some .308 casting adivice needed

[toddx]

Hello there,
I am taking the plunge...figuratively into casting. I have a Rem 700 .308 and a Mossin Nagant 7.62x54R. These may not be the optimal guns for casting but its what I got.

When I buy molds and sizing dies do I always buy .001 different than the final sized bullet?
Example: If I shoot a .308 should I buy .309 molds and size to .308 with the dies?
Also I am using Lee molds and die/lube dies.

Also an suggestions for near free lead melter/pourer?

I may be heading for a 30-30 but for now I want to get started with the .308 I got.

I am collecting WW from my local tire shop.

I read a GREAT thread from 2006 from a Froum member called byrl.
Thats how I got here.
Thanks

[BoolitBill]

You will need to slug your barrels. The Rem 700 will probably come out .308 but the Mosins are all over the place (usually larger). My Mosin slugged out to .314. You will then try to size your boolits to .001 to .002 larger than what your bore slugged at. Slug first then decide upon a mold to choose. Also you may want to search "Beagleing" a mold to try to enlarge the size of your cast boolits.

[HollowPoint]

Hi toddx:

And welcome. You know you could ask your questions to a thousand different bullet casters and get a thousand different answers.

The majority of those answers wouldn't be wrong answers, even if they were all different. Over time we've all tended to gravitate toward what works in our individual guns.

I have four (and another on the way) 30 caliber bullet molds; rather, bullet molds that I use for my "30 caliber rifles." None of them cast bullets smaller than .309". The largest diameter my molds cast is .313". The smallest .309" depending on the alloy.

I use Lee sizer dies to size them down to the diameter I need. This means that if I were in your shoes, -with a Rem 700 and the Nagant- I could most likely use my molds to cast bullets for either gun. I'd just have to size them to fit.

If you or your wife have an old cast-iron pot, you could probably get away with smelting your wheel weights outside over a fire. There's other guys with better ideas about that on this forum. If they spot your thread I'm sure they'll offer up that knowledge.

HollowPoint

[BruceB]

Toddx, sir;

The .308 will do fine with cast bullets, and so will the 7.62x54.

I'd suggest starting with just one, the .308, until you get some experience.

To answer your sizing question, all my .308 work to date has used .311"-diameter bullets, and AS LONG AS THESE WILL CHAMBER EASILY, that's what I recommend for a modern-made .30 rifle. In fact, all my .30-caliber loads, from .30 Carbine right on up to the .30-06, use the same .311" sizing. It works for me. 7.62x54 and other 'fat thirties" like .303 and others, will require larger diameters and a bit of research as well, to find the correct diameter. This is why I suggest beginning with the .308. (Pay NO attention to "nominal" figures for jacketed bullets. This is a very different ball-game.)

If you scroll down to the "CB Loads-Military Rifles" forum, you will find a long thread on .308 loads , titled "7.62 NATO in the Springfield Armory M1A". Although the loads are for the M1A, they'll work just fine in a 700, and give you a multitude of places to start..

Good luck, and keep us posted!

[toddx]

Thank you sirs. I would have bought too small of sizers had you not mentioned the .311 idea.
What is the greatest difference you can cast and size from? Meaning. Can I cast .314 and size down to .308, .309.310. 311?
Have a great Day
T

[grouch]

You can size from .314 down to.309 with no problem especially if the alloy isn't too hard.
Grouch

[462]

Toddx,
Welcome.

"Can I cast .314 and size down to .308, .309.310. 311?"

Yes, but probably not more than .003" at one time without deforming the lube grooves (and crimp groove, which will be required if your .30-30 is a lever gun fed from a tubular magazine).

Suggestion: Purchase at least one of the four editions of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook and read it a couple of times. It contains the most "published" information regarding cast boolits and has the most cast loads available. Also, read all the stickies, and time spent in the archive is will become invaluable...both will answer a plethora of questions.

[runfiverun]

i'd not worry about the sizing the body down to 30 whatever so much.
if i have a mold that pours 314 in the body the nose is usually at 304 or so and is a tight fit
or too big to chamber [or de-chamber] in my 30 cals.
if it will chamber etc.. then for the 308 i'd go more like 310 or 311 and lube/check first, then size down.

[Bret4207]

One quick way to get a ball park sizing figure is to measure the casemouth ID of a full power load fired in that particular rifle. That is as big as you can go without extra work. IE- if the case mouth only measures .310 a .311 boolit (with most body styles), may not fit in the gun. It's a starting point, but IME about where I'll eventually end up.

FWIW- I use .311 in my two 308's with good results, but both are older rifles.

[Hurricane]

My 30 cal moulds drop bullets at .311 or very close to it. I use a .311 sizer in my lyman luber to be able to lube and put on gas checks without doing much to the bullet, just rounding it a little bit if it is a little big. I shoot them in a 30-30 and a 308 with no leading and good accuracy. A lead bullet is so much softer than steel that a bullet larger than bore size will size easily in the barrel. A large bullet seals the barrel so that hot gas cannot damage the sides of the bullet and therefore prevents leading. A bullet smaller than bore size lets gas cut the side of the bullet and leads the barrel badly. If you want to size a bullet more than 2 or 3 thousands of an inch it should be lubed before sizing. The lube in the lube grooves protects the lube grooves and prevents them from being filled by moving lead. You can put lube on by hand or get a sizer that is very close to the as cast size. Big is better that small with cast bullets. As long as the finished cartridge chambers and ejects easily the bullet can be used as is.

[Char-Gar]

In American made commercial 30 (.308, 30-06, 30-30, 30-40, 300 Savage) caliber rifles, buy a .310 sizing die and you will be just fine for 99.9% percent of the rifles you find. If you are a target shooter looking for that extra edge in competition, you might want to massage that a little, but for the average guy, .310 will git er dun.

Lube you bullets, with a good lube and size nose first in a push through die. If you can't find one in .310 pm Buckshot and he will make one for you, at a very decent cost. Size you bullets this way and they can be sized from .316 down to .310 without any significant loss in accuracy.

It helps to anneal the gas check to take the fight out of them. It will take less pressure to seat and size the bullets with annealed gas checks. You can find a sticky about gas checks that will give you the how to.

[NSP64]

Toddx, welcome.
In my savage .308 I size .310(bore .309). I would slug barrel first, then order sizers.