??? 358477 ???

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I've ordered an NOE 358477 HP, 2 cav. mould.
Hopefully, the mould will arrive soon.

I have been doing some research on the history of the 358477.
There is a pretty long list of shooters / reloaders that offer the bullet very high marks in the performance / accuracy dept. It seems that a favorite
load of many shooters was 5.0 of Unique with the 358477 in 38 Spec.
cases. It seems that Glen Fryxell was a big fan of the bullet also :

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell358477HP.htm

In your opinion, what is it about the bullet that has allowed it to gather this kind of praise throughout the past 50 yrs.

I am very interested in reading your opinions on this subject.

Ben
 
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P

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I think Fryxell hits the nail on the head when he speaks of the bullet's linage from the slightly longer Keith design.
The 358477 combines the great attributes of the Keith type SWC with a bullet that fits in the the shorter cylinders of the N-frames. Couple that with the fact that it lands at the near perfect weight for a 38 Special bullet at around the 155-160 grains (without the HP) but retains the all of the SWC features. (flat point, sharp forward shoulder on the front band, and near perfect weight distribution and center of gravity)
It has the great ballistic performance of the lead round nose with the great terminal performance of a flat nose.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
IMO a lot of it has to do with the balance of the bullet.
Lyman has put about 16 different noses on the thing, and changed from a square to rounded lube groove over the years,, but those 2 bottom bands have never changed.
the front band only slightly from time to time, but that thick base band and second band has not changed.
plus the front band has always had enough meat to engage the rifling without a bunch of slippage.
 
R

Rex

Active Member
I don't know anything about design or engineering but the darn thing just works in my 4" 686. It may all be in my head but for me it outshoots the 358429 in my revolver. The only time I use something else is with heavy .357 mag loads then I go to 358156 GC.
Almost any powder or charge weight I use in a 38 Special case just works fine. From 4.5 grains HP38 or 4 grains Bullseye or 5.4 grains Unique.
Heck it even shoots good with 6 grains of Unique or 12 grains 2400 in a Special case in my 686. Mine is the older 150 grain one hole mould.
Yes, I like it.
 
J

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I thought I had this one, but it's an Ideal 358439. Similar, but not the same.

I shot it a lot many years ago in the 357 and it was extremely accurate at target speeds and at full-speed, according to the 1973(?) Lyman Cast Bullet manual, which was a small one, but chock full of useful loads. I always cast straight wheel weights in it for the 357. Never shot game with it, but to 100 yards, I could stay within six inches with a 4" Security Six.

Recently, I've used it as my really slow, really quiet 357 carbine, close to the house vermin-thumper. At 450 to 500 fps, cast RALLY soft, they do very well.

Very versatile.
 
M

MW65

Wetside, Oregon
I have a old one holer 358477 which gets a little workout. I've toned it down to plinking load status for the old victory model, 4.5gr unique... and it's a very happy camper! Even better in the 686. Soda cans, pine cones, and ground squirrels have met their match out on the field.

This, the 358432s, and a 158gr swc all worked well. Don't know what it is, but seems to work just fine when pushed to my plinking powder charge.
 
W

Walks

Well-Known Member
I've shot it for a Loong time, it is My go to bullet for std .38Spl loads and niche .357Mag loads. For about 25yrs I shot at the Los Angeles P.D. Harbor Range, they did Not allow magnum loads. So I came up with +P in .357Mag cases. The #358477 over a Good charge of Unique worked well for My N-Frame S&W's and any other .357Mag gun I tried it in. Those nice big driving bands are great. I used it so much, that at one time I was casting from 2 4cav molds at a time. If I was ever down to only one mold; it would be #358477.
 
L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Well heck, I wonder if I have one of those. I got more moulds than Carter's got liver pills.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
you probably do.
i think they come in the welcome package with the fleetwood mac album, and various home made cookies everyone in suburbia got issued with a home purchase back in the 80's.
i always shot them on top of 4grs. of 231 in 38 special cases, then i gave the SIL the last 3-4 lbs of 231 i had.
 
A

Alstep

Member
I've got the RCBS equivalent, 38-150-SWC. It's my favorite in all my .38's & .357's. It just plain shoots!
A close second is the RCBS 38-155-CW.
I remember Carter's little liver pills being advertised on black & white tv in the '50's.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I thought I had a 358477. Turns out it was sitting in a cubby in my desk right in front of my face! It's a 4 cav Ideal I got off Ebay a long time ago.

I really need to start casting and shooting more!
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
#358477 was among the first moulds I bought when I started casting. It is my most-cast and most-fired bullet in 38 Special, period. I may have tried it in 357 Magnum, but have none of those loaded. My NOE 4-cav in this design casts big enough (.362") to fit and run in my 38 S&Ws.
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
That sounds like a " Do All Mould "
Nice when everything works out like that.

Ben
 
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