358158 re-visited

[John Van Gelder]

I started a thread on the bullet some time back, it is the old Ray Thompson gas check bullet, with two crimp grooves to facilitate loading ..357 loads in .38 special brass.

I loaded a hand full of these bullets in 9mm brass over 4 gr. of Unique seated to the bottom crimp groove. Weight in my alloy is 162 gr. without a gas check. COL is 1.122. These feed and function nicely in my Ruger P89, I finally got around to chronographing them with mixed brass they run between 1000-1050 fps. Primers are a little flat but other than that no pressure signs.

[tazman]

That combination won't work in many pistols because of all that exposed drive band. It would never fully chamber.
Rather remarkable that your P89 has that much throat.

[John Van Gelder]

tazman

I have a number of 9mm pistols and my P89 and Ruger SR9 are the only ones that will feed that bullet. I picked the 358158 for a couple of reason the gas check base simulates a tapered base and the top driving bands are a bit smaller in diameter. The P89 is my test gun because it is so heavily constructed. I have seen posts elsewhere of folks shooting 150+ gr. SWC in their 9mms with the bullets seated out and crimped at the first grease ring. There was no mention of the firearm used.

I have a lot of history with that bullet, I bought that mold back about 1965, in those days I used to prowl the local gun shops and go through their used bullet mold bin. It is an old Ideal single cavity mold that cost me, as I recall $3.00. I was in the service then and not very rich, I would use that mold to make a small game load, my wife and I ate a lot of small game in those days. I put a gas check in the mold at the bottom driving band, that gave me about a 70 gr, wadcutter, loaded over 4 gr. of BE in a .38 spl case put a lot of squirrels and rabbits in the pot.

[robertbank]

Thanks for sharing John.

More fun to explore with my my Model 10 and my rechambered .41LC converted to 38spl (Very light loadings). I'll give you a call.

Take Care

Bob

[John Van Gelder]

Bob

The bears are out in the mountains of Oregon.. j