Lyman 358156 GC clone.....

[Harry O]

I have what I have I been told is a Yankee mould that exactly matches the dimensions of a Lyman 358156 GC. It is made from brass and is a dream to cast with, just like the few other brass moulds I have. I have also found that this is a neat bullet to experiment with. The mould casts at between 0.359" and 0.360". I tried sizing and lubing some at 0.359", but it was a bit snug. 0.358" worked as slick as can be with the revolvers I planned to use.

I originally cast up a bunch of 40:1 lead over the gas check (for expansion) and accuracy was very good with mild loads, but pushing the load up, the accuracy went sour before I reached its limits. I cast up some more with a harder lead over the gas check and I was able to go as hot as I wanted to without any decrease in accuracy. I had an idea of chamber pressure vs Bhn needed without a gascheck, but I am now getting an idea of the relationship with a gascheck.

Recently, I tried switching the two bullet seating grooves. I can seat it in the lower groove in my .38 Specials and it still fits the K-frame S&W's nicely. Turns out that it is more accurate that way. So far, I have only used it that way with a mid-range (standard, not +P) load of 4.5gr of Unique, but it is the most accurate combination so far. Since there was more space between the bottom of the bullet and the top of the powder, I did not think that it would be as accurate as seating it deeper, but I was wrong. I think that the forward driving band is well within the cylinder throat, giving the bullet a straighter start into the forcing cone. I plan a number of other experiments with this bullet.

[Bullshop]

Say I have that same mold but mine is set up with two pins, one for HP and one for solid nose. Anyone interested in a trade?
BIC/BS

[floodgate]

Harry:

Those of us who have Yankee moulds or have studied their literature harbor deep suspicions that they either had "back door" access to the Ideal / Lyman stock of cherries, or that they bought discarded ones. Their leaflets claimed that they had from 600 to over 800 designs available, and those were about the numbers we get when we add up all the variations in the Ideal Handbooks and Cast Bullet Handbooks at the corresponding times. None of the other mould makers (B & M, Modern-Bond, etc.) ever listed more than around 100 designs, including weight variations, hollow-points, etc.

floodgate

[Bret4207]

Many years ago, back before he got famous and enormous, Mikey Venturino did an article on his experiments with seating depths and wadcutters IIRC. Results showed seating depths are one of the places you can play with to find top accuracy, bearing in mind pressures change up and down as you vary the depth. Same holds true with youe SWC. Play around and be happy with finding the best load, even if it looks a little goofy. The proof is in the pudding.

I'd love to find a Yankee, a Potter and some more Cramers to add to my growing collection. Seems I always miss the ones I want.

[singleshotbuff]

Bullshop,

I may be interested in that mold. Please PM me.

SSB

[9.3X62AL]

I have used two versions of the #358156--a Lyman 2-holer that I've had for about 20 years, and a more recent Lee copy of the design. The Lee seems a little "squatter" in profile, if that makes sense--but both designs shoot very well in 357 Magnum revolvers for me. #358477 and #358429 get my 38 Special work these days.

[Harry O]

I am curious about the hollow-point mould (not interested in buying it, though). I have over a half-dozen hollow-base moulds and every one of them takes some "fiddling" to get good bullets at a decent pace. I have to run the melt as hot as my pot will go, as fast as I can (making sure that the nose is solid enough to shear), and still I sometimes have too much heat loss at the base pin. Since the hollow-base moulds have a larger "pin" which would slow down the heat loss, I wonder how it works with an even narrower pin. Anybody have experience with a hollow-point mould and can enlighten me?

Interesting about the possible Yankee/Ideal tie. I had a friend send me some 358156 bullets from a Lyman/Ideal mould (no gascheck and not sized) and they would "almost" close in the Yankeee mould. I have tried that with other moulds and pretty much none of them will completely close back into the very same mould they came from once cool, so the Yankee was really close.

I got it to try in my .357 Magnums, but haven't gotten there yet. Still playing around with it in .38 Specials. I have no doubt that it will work well in the Magnum, with the right hardness above the gascheck.