Lyman 358156 GC

[Dunce0511]

Hello
Has any one use this mold? I bought a new 4 cavitie mold with handles and 1000 Hornady gas checks for $40. What kind of sizer/luber? Have used Lee TL molds and sizing dies.

Thanks for any help

[Ben]

Just taking a recommendation on a sizing die diameter may not be the best idea for you at this point in time.

Would be nice if you know the dia. of your widest cylinder mouth that you plan to shoot the bullet out of.

[MtGun44]

Lyman or RCBS luberisizer if your budget can handle it. Please review the sticky on
revolver accuracy in the pistol section for info on sizing diam, throats, etc.

For cheapest possible if you have plenty of time, search on pan lubing and use
the Lee push thru sizer dies.

Bill

[358 Win]

I have the two cavity Lyman 358156GC mold. Makes awesome bullets. WW metal and 8oz of tin
per 8lb pot. Come out at .3585 and weigh 164gr lubed and with GC seated. Use that bullet in my 1894C Marlin. Shoot em accurately @ 1900fps +. The bullet has two crimp grooves. Upper one for loading into the 357 Mag case and the lower one for loading into 38 Spec case. Not a real popular
idea today but when the 357 Mag was introduced, magnum cases were hard to find and expensive.
The 38 Special cases were readily available and cheap, hence the mold with two crimp grooves.

[94Doug]

You sure got a good deal for the mould. I'd say with the other 50+ $ that you would have spent on the mould/handles/gas checks, buy a sizer/die/top punch. Maybe an old Lyman 45.

Doug

[Guesser]

I've been casting and shooting that bullet for over 30 years in an assortment of 357 revolvers with a wide range of barrel lengths from 2" to 10" contenders and a marlin carbine.. It is very forgiving and works well with a minimum of effort. I have 3 molds, 2 SC and a DC and they all drop at 158 gr. checked and lubed to .358. It is my favorite bullet for 357 Magnum use. I use others for 38 Special.

[Dunce0511]

Thanks for all the replys. Think I will look for a sizer and punch. Will try some witout GC for 38s
and see how they work for me. Thanks again

[NuJudge]

I like that bullet, with gas check and lubed with 50/50 lube, firmly crimped over a stout charge of 2400. It always shoots well.

CDD

[376Steyr]

The late, great Skeeter Skelton's favorite handgun load was the 358156 with gas checks, over 13.5 grs of 2400, loaded in once-fired .38 Special cases crimped into the lower crimp groove.

[Char-Gar]

When the 357 Magnum came out, it was loaded with swaged lead bullets and the leading was awful. Factory loads through the mid-60s were also so loaded. Ray Thompson designed 358156 just after WWII to cure the problem with a gas check. The stubby SWC nose would give a round short enough to work in both Colt and Smith and Wesson sixguns. As already mentioned the double crimp groove allowed the bullet to be used in either the 38 Special or 357 magnum case and the cartridge OAL be the same.

This bullet was THE goto bullet for the .357 magnum for several generations. I have a four cavity, a single cavity and a single cavity hollowpoint molds for this bullet. It is hard to beat.

Ray Thompson also designed a gas check bullet for the 44 Magnum shortly after it came out about 1955. Lyman produced it as 429244. It is probably the most accuracy 44 magnum bullet around. I also have a 4 cavity and a single cavity hollow point molds for this bullet.

Elmer Keith designed plain based bullets for both the .357 and 44 magnum (358429 and 429421). He railed against gas check bullets making all kinds of accusations about shortened barrel life. Keith's bullets were indeed good ones, but his 357 bullet was to heavy/long for some cylinders unless crimped over the SWC shoulder.

Keith's notion about how gas check shortened barrel life is mostly bunk. When it is all said and done the Thompson designs will shade the Keith designs a hair out at 100 yards and beyond. The slight different might not be worth the cost of a gas check, but that is for the shooter to decide.

Phil Sharpe also designed a lighter weight plain base bullet for the .357 Magnum which Lyman produced at 358477 which was a good bullet as well. The old Cramer firm produced their #12 design which was also a good plain base bullet for the .357 magnum.

That is more than you asked for, but I thought a little history of your bullet and its main competitors might be interesting.

All of this is before Ross Seyfriend and others decided that the Keith/Thompson/Sharpe bullet were all obsolete and the new heavier WFN bullets were just the ticket. They are good bullets but they have no proven to be the quantum leap forward they were touted to be. They certainly are not as versitle as the older designs.