1st time playing with the 358430s

Beagle333 · August 8, 2012, 02:26 PM

These are from a custom mold (not my own), based on the 358430. This mold is a little different in that the original Lyman had 3 lube grooves and no crimp groove, and this custom one has 2 lube grooves and a crimp groove. It's a pretty neat looking bullet and weighs in at a whopping 195 grains as cast in 50% WW and 50% Pb. (drops at .360)

I discovered immediately that they are a real bear to size to .358 while unlubed. So I tumbled them in some Alox and let that dry overnight, then sized them in my Lee push-thru sizer in my hand press. I thought I was gonna have to go shove em through the Challenger press, but after the Alox they were really easy to do and it was comfortable to size a bunch of them with the hand press while sitting around watching the Olympics.
I also discovered that I should have spritzed the Alox in the tub before putting in the bullets to tumble, because some of it dripped into the lube grooves and is wasted, because it doesn't tumble back out. I think it would have coated just the driving bands if I had applied it to the tub first. (I only used one quick swirly squirt of it anyway) Sorry, volume of "one quick swirly squirt" not available at this printing.

After they were sized, I dip lubed them in some TAC#1 bullet lube and cooled them on some wax paper. I double dipped em to make sure the grooves were full, but probably could have gotten away with a single dip. It didn't really matter, all excess went back in the melting pot anyway.

I had to make a "cake cutter" because I didn't own one, and I discovered that the bullet seating stem on my Lee Whack-a-mole loader is exactly the right size to stretch a case out to accommodate a .358 bullet. I drilled the primer and added the high tech nail. Perhaps maybe later I'll fancy it up a bit with a ball point spring over the nail and a wooden knob on the sharp end. It works though. another view of the making
If you try making one like this...... Do NOT drive the seating stem very far into the case at once. Lube it well and tap in, pull out... repeat. If you drive it all the way to the bottom, you ain't gettin it back out.

Beagle333 · August 8, 2012, 02:30 PM

They look pretty neat loaded in a .38 case with a +P load of Unique and I think they will be fun in my GP100.

It'll be something to try out anyway. I only loaded a dozen in the .38 cases to start with. If they are fun, I'll put some more of them in the .357 cases and try em out.

GP100man · August 8, 2012, 09:27 PM

Hey Beagle , Ya been bit hard huh !!! & busy !!!!

But the crimps look off on the rounds in the double row ????

The single round looks like a perfect heavy crimp .

The bullet looks like a hard hitting Ball Pein hammer !!

Nice job on the lube cutter also

Beagle333 · August 8, 2012, 09:51 PM

"Ya been bit hard huh !!! & busy !!!!"
Yeah. I still got a week before school starts.

"But the crimps look off on the rounds in the double row ????"
It's definitely a learning experience. These big ones try to move when I'm banging on them with the Lee Loader.

How do these look?

dahermit · August 8, 2012, 10:32 PM

The flash hole in the nickled case looks overly large to me...you did not enlarge it for some reason did you?

Whoops! read the part I missed where you drilled the flash hole. You are asking for trouble if you shoot those rounds. Where in the hand loading books did it tell you to do that?

FrankenMauser · August 9, 2012, 12:32 AM

Quote:

The flash hole in the nickled case looks overly large to me...you did not enlarge it for some reason did you?

Whoops! read the part I missed where you drilled the flash hole. You are asking for trouble if you shoot those rounds. Where in the hand loading books did it tell you to do that?

He only did that on the case he uses as a cake cutter - to get the excess lube off the bullets, before sizing. Drilling the primer pocket allows the nail to pass through.

dahermit · August 9, 2012, 07:25 AM

Quote:

He only did that on the case he uses as a cake cutter - to get the excess lube off the bullets, before sizing. Drilling the primer pocket allows the nail to pass through.

Another "whoops". I did not associate the drilled out primer pocket with making the cake cutter. As the charactor "Emily Patella" used to say on Saturday Night Live, "nevermind".

GP100man · August 9, 2012, 05:25 PM

Gooder !

Beagle333 · August 10, 2012, 05:22 PM

Well, at 30' the big ol' rascals shoot about 2-1/2" low. Not surprisingly, since they are only going about 800fps per Alliant data. They'll go through 3 jugs of water and stick in the dirt. But as expected, they look just like they did before, and it's not exciting at all to be just poking small holes in jugs. It don't even blow the top off the bottles.

GP100man · August 10, 2012, 06:50 PM

But it makes holes !!! & holes leak !!

Lead Express · August 10, 2012, 08:12 PM

Sounds like they need a little motivation..... .357?

Beagle333 · August 10, 2012, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Sounds like they need a little motivation..... .357?

Probably so. I can go up a couple grains in the bigger case. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to crimp over the front driving band to get it in the cylinder. That'll be something new for me to do.

They do shoot pretty good as .38s if I adjust the height. I'm sure this would make an excellent meat-punching bullet. Especially if it will still group at higher loadings.

Here we are, loaded into the .357 cases. Now.... if it would stop misting rain....

Lead Express · August 12, 2012, 12:41 PM

I'd feel shameful to call those bullets "little guys", but they sure do look sharp. Good job so far, let us know how they shoot! What powder/gn weight are you dumping in there?

Beagle333 · August 12, 2012, 05:35 PM

I'm using Unique in them. And today I tried them from 5.0 up to the max and it didn't seem to matter about where they hit. Still 2-1/2" low. That wouldn't be a problem if I were to shoot them a lot, I could just adjust to that.
But I think they shoot the most comfortable at 5.3 or 5.5 and don't shove back as much.

I'm pretty happy with them, but they are kinda wasted on my cardboard targets. I'm going to find something fun to shoot when I take them out again. Maybe some boards or various items the locals leave at the county dumpster (1/4 mi. from me)
[It's a great source of target material. I'm always bringing something home and taking it back in a highly perforated condition.]

dunerjeff · August 13, 2012, 02:54 AM

I have a 100lb chunk of wax that I can shoot into to test expansion and penetration. I just need to get around and make me a 6" die x 14-16" tube so I can make seperate wax slugs. I then just melt the wax and recover the slugs.

Beagle333 · August 26, 2012, 08:02 AM

I got 114 of the 200 grainers loaded and ready for action. (here's a few on the right) I'm going to hit the scrap lumber pile and build some test walls just to see what kind of wood chips I can make with em.

And.... I got 60 of the 218 grain GC monsters to load (the copper-bottom jobs). I'm looking forward to those too.

I figured I might as well get all my testing with the super heavies out of the way and then I'll just go back to my regular 140-170 grain booli......um, sorry... bullets.

August 8, 2012, 02:30 PM	#2
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	They look pretty neat loaded in a .38 case with a +P load of Unique and I think they will be fun in my GP100. It'll be something to try out anyway. I only loaded a dozen in the .38 cases to start with. If they are fun, I'll put some more of them in the .357 cases and try em out. Last edited by Beagle333; August 10, 2012 at 10:30 PM.

August 8, 2012, 09:27 PM	#3
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	Hey Beagle , Ya been bit hard huh !!! & busy !!!! But the crimps look off on the rounds in the double row ???? The single round looks like a perfect heavy crimp . The bullet looks like a hard hitting Ball Pein hammer !! Nice job on the lube cutter also __________________ GP100man

August 8, 2012, 09:51 PM	#4
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	"Ya been bit hard huh !!! & busy !!!!" Yeah. I still got a week before school starts. "But the crimps look off on the rounds in the double row ????" It's definitely a learning experience. These big ones try to move when I'm banging on them with the Lee Loader. How do these look? Last edited by Beagle333; August 8, 2012 at 11:36 PM. Reason: added pic

August 9, 2012, 05:25 PM	#8
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	Gooder ! __________________ GP100man

August 10, 2012, 05:22 PM	#9
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	Range Report Well, at 30' the big ol' rascals shoot about 2-1/2" low. Not surprisingly, since they are only going about 800fps per Alliant data. They'll go through 3 jugs of water and stick in the dirt. But as expected, they look just like they did before, and it's not exciting at all to be just poking small holes in jugs. It don't even blow the top off the bottles.

August 8, 2012, 02:26 PM	#1
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	1st time playing with the 358430s These are from a custom mold (not my own), based on the 358430. This mold is a little different in that the original Lyman had 3 lube grooves and no crimp groove, and this custom one has 2 lube grooves and a crimp groove. It's a pretty neat looking bullet and weighs in at a whopping 195 grains as cast in 50% WW and 50% Pb. (drops at .360) I discovered immediately that they are a real bear to size to .358 while unlubed. So I tumbled them in some Alox and let that dry overnight, then sized them in my Lee push-thru sizer in my hand press. I thought I was gonna have to go shove em through the Challenger press, but after the Alox they were really easy to do and it was comfortable to size a bunch of them with the hand press while sitting around watching the Olympics. I also discovered that I should have spritzed the Alox in the tub before putting in the bullets to tumble, because some of it dripped into the lube grooves and is wasted, because it doesn't tumble back out. I think it would have coated just the driving bands if I had applied it to the tub first. (I only used one quick swirly squirt of it anyway) Sorry, volume of "one quick swirly squirt" not available at this printing. After they were sized, I dip lubed them in some TAC#1 bullet lube and cooled them on some wax paper. I double dipped em to make sure the grooves were full, but probably could have gotten away with a single dip. It didn't really matter, all excess went back in the melting pot anyway. I had to make a "cake cutter" because I didn't own one, and I discovered that the bullet seating stem on my Lee Whack-a-mole loader is exactly the right size to stretch a case out to accommodate a .358 bullet. I drilled the primer and added the high tech nail. Perhaps maybe later I'll fancy it up a bit with a ball point spring over the nail and a wooden knob on the sharp end. It works though. another view of the making If you try making one like this...... Do NOT drive the seating stem very far into the case at once. Lube it well and tap in, pull out... repeat. If you drive it all the way to the bottom, you ain't gettin it back out. Last edited by Beagle333; August 8, 2012 at 02:32 PM.

August 8, 2012, 10:32 PM	#5
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	The flash hole in the nickled case looks overly large to me...you did not enlarge it for some reason did you? Whoops! read the part I missed where you drilled the flash hole. You are asking for trouble if you shoot those rounds. Where in the hand loading books did it tell you to do that?

August 10, 2012, 06:50 PM	#10
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 1, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	But it makes holes !!! & holes leak !! __________________ GP100man

August 10, 2012, 08:12 PM	#11
Lead Express Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2012 Location: Sacramento Posts: 125	Sounds like they need a little motivation..... .357? __________________ ”An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.” ~Col. Jeff Cooper

August 12, 2012, 12:41 PM	#13
Lead Express Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2012 Location: Sacramento Posts: 125	I'd feel shameful to call those bullets "little guys", but they sure do look sharp. Good job so far, let us know how they shoot! What powder/gn weight are you dumping in there? __________________ ”An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.” ~Col. Jeff Cooper

August 12, 2012, 05:35 PM	#14
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	I'm using Unique in them. And today I tried them from 5.0 up to the max and it didn't seem to matter about where they hit. Still 2-1/2" low. That wouldn't be a problem if I were to shoot them a lot, I could just adjust to that. But I think they shoot the most comfortable at 5.3 or 5.5 and don't shove back as much. I'm pretty happy with them, but they are kinda wasted on my cardboard targets. I'm going to find something fun to shoot when I take them out again. Maybe some boards or various items the locals leave at the county dumpster (1/4 mi. from me) [It's a great source of target material. I'm always bringing something home and taking it back in a highly perforated condition.]

August 13, 2012, 02:54 AM	#15
dunerjeff Senior Member Join Date: March 31, 2011 Location: central Wisconsin Posts: 440	I have a 100lb chunk of wax that I can shoot into to test expansion and penetration. I just need to get around and make me a 6" die x 14-16" tube so I can make seperate wax slugs. I then just melt the wax and recover the slugs. __________________ sent via telegram

August 26, 2012, 08:02 AM	#16
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	'Just because I like pictures... I got 114 of the 200 grainers loaded and ready for action. (here's a few on the right) I'm going to hit the scrap lumber pile and build some test walls just to see what kind of wood chips I can make with em. And.... I got 60 of the 218 grain GC monsters to load (the copper-bottom jobs). I'm looking forward to those too. I figured I might as well get all my testing with the super heavies out of the way and then I'll just go back to my regular 140-170 grain booli......um, sorry... bullets.