Thread: Help identifying projectile

Can anyone identify this projectile for me.
I've been trying various projectiles in my Marlin 1894 357 as accuracy was not good. The only one that I could get shooting OK was a 158 gn flat nose from Deltamike but he doesn't have anymore. The 125s shoot OK as well but the one pictured below was very good. I was given some by a mate who got them in a bunch of different stuff from a retiring shooter and has no idea what they are or where to get more.

They are 140gns 0.677 long and .359 in diameter
Thanks in advance
Hutch

I should add that my current theory is the very square/flat base is the cause of the extra accuracy. The flat nose have a very small bevel and aren't as good, the round nose have a bigger bevel and are shocking. This is for CAS so I'm talking very soft loads and in a rifle that has probably seen a lot of rounds.

They look exactly like the Lyman 358429 cast bullet except that weighs 165 grains.
Get in touch with @shooternz and see what he has to offer. Buying cast projectiles the like of Hornady is unnecessarily expensive and if you don't want to cast your own Robert is an excellent cost effective solution.

my old 357 shot very very well with Hornady 140FTX and 2205 but if you were using them for CAS you would go broke real quick.
Would shoot just under MOA at 100m which I though was outstanding for a Lever gun
Have you considered the CMJ Bullets from CMJ Projectiles – Rusa Reloading Components at $183 or so per thousand thats not too bad?

Originally Posted by mikee

my old 357 shot very very well with Hornady 140FTX and 2205 but if you were using them for CAS you would go broke real quick.
Would shoot just under MOA at 100m which I though was outstanding for a Lever gun
Have you considered the CMJ Bullets from CMJ Projectiles – Rusa Reloading Components at $183 or so per thousand thats not too bad?

I had seen those. They do not have the flat base with the square edge of the bullet I posted the picture of. I think the bigger the radius from base to side of the bullet the worse the accuracy is.
I see Hawkesbury bullets (the manufacturer of the bullets Deltamike stock) have in the description of their products, double bevel base, bevel base and flat base. The bullets from them I have tried have all been "bevel base", but the more accurate ones definitely had less of a bevel.

No first hand knowledge, but I've read before that flat base jacketed bullets can often be more accurate than boat tail jacketed bullets if the barrel crown is less than perfect.

How's the crown on your rifle?

Here's a photo of the 3 bullets, left to right. Crap accuracy, good and very good.

The Deltamike projectiles are good value as well. Delivery is cheap and fast.

The crown has been re done. When I got the rifle the seller was not forthcoming with its condition. I couldn't get any accuracy at all with the ammo I had on hand. The clubs gunsmith had a look and the barrel had bulges in it. One right at the muzzle. He counter bored down past the bulge and this improved it a lot. I then found it shot better with the 158gn flat point projectiles. I originally put this down to the heavier projectile. As DM didn't have anymore I bought some round nose 158gn. These do not shoot well.
I decided to try and get a 125gn bullet to shoot in it with a load i can also shoot in my pistols so i have one load for a match. I tried different loads of different powders with no improvement. Then a mate gave me few different projectiles. One was a flat point 125 that shot reasonable. The DM offering is similar and also shoots reasonable. He also gave me this 140gn bullet that is the best of the lot.

That will be a .38/357 158gr SWC JOSYD lead bullet.

Shot thousands of them through my 357 revolwer and levergun.

The 158s are very popular in South Africa, a 150gr version is also available.

Those 158gn fps from DeltaMike are deadly on goats at 1600-1800 fps. There have been others in the market like them but not for a while. Serious shooters sold a lot of blue ones thru mid-2000s May be some around still..round or flat nose..also gold ones. All 158gn similar or same design