more flashing on either cavity and diameters are good. It's even pretty easy to distinguish bullets from either cavities, too, as one has a noticeable line above the crimp groove, if you look closely at the photo.

When I get time, I'll put this set either on the trader or ebay.

[9.3X62AL]

Those castings made as softpoints would be a very fine boolit for either the 358 Winchester or 35 Whelen. A deer-stopping/elk-folding hammer, for sure.

Since Lyman single-cavity handles are all but non-existent, you might want to keep those RCBS handles. They do fine work with the RCBS moulds as well as S/C Lymans.