At Long Last!

[Bisley]

Back in the saddle.

Finally broke out my casting setup after about five years. Last bullets I cast set in the garage so long they got dusty and went back into the pot. Now with the bench set up, I could get out the little sitting casting table. I pulled out my old single-cavity 454190 and scrubbed with dishwashing liquid and hot water, and went to work. Pictured is the result of two hours from setting up the table to putting the tools away. No hurry here. I should have the Anaconda up and running in a few weeks.

 

[waco]

Welcome back!

 

[Bisley]

That was Friday, today is Tuesday. Finally dry and warm enough to cast again. This time the SAECO #382. This 150-grain .38 semiwadcutter is a four-cavity casting a nice plump .361. Took about an hour of trial-by-error to remember the "feel" for this mold. By the time I got back into the swing of it, I only had about forty minutes left to cast.
I'll weigh and inspect in the morning. These will be for my wife's Scandium S&W 1-7/8 inch 38, when we get her set up at the range. They'll also go into my King Cobra, when I get it back from the gunsmith. I will spend most of tomorrow completing my education about shipping procedures from Fedex and UPS and get it off to Frank Glenn.

One good thing is, the Star in the garage is set up already with the .358 sizer die. It's warm enough for the lube to flow (50/50 alox/beeswax), and I plugged the die to lube only the bottom groove of whatever I put in it. The #382 has a wide lube groove, like the Lyman 358477, but with a narrower front band.

Any experience shooting the Lyman 358495 with only the bottom lube groove filled? That mold is next in line. Midrange velocities is what's intended with the wadcutter.

What about the 358416 RNFP with only the bottom lube groove filled? Both of these molds have kind of narrow grooves. I have fired the 416 with 5.4 grains of Unique out of a six-inch barrel with no leading, but with both grooves filled.

Thunderstorm right now, and rain tomorrow. I'll be inside for awhile.

 

[Cherokee]

Back in the saddle again. Single lube groove should work, the gun will tell you.

 

[Matt]

Lubing the bottom groove in the 495 generally work and was an old way to keep indoor ranges a little cleaner and less smoky. I’ve gone to tumble lubing everything that is under 1000 FPS as cast and letting the case size them (if needed). Low velocity .32s and .38s seem to benefit accuracy wise with a gentle taper crimp.

 

[fiver]

not the 495 but the 091 with it's tiny lube grooves was the subject of some studies I done some time back and had forgot about until now.
anyway those tests included everything up to 3 different lubes in the 3 different grooves.
I finally settled on just lubing the one tiny little bottom groove even when ramping the loads up into magnum territories.