My "new" 311413 is dropping them fat

[bruce drake]

I finally got to cast some bullets for the first time in three months since the home purchase:drinks: and I prepped a mold I bought three months ago from E-Bay. Its a Lyman 311413 Spirepoint Gas-check 165gr that I intended to use in my Garand and a .308 Winchester rifle.

I was a little surprised when I miked the finished product. Average diameter of the air-cooled bullets was .314 as-dropped. My alloy is 95% Wheelweight and 5% 95/5 solder.

I've sized them to .312 and now I intend to use them in my 7.7mm Arisakas and my 303 Brit rifles. Just curious about the variance in the expected size.

Bruce

[LET-CA]

Ever hear the saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."? You've got the best of all problems.

It's easy to size a bullet down a few thousanths. . . almost impossible to make them go up. Cast yourself a whole bunch and size them to the size your firearm prefers. You might be surprized to find that oversize bullets shoot more accurately, given that many barrels are a bit on the generous side. My favorite 44 caliber mould drops bullets at .434+. I size them to .432 for use in my 444 Marlin and 44 Magnum Winchesters.

If you can't find the exact diameter sizer you want, you can order the Lee push through sizers in any diameter for $25 directly from Lee. That's how I got mine in 432. There are a couple of guys who will ream out your Lyman/RCBS units to use with their LubriSizers too.

All the best.

Lenny

[cropcirclewalker]

I bought one on ebay too.

according to

http://www.darkcanyon.net/lymancastbulletinfo.html

They say that the 311413 is supposed to drop at .313.

It's the best performing boolit outa my covey in a M1917 that the barrel slugs 308 at the breech and 311 at the muzzle. I shoot it as cast.

I size it at .309 for my '03. Works there too.

[Harry O]

Mine casts at 0.314", too. This actually turns out well for me. I use it in my Krag, which has a sloppy chamber. I can load that size in it and it will chamber easily. It is most accurate that way. I have tried sizing it down to 0.311" to better match the bore. Not good. The bigger, the better. I have also used it in a Ruger No. 3 in 30-40 Krag. I cannot get the 0.314" in it, but sizing it to 0.312" chambers in that one. I have not tried that in the Garand.

I have heard stories that the 311413 is no good at heavy loads. I don't know. Have not tried it with heavy loads. I use a Lee scoop that is sized for 13gr of Red Dot. Nice medium load that is accurate and easy to shoot.

[BruceB]

Yep, I'll chime in too...my 311413 is an old "IDEAL"-marked four-cavity mould, and it too drops all four at .314" or a tad bigger. I've not really given these boolits much of a workout, but it sure holds promise at that diameter. In the loads and cartridges in which I have used it, performance was sorta spotty...some pretty decent groups, followed by some worse, and back again.

When I got this mould, someone had put some serious beveling along the top mating edges of the blocks, to the point that each boolit carried a nasty triangular 'lug' on each side of the gascheck shank of each bullet. Friend Buckshot neatly removed a few thousandths from the tops of both mould halves, and that gives a much better situation. It looks like the previous owner beveled the edges of each cavity, too, because there's a rather heavy parting line on bullets from all four cavities. The boolits look a bit unseemly, but they are shooting reasonably well....at least at times!

[Phil]

I have seen LOTS of No.1 and No.4 Lee Enfields that went .314 and better. I have one Japanese 7.7 barrel here that slugs .316, and have four more to slug so I will have a better idea of what the "norm" is on those. I sure would try that bullet at .314 in the Lee's and T99's before sizing them smaller. Sounds like you may have a winner there.

I have also heard that the 311413 doesn't do well if you push the velocity but I haven't tried it. I'll have to see if I still even have my mold for that bullet.

Cheers,

Phil

[NVcurmudgeon]

brucedrake, yes a mould casting a little oversize almost never is a problem. My 311413 casts .314". I size .314 in the .303 Britsh and .310" in the .30/06. another mould, Lyman 314299, gets sized .314" for .303, .312" for 7.65 X 53 Argentine, and .310" for .30/40 Krag and .30/06. All give good accuracy, love these flexible moulds!

[Char-Gar]

One of my top retirement projects is to find out just what this design will do. It was a very popular design in days gone by. All mold makers had their version. It was designed by a Sam Squibb of Lima Ohio back in the 1920s.

I have the Lyman, Hensley & Gibbs, Cramer and Belding and Mull versions. When I am finally able to pack it in (about 18 months), I want to find the limits of this bullets in a variety of 30 cal rifles.

Keep us abreast of how this works for you with some data and detail...I am interested.

[bruce drake]

Now I just have to dedicate some time to actually going to the range. I've a promise to my oldest son that is sitting on three months now although I'll probably be able to steal some time tomorrow although the wife's holiday party plans entail my being somewhere else all night tonight until around 9pm than constructing some gifts for the boys.

I intend to develop loads with IMR4895/BLC-2/Red Dot and Unique in 30-06/308W/7.7 JAP and 303 BRIT. My lube is Lyman's ALOX blend and I'm sizing through a Lyman 45.

I don't have a chrono so post range remarks will of course be by group size/recoil/pressure signs and potentially (hopefully not) leading.

More to follow soon as I can get out there.

Bruce

PS. Merry Christmas!