I've cast for several decades and have had pretty decent success over the years. My first mold for .38/.357 was a 358156 and I never had any real trouble getting acceptable results shooting that bullet. For .41 I started out with a 410610, and it has been an excellent bullet for my Model 57.
Several years ago I started thinking about getting away from gas checked designs, so my first .44 mold was a 429421 and here again results have been fine and I'm leaving well enough alone.
My revolver line-up has changed and now my only .357 is a sweet little 4-5/8" flat-top 3-screw Blackhawk. Rather than cast any 358156 for it, I bought a 358429 mold to see about getting away from gas checked bullets. Results with the 358429 have been very bad for the most part. I occasionally get a group that looks encouraging, but there is no consistency and I'm beginning to wonder about the design. I could go out and cast some of the gas checked bullets for it and find out for myself how it will shoot them but I'm not wild about the idea of casting in 95+ degree weather out in my garage.
I have tried AA 4100 from 12.2 to 13.8 grains, CSB-1 from 4.8 to 6.0 grains (just to see if a faster burning powder would make a difference---and it did NOT), and 2400 from 11.4 to 13.0 grains. There have been occasional 2-inch groups at 25 yards but nothing better, and nothing repeatable. Most loads shoot three inches and many times much worse than that.
So, is there something about the 358429 that I should know? Am I pissing up a rope with the 358429?
