Lyman 410459

fiver

Well-Known Member
I think I have the slightly shorter nose version of that one.
watch your mold temp so you don't break that front drive band as it comes from the mold.
 

Rally

NC Minnesota
That looks like the big brother to the RCBS 150-KT moulds I have a couple of. Cast a bunch of those. Bought the first one from the Rod& Gun club in Zweibruken, Germany.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I have had intermittent dalliances with the 41 Magnum over the years. I have only two moulds in the caliber--the first was a 240 grain Lee, which shot OK in a couple of 41s that I and friends have owned. 10+ years later I ran onto a NIB Lyman #410032, a plain-based SWC with a small-meplat nose that fits top punch #429. It is otherwise very Keith-like, weighing 212 grains in 92/6/2 and it shoots better by accident than that Lee monster shoots on purpose.

My favorite trait of the 41 Magnum has been the makers' close adherence to dimensional standards in throats and grooves. Both Ruger and S&W get the throats RIGHT--only a few of the 100+ 41 Magnum throats I have pin-gauged would pass a .411" (minus), and they all passed a .410". I have always sized my 41 Magnum castings at .411", and could likely size at .410" without any trouble.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
when I size to 411 for my Rugers I have to press fit the rounds into place.
410 is still some tight but I don't get purple thumbs getting the rounds in the cylinder.
 

david s

Well-Known Member
My favorite 41 bullet. I had a two cavity and a one cavity 410459. One of the first things that I looked for after acquiring a computer was a 4 cavity Lyman 410459 mould. I didn't find a Lyman version but did come up with NOE's 5 cavity. I had no clue as to what NOE quality was like but took the chance and a week later ordered one of there hollow point versions. Since then I've managed to pick up some other 41 SWC (KEITH) moulds including Eutectic's H&G #258 group buy on NOE. I still have a single cavity 410032 Lyman that (if I remember correctly ) is marked at 210 grains. This mould seems to vary as what weight is listed from 200- 212 grains. A few years ago another NOE member tried to get a group buy together for the 410032 mould but there wasn't any interest and it fell by the way side. With 41 shooter/casters it seems if you get to far from the Keith SWC or WFN style bullets they become hard sells. Was the 410459 ever made with a square grease groove or was it always a round version? I dont think I've ever seen a square grease groove on a 410459 but then I haven't seen that many 410459 moulds either.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
I have a 10 cavity H&G #258 that is their version of a 220gr .41 mag Keith style SWC. When I was active on the other site the bullets from that mold were used for a group buy from Miha. I bought a brass mold with all the extra nose pins from them. The bullets are a little different from my 4 cavity Lyman 410459. With my mediocre shooting skills I can't tell any performance difference.
 

david s

Well-Known Member
There is a pretty good saga about how Elmer Keith was upset in 1964ish with Lyman and there 410459 "Keith" mould. So Keith went to H&G and asked for the #258 mould as his true 41 mould. I looked for at least 20 years for a 4 cavity Lyman or any H&G 258 mould without any luck. I tried to get a H&G #258 group buy going at NOE but I couldn't supply any sample bullets. The sample bullets that were suppose to show up at NOE from another source never arrived so nothing ever happened. I found this site The ART And Science of Bullet Casting and made a search to see if there were any postings for the H&G #258, and there were. So my first posting here was to see if I could beg, borrow or buy some cast samples. Eutectic had some already cast and was good enough to forward some samples for NOE to measure and a group buy finally happened. Needless to say I picked up a couple of these moulds when offered. I think I have four different versions of the 220 grain SWC (Keith) moulds. There all slightly (maybe even vary slightly) different. More just variations on a theme than any practical difference though.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Elmer Keith spent a significant portion of his career time upset with mould makers and gun manufacturers, I'll wager. John Browning was likely of similar mood in dealing with ordnance types in the using services. Inventors and innovators throughout history have been impatient sorts when translating their ideas into mass manufacturing systems.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
he ain't the only one.
try getting a custom 7mm mold cut to fit the throat of a 5R barrel.
the 41 is different than your average 44 or 45 revolver a third forward drive band of equal length might have made sense to him but reality says no chance.
you'd have to have all kinds of stuff changed in the reamers and guns themselves, or you'd have to spec out a whole different taper on that front drive band to mimic the cylinder throats.
Keith knew enough and did great for what he had to work with at the time, but he tried to make his design a one fits all type thing and we all know that ain't so.