Any Thoughts On The Lee C309-200-1R

[Jason30-30]

I want to use the Lee C309-200-1R in a 30-06 & A 308. Is anybody else using this boolit. Any Pros cons before i buy it?

[bruce drake]

Its a good one for most applications wih 30-06 and 308 bolt rifles. Its a little heavy for a 308 but it works just fine in my 30-06 rifles. I just bought the mold myself this year but I haven't tried it in my Garand yet. Others can probably chime on the boolit in a Garand/M-14/CETME/G3 if those are what you plan to shoot it in.

Bruce

[6.5 mike]

I use it in a 30-40 Krag hiwall with very good results, always though it would work well in the 30-06, just havn't gotten that far yet. The hiwall has a 1 in 10 twist if that helps any & I am pp'ing it.

Make sure it drops big enough on the nose if you get one. The one I had ordered was to small, but one of the members here needed it for a K-31, we swapped, his was to big to fit his rifle. The one I got from him fits very well in my rifle & the Krag was what I had wanted it for.

[Kraschenbirn]

Works good in my '98 Krag sporter over 34-35 gr. IMR4350 and really shines in my K-31 with 28.5 gr. AA2015.

Bill

[Recluse]

That's a good boolit. I cast it for my Savage 110B 30-06 which is an incredible tack-driver.

With that boolit, I can match accuracy with my jacketed-projectile loads, and even get just several hundred feet under them in velocity with no leading and keep the groups to within an inch at one-hundred yards.

I gas-check it by installing the checks with the Lee push-through sizer (my bore loves .309), then run the rounds through my lube sizer with a .310 sizing die so that the boolits are lubed only (nor further sizing). Finally, I give them a light one coat swirl of tumble-lubing.

The mold is kind of a PITA and I definitely have to ladle pour, but if you make a good boolit and finish it out correctly, it'll dang sure do the job for you in 30-06.

Great stuff.

:coffee:

[milprileb]

The mold is kind of a PITA and I definitely have to ladle pour

Recluse: could you expand on that ? I use a bottom pour Saeco pot
so is there a drama with this mold and a bottom pour. I can go to ladle
if need be.

Is it the speed of the pour from a ladle that gives you better bullets?

[Recluse]

[B]

Is it the speed of the pour from a ladle that gives you better bullets?

Yep. I can't get a good boolit bottom-pouring, but have no problems ladle pouring. It's a long, skinny boolit, so it seems as though there's not as much "heat transfer" as there would be with a long, fat boolit--so you pour fast and often. Easy for the mold to cool down faster than with big/fat boolit molds. And of course, it's an aluminum mold.

Ladle pouring just works a whole lot better for me with this mold.

The mold took a lot of Lee-menting, but once done, it works very well.

:coffee:

[Frank]

It's a bore rider bullet. Correct?

[sundog]

Not the Lee, but a SAECO #301 which is very similar in design and weight. I shot the #301 in military bolt match yesterday and came in second, two points off the winner who was shooting 168 BTHPs. I also shot the second smallest group. Both of these boolits are very good in 03A3s.

As for the mould itself, I much prefer SAECO (and RCBS) moulds over Lee. My #301 is a 4-banger, and makes some REALLY nice, consistent boolits!

[1Shirt]

Good blt, but I prefer the 180 in both 06 and 308 because it is more accurate in my rifles than the 200. Also the 180 is a 20gr. saving of lead pr. blt. Don't have a Krag, but know that the 200 is reported to be a go to projectile for it.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[Frank]

So if the Lee is not a bore rider how do you chamber it in a .308 without having lube grooves below the neck? Most throats are short. Did you modify your throat? I look at the picture of the Lee and it looks like a bore rider.

[lead chucker]

i have one of these molds, has any one shot a deer with this bullet?

[Nobade]

So if the Lee is not a bore rider how do you chamber it in a .308 without having lube grooves below the neck? Most throats are short. Did you modify your throat? I look at the picture of the Lee and it looks like a bore rider.


It is most certainly a bore rider. More than half of it is bore riding nose. That is why I use it in my M1 Garand, it works well with the very short throat that rifle has. It is heavy enough to give me enough gas to cycle the action and is quite accurate in that rifle. I also have started paper patching it and using it in my Mosin Nagant with extremely good results.

[Frank]

I'm not sold on any bore rider. If you want to shoot out of a 1/10 twist bolt gun, you're going to want full diameter front to back.

[milprileb]

Frank,

Can you define a bore riding bullet please. I am stumped on it.

[rsrocket1]

Google is your friend and mine. Just looked it up myself. (http://www.lasc.us/brennan_2-0_moldselectiondesign.htm)

[Frank]

milprileb:


Frank,
Can you define a bore riding bullet please. I am stumped on it.

Link is correct. Smaller diameter in front.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Is this the boolit? I have had this one since 1978 and the mould has NEVER thrown a cull. It is a single cav mould however, but since every boolit is a good one it works out just fine.

This one is labeled 309-190GC on the box. It's the one on the right without the gc installed.

Randy

[Nobade]

Yep, yours is close. The 200gr. current production ones have a rounded nose but the rest of it pretty much looks the same.