I own several Lyman 358477 moulds, both single cavity and double cavity that I’ve accumulated throughout the years. None however were HP moulds. I’ve always thought that the NOE 360 152 SWC RG2 looked a lot like the Lyman 358477. The Lyman 358477 has a very distinguished history going back to the 1950’s with experimentation by several shooters and writers in the 357 Magnum. I understand that Elmer Keith himself held the 358477 in high esteem. One other advantage to owning one is this NOE cast bullet nose will not extend past the end of the cylinder in a S&W Model 27 or 28. The 385429 when seated in a 357 Mag. case and crimped in the groove will extend past the end of the cylinder.
Many say today that if they had to rely on a single mould to feed their 38 Specials and 357 magnums that this would be their pick. I thought that it was time for me to own one so I placed my order with NOE for one of them. Within a few days, I was holding my new mould.
When I received my mould from NOE, I did my usual cleaning to remove any traces of cutting fluids , etc. Lightly smoked the HP pins and cavities ( with a butane lighter ) and began casting. I realize that many preheat their moulds on hot plates etc., but I’m “ old school “ and I don’t do that. I still do things the old way. I allow the mould to heat up slowly on its own as I cast.
The pins have to be HOT else the bullets will stick. Once the mould begins to come up to temperature, the mould cast very rapidly and has a very low “ cull rate “. I use a lead ladle and most of my reject bullets are caused by my ladle not delivering a smooth consistent stream of alloy. I usually stop and remove any dross that is interfering with the alloy flow and I’m back to near 100% fill out with the mould.
I don’t think that I could be any happier with my new NOE Mould !
Ben Hays