Lyman 357446

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
The 357446 is a very controversial mould design !
A few like it, many hate it, only a very few love it.

Many say the mould cast under size.
Many say the mould is tapered with under size small bands on the
nose getting larger as you go to the rear drive band.
Many cast bullet shooters say it is bad to " throw a flyer ".
Others say it won't shoot accurately at low to medium velocities and only does well at " full tilt." velocities.
One fellow said there was no such thing as a 357446, it was correctly named 358446. Well, he was wrong also !

Ironically, I've not found any truth to all of this in my many 357 / 38 Spec. revolvers and rifles. The 357446 , for me, shoots just as well as any other 158 gr. SWC cast bullet.

These have been sized .3570" , I think you can see there is no taper
on these bullets. My bullets drop from the mould at .3585" and size out well to .3570".

t1nFtrj.jpg


Here they are sized .3570", lubed, and rolled in Ben's Liquid Lube. The bullets have been placed on wax paper to dry.

eOF1ZlH.jpg



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When I obtained my Lyman 357446, I did a " mould tune up " on it and wrote an article with photos of my work :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2plYcBUNcB2RXFuYXRvSmRqQUE/view?usp=sharing

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Mine are a little bit heavy at about 165 grs. sized, lubed and ready to load :

8Gooucs.jpg


What are your thoughts on the subject ?
 
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CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Very limited experience with #357446, I got 200 castings in a swap with another caster some years back. IIRC, I used them in +P 38 Special loads and some mid-level 357s. They shot just fine, and "cleaned up" in my .358" H&I die. They didn't offer anything more than my existing #358477 and #358429 put out, so I haven't pursued a #446. I like that thicker base band on Ben's castings; the narrow base band on my existing #429 annoys me. Sacrileges of that sort on a KEITH DESIGN cause me to lose sleep at night.
 
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RicinYakima

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
First 38 mould I bought in 1970, only because it was the only one in the gun show. Shot quite a few until I started bullseye pistol shooting. Then I got a four cavity WC and never went back to it. It is still in the storage box, can't say it shot better or worse than any other, but it has been a long time ago.
 
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I have three or four examples of this mould, from Ideal to late Lyman. Now that I think about it, I have a Lyman factory HP version around here somewhere that needs to go to Erik for a new hollowpoint stem. I have a number of Ideal & Lyman HP & HB moulds that need to visit him. I keep forgetting to mail them off. It's a really good design for hotter loads, in my experience.
 
CWLONGSHOT

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
This is a mold I liked from day one. It was one if if not the first "357"Mold I owned. Pop liked the wadcutters and didnt have a 357 till after I got one. Pop had a BB and a button nose and bought hollow base wad cutters. He shot waxers in basement he shot those red/black plastic bullets too. He used ta carry that diamondback during garden chores. Id hear it bark and come running cause usually a bunny or a wood chuck was Just shot. He switched to Spanish 380 but I remember the first bunny he shot ran off like it was on fire!! That was the end of that. The 38 came back!!

Any how I bought a 446 probably 1977/78? We cast some and he liked the bullet.

I just finished casting up 300 ish of 10:1,16:1 @ 20:1 all with this mold. Did I mention I like it too? ;)

CW
 
Cadillac Jeff

Cadillac Jeff

Well-Known Member
well it is the fav. of my ruger blackhawk with 11 gr 2400
mine throws 360 with my stuf, at 160
I just lube the bottom groove---with bens red & roll them in yup BLL

thank's Ben



Jeff
 
W

Walks

Well-Known Member
I don't have that much experience with it, even though I have an old Ideal 1cav. Bought a 4cav years back, never gave me the accuracy I wanted.

My Dad never cared for it, always used the #358156 for hot loads and either the #358429 or #358477 for everything else .357mag. I do the same.

Recently, thanks to an Excellent you-tube video by CWLONGSHOT. My interest has been piqued. When I start casting in October it'll be one of the 1st molds to be filled.
 
W

Walks

Well-Known Member
I'm going to play with it some more come Fall.
But for plinking the #358477 is my favorite in .38Spl, the #358429 is a close 2nd. In .357Mag the bullet choice depends on the Revolver.
The Blasted short cylinder of the M27 just screws up bullet choices.
Maybe the #357446 will be the answer after all.

I've heard mentioned several times that the #357446 is Lyman's version of the original Factory .357Mag bullet.

I can't see/shoot well enough these days, so maybe the accuracy difference won't be there.

........................
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Ah ha......NOW the lights are on, thanks to these last few posts. Thank you, gentlemen.

I have a similar experience (shoots better at higher speeds) with a 32 caliber revolver bullet--Lyman #313631, a 100 grain SWC/GC meant for the 32 H&R Magnum and likely given the "631" number to trumpet its usage in S&W Model 631 J-frame revolvers so chambered. Run at 900 FPS, it is unimpressive--and that is a charitable assessment. Once past about 1100 FPS, though--it is a WINNER! It stays a winner to 1550 FPS in the 30 Carbine Ruger Blackhawk, too--just size it to .309" in a couple steps to fit the .3085" throats in my 2012-made example.
 
Charles Graff

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
I have limited experience with this bullet (1K rounds or so), but it has done well for me. I still favor the old SAECO/Cramer No. 12, just because I had had the mold since 1964.
 
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