Old Lyman 358311

[Ben]

This is an old one, Lyman 358311.

Many today would snub their nose at this mould.
The wide meplats, the " Keith Style " SWC bullets are all popular and seem
to dominate discussions when two or more casters / shooters get together.

However it has been my experience that in some of my revolvers, no bullet
will out shoot this one in the accuracy dept.

For MANY years it was the standby " Gold - standard " in the 38 Special.

For use in my Marlin 1894, CBC, 38 Special, I use a flat nose punch in my Lyman 45 Lube sizer. This puts a mild flat on the end of the bullet that gives me some peace of mind when 7 rounds of 38 Special are all end to end in the mag. tube of the rifle.

This may not be necessary with the recoil of a 38 Spec. in a rifle, but I feel a little better with this flat on the end of the bullet. This allows a " flat " on each cartridge primer in the mag. tube of the rifle. ( See photo below )



This one must be old ( it certainly looked old ), it cast a bit large at .360" ( which I like ).

Here is the bullet after being pushed through a Lee Push Thru .358" sizer :

It doesn't take very long to end up with a nice pile of these puppies.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Denis]

A grand rifle and some fine looking castings.
A good match.
I am sure it is fun to shoot and can put some lead on the target.

 

[Brad]

That was the first mould I ever hollowpointed.
I need to make a new pin, this one makes a nose with a bit of flashing. It was a good learning experience. Centering it in the four jaw chuck was a royal pain in the keister.

 

[9.3X62AL]

I don't own a copy of Lyman #358311, but did have use of a friend's example in this pattern a while back. Its castings shot VERY WELL in my 38 Special wheelguns and just as well in my 357 Magnums; the Magnum loads were restricted between 900-1100 FPS, the 38 Specs I ran 700-850 FPS. Many of us here are Keith/Thompson acolytes, tied to the Altar of Meplat and blissed euphoric on Sharp Shoulders Of Full Caliber. I'm not calling those traits Bad Things, mind you--but these humble and uncelebrated round nose bullets sure can shoot accurately and cluster closely together at impressive ranges.

 

[Ben]

Al :

Yes, for many years ( in the 20's , 30's, 40's and 50's ) police depts. ( as you are VERY well aware being a retired LEO ) either shot the 158 gr. RN or a 148 gr. w/c for training purposes in their 38 Specials.

All these other designs that merit all the glamor that we now seem so enamored over weren't even on the table at that time.

Those two designs trained and protected law enforcement officers for many years. In this day of " Magnum Mania ", I've always said if we saw a count of all the people that the 38 Special has put in a grave, it would be mind staggering.

 

[Ben]

Brad,

I bet that one would be a " KILLER " ! !
If I tried to HP a mold...........well let's just say that
no one in their right mind would want to own and
cast with it when I finished butchering it with my
lack of machine skills.

 

[Brad]

Unless shootng at something that needs to "stay hit" a round nose works just fine. Somehow we forget how well the buffalo guns did with simple round nose bullets.
Ben, I sure wish I had one of the 38 special CBC Marlins.

 

[Brad]

Brad,

I bet that one would be a " KILLER " ! !

I need to get the mould back from Khornet to make a new pin and will cast a bunch up. I bet my GP100 would like them.

 

[Ben]

Unless shootng at something that needs to "stay hit" a round nose works just fine. Somehow we forget how well the buffalo guns did with simple round nose bullets.
Ben, I sure wish I had one of the 38 special CBC Marlins.

Brad,

I've already had two different fellows make offers to me ( real eye opening $$$$ offers ) that I turned down.

The 38 Special CBC's are not easy to find.
( As I'm absolutely certain you are fully aware of )

I'm looking forward to seeing a " Range Report " with your GP-100 and the 358311 HP.

Ben

 

[Brad]

I understand not ever getting rid of a rifle, my Marlin 1894 CB in 45 Colt is just such a rifle. The 24 in octagon barrel is just what I wanted and now that it has around 5 K rounds thru it the action is smooth as could be.

I will let you know how the new HP shoot once I get a new pin made. He has a different project I need to get done first. Need to get the metal ordered.

 

[Ben]

Brad,

I'd love to sit and look over your shoulder and watch you run that lathe.

Ben

 

[9.3X62AL]

One advantage the Lyman #358311 has over pure RN designs like the Lee .311"-100 is the Lyman's full-caliber front shoulder. If your target paper is closely attached to its cardboard backer, the Lyman bullet will cut pretty clean holes in paper. One other "plus" they offer is slick, easy alignment with charge holes in a cylinder when using speedloaders.

 

[Ben]

Yes, I'm in full agreement you Al with everything you're saying.

You can look at the photo below and get an idea of just how slick and smooth these will feed in my Rossi Stainless 92' 357 Mag. rifle and my Marlin 1894 CBC , 38 Spec.

 

[Josh]

I have an old single cavity 358311, it has made tons of bullets and drops right at .3595 with junker alloy (meaning an alloy i plan to shoot in the 45 ACP or 38 SPC it could be anything) I have shot it in everything from a 38 snub nose to my 35 Remington and it always preforms.

 

[Ben]

Yes, It hasn't lasted all these years for no reason at all.

A perfectly good " utility bullet " for the 38 Spec. and 357 Mag.

Ben

 

[oscarflytyer]

Understand a very old thread, but one of the old molds I came into in the big lot I bought.

Ben - you say " For use in my Marlin 1894, CBC, 38 Special, I use a flat nose punch in my Lyman 45 Lube sizer. "

Can you pls specify exactly what top punch # you use for this? THANX!

 

[Ben]

Understand a very old thread, but one of the old molds I came into in the big lot I bought.

Ben - you say " For use in my Marlin 1894, CBC, 38 Special, I use a flat nose punch in my Lyman 45 Lube sizer. "

Can you pls specify exactly what top punch # you use for this? THANX!

I just took a bolt about 2 " long.
I cut the threads and head off with a hack saw.
I turned one end to the dia. of a lyman top punch so it fits my Lyman 45.
The other end is squared and flat.
Works well.

Ben

 

[JWFilips]

Ben,
I got a steal on an old Ideal 311 single cavity on e-bay years ago! It shot pretty well in my 38's and 357 mags
But I sent it off to Buckshot and he HP'd it for me with a big HP!
Then when I shot it it became super accurate! It is my best shooting .358" bullet albeit a bit slow to cast with!

 

[CZ93X62]

I AM coming around a bit to the RN Cadre. They ARE flat-nosed round noses, but it is still a baby-step in what might be the right direction. I don't think any bullet strike does whatever it hits one bit of good at all.

 

[Ben]

I don't think any bullet strike does whatever it hits one bit of good at all.

I'm in 101% full agreement.

Ben