This is the one that shoots better than the 173 gr Keith, for me any way. A LOT better.
This is the one that shoots better than the 173 gr Keith, for me any way. A LOT better.
IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us! The more I travel, the more I like right where I am.
One thing I can say about the #358429 (mine has the round lube grooves) is the greater the distance, the better it groups. Some cast and jacketed bullets may beat it at 25 yards on a target, but as the range gets longer, the Keith SWC seems to out shoot the others.
Using a S&W 686 6" it has grouped 6-7 inch groups from a bagged rest @ 100 yards for 5 shots for me,...(on a good day!!). I know others can do better, just my experience.
Others boolits/bullets (usually lighter and shorter) that out-group the 358429 @ 25 yds, seem to get wandering before they make it to 50 yards.
Maker of Silver Boolits for Werewolf hunting
Good post, I have and used most of the bullets spoken here, but I have to say the Lyman 358156 is the most accurate out of my handgun`s I know it`s a pain putting on the gas check, but well worth it to me.
Gas checking is a PITA but the results usually are worth the trouble. I am a plain base guy normally but I've never had worse results when gas checking.
IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us! The more I travel, the more I like right where I am.
I've shot multiple thousands of 358429 Lymans from a 4 cav I bought in the late 60's. My mold had the round lube groove and when matched with max loads of 296/H110 six shot benched 50yd groups ran 2-2.5". My 94 Winchester .357 would do 3-4" 100 yd groups with the same loads. It was not at it's best with mild .38spl loads. My $.02
Last edited by fecmech; 12-19-2023 at 08:47 PM.
"Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyrannies.” Aristotle
Well, I appear to have gotten my hands on some bad information that I passed on here. The information I had originally received stated that Ideal didn't get into detachable mold blocks until the mid to late '40s and that is not correct. The real story is that Ideal copied the idea of detachable blocks in the late '20s, shortly after they were acquired by Lyman. I apologize for passing on bad information, I'll vet my sources better before trying to date the old molds. I should have known better.
Thanks!
The 358429 I have is from an older Lee group-buy, and one of the NOE “True Keith” molds (360-172 swc) from the group-buy a few years back.
Most of my shooting is in 38 brass at 38spl and 38 +P loadings. They do ok, but do better when pushed harder, into mid-range to full snort 357mag loadings.
My most used/most accurate 38/357 boolits are the Lyman 358156 & Lee group-buy clone & the Lee 358-158RF. Fallowed but the Lee 358-125RF…
“You’ve got to slow down to be fast” - Dad
Ideal, in their infinite wisdom had chosen to keep recycling their "announcement" of the end of the one-piece mold production into the '40s and maybe even as late as 1950. I need to get a set of the very early manuals before I try to understand what they were talking about, and when. "When" is a very important factor to those who follow the old Ideals.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |