What experiance do people have with the lyman .515 350 grain bullet?

[Roscoe Coles]

With my Spencer actually functioning its time to get the bullets sorted out.  I am looking at the Lyman .515 350 grain mould from Buffalo Arms and I am wondering what the word is on it.  Money is an issue at the moment at at $59 its on the edge of my price range but if its a problem I may have to save up.  I have been trying to read all the tidbits about bullets on the site but it gets out of hand pretty quick so I thought I would ask.  My bbl is .512 1/36 and I can lubrisize if needs be.  The specs on the bullet look right (correct OAL, meplat etc.) I just don't know about the bullet weight (is 350 OK or would something else be better?).  Input on this mould would be appreciated.

[Roscoe Coles]

   You know sometimes its good to have been around for a while.  After asking that question I went and looked in my mould drawer and I saw a rapine box that I didn't remember so I opened it up and its a 515320  for a 50-70, complete with handles.  Didn't even remember I had it.  It may not be ideal but I will try it out and see what it does.  If push comes to shove I can sell or trade it for the one I need.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

You seem to be alright with that mould.  If you need a Lyman 515139  (350gr), try Mid South Shooter Supy.  I got mine for about USD40.

I don't have a Spencer.  I use the Lyman bullet in my 12.7mm Swedish rollers and a cape gun.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I shot some Lyman 515139 once and they were worthless for sustained fire with real BP as they fouled out in my carbine in nothing flat and the cases ejected very rough due to sparsity of lube. However, to be fair French Jack & others have had great luck with it. YMMV. For sustained fire nothing beats the Rapine 350-T with a huge lube groove per my experiences. Fouling stays soft and cases eject easier because of that. I've had good luck with the Dakota Widowmaker bullet as well.

[Herbert]

i agree with fox creek kid for BP the rapine 350T bullet is hard to beat,i got a mould in .520 size for origanal spencer carbine it worked very well i can size it down to .512 and it still hass plenty of lube to work in spencer rifle,your barell twist and bernside spencers are nealy the same so if you want use BP it is by far the best that i have found for reliability

[Mossyrock]

Roscoe,

Agree with my esteemed colleagues above.  The Rapine 350 is about as good as it gets.  If you want to try the Widowmaker mould, drop me a PM.  It's a good bullet with enough lube, but I haven't used it since I got the Rapine.

[Roscoe Coles]

The Rapine sounds interesting but I can't seem to find it on line.  who has it and how much?  The mould I have is not perfect but it will let me fire a few rounds to see which case I should use, then I will have to look into the proper bullet.

[Fox Creek Kid]

You have to call Rapine at ph# 215-679-5413.