Dr. Walter Hudson was one of the finest all around shooters in the late 1800's and well into the early 1900's! He shot everything from Scheutzen to long range Palma matches, to the Wimbledom, and shotgun matches with glass balls and live pigeons. Hudson also made huge contributions in bullet design, and ammunition; working with manufacturers.
Doc Hudson developed two bullet designs for Ideal Mfg. Co., one for the .32-40 and another for the .38-55 #375272, with both being very similar designs to each other, and both being heavier than the usual .32-40 or .38-55 designs. The .32-40 is a 188 grain, and the .38-55 is a 310 grain.
This Marlin-Ideal Hudson mold is one of the earliest with integral handles. Later when Ideal sold to Lyman the molds used separate handles so one handle could be used with many Lyman molds. I own one each of the .32-40 and .38-55 Lyman molds, but didn't realize until today that the Marlin-Ideal boxed mold I had is the great old Doc Hudson design! My .38-55 mold was given to me by a late friend who lost all his old 1800's scheutzen rifles in a home flood. The mold was stored high enough to survive flooding. The .32-40 Lyman was purchased just a couple months ago when a friend offered it to me at a great price. The Marlin-Ideal boxed mold I can't even recall where or who I got it from? I remember buying it simply because it was a Marlin marked box, but never really noticed which design it was until today!
The Hudson Ideal and Lyman molds are highly desirable, but this is the only Hudson Marlin-Ideal mold I've ever come across in all my collecting days, and I didn't even realize what I had until today. Think I've owned this mold for 40 years so far too!
Thanks for sharing Vall.