358429 - HP Success

[Ben]

Recently, I sent Buckshot a double cav. Lyman 358429 with instructions to HP the front cav.
Rick always does GOOD WORK , and this time was no different than my other HP molds that he has done for me in the past. Excellent Work !

This one is a desirable one ( in my opinion ) because it has equal width drive bands and has a square bottom lube groove.

The problem with this mold is that it cast .3555 " X 3575 ". These " Oval " boolits shot pretty well , believe it or not.....I just did not like the idea of loading a boolit with these kinds of specs.

I decided today to " roll the dice " and lap the mold.

I took bullets that had been cast in the mold about 3 months ago and used them for laps.

I drilled a center hole in the base of 4 bullets ( after using a center punch to mark the center of the base of the boolit ) , I coated the drive band area with Clover's Fine valve grinding compound.

I spun the bullets with my slow speed drill.

Bingo ! ! !

I couldn't be more pleased. The cavity is polished mirror smooth. The bullets are nice and round now at .358".

That was my goal, round on the front and rear drive bands with a reading of .358".

I size some of my 38 / 357 bullets .357" and some 358". This mold will fill the bill now for either application ( .357 " or .358 " ).

As an added advantage, the bullets " jump out " of the mold now when the mold is opened.

I thought you might like to see some photos :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Lyman%20358429%20HP/DSCI0007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Lyman%20358429%20HP/DSCI0008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Lyman%20358429%20HP/DSCI0009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Lyman%20358429%20HP/DSCI0010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Lyman%20358429%20HP/DSCI0015.jpg

UP - DATE

I got up this morning and plugged up my Lee 20 lb. Ladle pot. I cast for about 2 hours.
Here is the result :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Lyman%20358429%20HP/DSCN0689.jpg

[Glen]

Be very careful when you lap a mould and don't use self-tapping screws to mount the lap. If the bullet "grabs", then the self-starting screw will thread it's way through the soft lead bulllet very quickly, and then try to thread its way through the mould. It can do a lot of damage in a very short period of time. Use a flat-tipped machine screw to mount the lap.

[Ben]

Hello Glen :

That is some VERY GOOD advice ! !

The screw that I used today had a sharp point. I'll take a cut off wheel , with my Dremel, and
put a " flat " on the end of the screw for future use so that what you're describing cannot happen.

Many thanks,

Ben

[dk17hmr]

That is a good looking chunk of lead. One of my favorite bullets for my 357 mag...except mine is a soild.....for now

[Ben]

I had Buckshot use a drill bit dia. that would allow for a generous HP cavity. It will open rapidly even at 38 Spec. velocities.

[dubber123]

Ben, I picked up a factory single cavity a while back, they do work nicely at .38 Special speeds. These were fired at 850 fps. from a 1-7/8" S&W. http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh83/dubber123/IMG_3149.jpg Thats the recovered weight. Of the 8 or so I tried, none lost more than 2-3 grains of weight, even the ones fired into wood.

[Ben]

That is a real good testimony for the 358429 HP !

Bad guys need to beware of that combination.

[Beerd]

dubber,
what alloy did you cast those with? something pretty soft I assume?
..

[crabo]

I use a center punch to start my drill so it doesn't walk off center.

[Ben]

I did not mention that fact, but I also do the same as you.
Works pretty good.

Ben

[dubber123]

dubber,
what alloy did you cast those with? something pretty soft I assume?
..

It's a super secret, hard to blend mix of 50/50 WW-Pure lead. [smilie=1: And by 50/50, I mean half a pot of WW, half a pot of Pure. I have gotten 900+ Fps. from the 1-7/8" S&W's, but did get a slight touch of leading. At 850 Fps., they consistantly expand as shown, and are leading free. Do note, the HP is Pre-plugged with some leftover boolit lube, something that will guarantee expansion, no matter the medium.

[txbirdman]

I've been working with a HP in my Model 27. The bullet was cast from a friend's old Lee mould. The bullet has two shallow lube grooves and weighs 140 gr. as cast. Attached is a picture of my test on some waterfilled milk jugs using a load of 15 gr. of 2400. The picture show the first 2 jugs that were hit with the slug setting on the 2nd jug. I found the slug which weighed 110 gr. in the 5th jug. I was about 7yds away and got splashed. The expanded slug measured .510.

[MtGun44]

Great post, good info, and esp appreciate Glen's caution, well thought
out, I may have missed that and would hate to damage a mold that way.

Excellent expansion. I have a HP 358421 and have not yet tested my
soft cast versions in my S&W snub. Looks great!

Bill

[Glen]

MtGun44 --

That "well thought out" advice was the result of some not so well thought out experience. It was an aluminum NEI mould for the SSK 45 caliber 270 grain truncated cone (a dandy bullet), and initially I thought I had ruined the mould. Fortunately, a little careful work with a diamond file cleaned up all the burrs and, aside from a few unattractive scars, the mould works just fine.

[Catshooter]

Ben,

Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together! :)

Glen,

I thought that sounded like the voice of experience.


Cat

[MtGun44]

Glen,

I appreciate the heads up. I hate having to make ALL the errors personally!

Bill

[Echo]

Don't worry, MG44, I'm around to make a few errors & take the onus off...

[bearcove]

Set a 5/16 nut on top of the cavity w/ sprue plt open. cast thru nut use nut driver to spin boolit.:drinks: