Lyman's version is the 358-665. But RCBS. NOE, Mountain Molds, and Accurate all offer similar molds.
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358311 for .38 Special. Shoots great in my two pre-war hand ejector M&P's - truly, a tack driver. Plus I just plain like the look of that boolit.
358156 for .357 Mag. I prefer a gas check boolit for my magnums and cast from straight Lino, over a suitable amount of 2400, I can push them fast and loud.
38 Special: H&G # 43 173gn Keith/5.5gn Blue Dot
357 Mag: LBT, 155gn WFN/9.7gn Blue Dot
I run the Magma 158 gr semi wad cutter on both 38 and 357.
I currently use a H&G #51, swc , this may not be avail to you, but I also use Lyman 358156 with no issues in revolver and Rossi mod. 92.
FWIW
John
They are different molds. The 359640 is a double crimp groove. Solids weigh 170, hollowpoints weigh 158. The 360640 has a single crimp groove. Solids weigh 158, large hollowpoint weighs 147. To add to the confusion the 359640 molds can be engraved 360640. I have one that's engraved like that but the engraving is on the bottom instead of the side. The molds are differentiated by the number of crimp grooves. Pointing this out for people that don't use his molds.
The 640 nose profile has worked great across all calibers. I've been waiting over two years for the 35cal light version to be cut.
Ive shot 158gr swc boolits for years and had good luck with them but after i shot the lee .358-158rf i dont shoot much swc's anymore. This boolit does everthing i want. Punches nice round holes in paper and with the large meplat, it oughta work well on critters, no matter how many legs they have.ymmv
For pure accuracy my goto bullet was always the H&G#39 which is very similar to the Lyman 358311 in .38 spl loads. It still is for the 100 yd stage of Hunters Pistol Silhouette. What I've found for me at least is that the Lee 120TC and RCBS 124CN truncated cone bullets are even more accurate but don't have the weight to take the 100 yd. ram. Both of these bullets with 4-4.5/BE will consistently stay under 2"@50yds in the handgun, are very pleasant to shoot and are also very accurate out of my 30" twist Rossi rifles. For mag loads a max loading of 296/H110 behind the Lyman Keith 358429 is very accurate out of both my handguns and rifles.
dunno.
I have used it so much I have worn the number off the side of the mold and have had to lap it out once to regain the diameter back.
the rcbs cowboy mold is similar but has a slightly different meplat diameter, and the radius on the nose is a little more rounded.
those logo boolits are the ones Ken uses in his 357 pump gun.
For 357 Mag/ 38 spec i love my NOE 360477 150gr SWC mold. I size to .358 and use Unique for my 38 spec. loads and 2400 for my 357 Mag. loads. Alloy is COWW's + 3% tin and get a BHN around 12-13. Key to the HP mold is to run her fast and hot so those pins don't cool too much. Great little mold!
Attachment 129551
Good info, and definitely some mould to look at. Im not particular to ideal or lyman, But I do like them for the history. Probably like a lot of others, I watch them on ebay regularly for anything that might peek my interests.
Another vote for the Lee 158 RF. I like that boolit much better than Lymans 358156.
I did cut out the bevel base and its now a plain base. I put plain base checks on in 357 mag. Shoots awesome and is great on deer.
Here's mine, it's a 158 gr from Accurate molds. Comes up a little light as I cast them but it shoots lights out in every thing I own. 12.5 grs of 2400 is the sweet spot in my 686. Murf
My go to boolit for 357/38spl is the Saeco #62358, It's a plain base flat nose that looks a lot like murf205s Accurate mould. It works very well pushed easy or hard. My favorite of six 35cal. moulds that I own. GP
My most accurate 38 Special bullet for me is. Magma 150 TC. It's a flat based truncated cone. Most powerful by far is a Lyman #358429 design from an NOE mold that cast 177 grains from 2:6 alloy. Big bullet may be just as accurate. Hard for me to compare as my abilities are highly variable day to day. Just depends if my eyes can focus and if I shake that day. Some days I can almost shoot like I did in my youth. 358429 is a known entity and that beautiful five cavity NOE mold makes perfect bullets. So not much doubt there. Shooting 177 grains at 890 to 912 FPS over H-Universal Clays at standard pressure load is a formidable load for a 4 inch model 15.
My 357 mag revolver is a hag. Colt Trooper III with two of six throats oversized. Si I use a bullet I designed and had mountain molds cut. Was for 357 magnum Marlin lever guns. Cast around .360" and has a gas check base with RNFP. I size it to .359" to fit the fat holes and shoot it over 2400 reduced off max for a tad over 1,100 fps to keep it sub sonic. Alloy is about BHN #8 so the nose expands some most of the time. Never shot an animal with it. Do have total confidence in it's ability to make a deep wide hole. I could size the #358429's to .359" to shoot a hard alloy bullet. But the gas check allows me to use a soft lead that will expand like a soft nose. Plus be malleable enough to shoot in a cylinder where no two chambers are the same.
Hope that didn't wear you all out reading. Synopsis: shoot whatever works in my gun.
My "go-tos" are the Lee 158gr. RNFP, Lyman 358-477, and Lyman 358-429. No particular order. They all shoot well.
For 357 mag I use Lee C358-158SW. With the gas check and lube, it weighs 166.5 grains. I use it in my Rossi 92 and in my Highway Patrolman. For 38Spl, I use a Lee 358-158RF weighing 162 grains.
I have two favorites; a Lee 125 RNFP, and a Lachmiller 160 gr SWC (don't know the model number).
It used to be my Lee 158gr TL SWC before I sold it because it was easy to work with more than the accuracy, which was pretty good. Now it would be a Modern Bond 155 gr I-358-755 in the .38, and an old NEI copy of the RCBS 150 gr SWC in .357 since the I-358 bullet is to long. I also load quite a few 358311 in both after switching from the 358250. Here is the Modern Bond bullet that shoots really great, but few have seen:
Attachment 129707
Interesting suggestions all around, i havent researched them all yet. I am leaning towards getting a round flat nosed style or, a wide flat nosed. NOE makes several double cavity moulds that have 1 cavity cut for plain based and the other for gas checks. I like that.