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dmdracer
06-30-2005, 08:34 PM
I shot a few of my first cast boolits yesterday out of the Marlin 30-30. I had loaded some of the "purchased" cast to use as a baseline, these are 149 gr leadhead boolits with 10 gr 4756 powder, chrony avg. 1430 fps. My avg. group was 2.325" @100yds. no leading, these are harder than my cast for sure.
I loaded some of my cast, Lee C309-150-f mold which turned out around 154gr, .310 dia as cast, with same load, only dif is half were sized and g/c thru Lee 309 sizer, one coat of alox b4 sizer and the other half just one coat same lube and loaded. All of these shot around 1410 fps. The non g/c would not hit paper and had just a little leading at throat, the g/c and sized ones shot a 2.395" group.
Well I was surprised that these were so close to the purchased ones and I made them ! Wow, what a good feeling! BIG :)
I know I need to refine my process in some areas and still don't know enough yet to be technical, but you all encouraged me to "just do it" and I'm glad I did and I thank you all again for the motivation
Now here's my Q.... I was giving some tin and linotype and I cast some more today and added a very small amount to my pot with all my 1st two casting attempts "rejects", they came out really nice imho, better than the 1st ones I shot, I also water dropped these and they are harder than the 1st ones (finger nail test), I have in my mind that I need the .310 dia. size for the Marlin mg, thats where they came out to as cast, thats a good thing, but the sizer die is .309, someone said to sandpaper it out a .001, I think I can do that, what grit paper and is that die hard or will it come out easy? I need to use the g/c's as I see it, but would rather leave them as cast dia. wise so if I just papered it out to maybe .311 or so and not worry about getting it to .310 perfect and just use it to put the g/c on or should I just buy a .311 sizer and go that way for g/c and have the option of 2 dif size dies for what ever reason in the future? did any of that make sense?
Also do you let these boolits set for 30 days to "cure" b4 shooting or does it matter?
I "think" maybe I should have put another coat of alox lube on them b4 shooting?? perhaps that where the leading came from?? do you fill the groves with alox or just coat?
thanks again for all the help, I think I caught the addiction :)
Dave

Scrounger
06-30-2005, 09:00 PM
DMD,etc., Sounds like you're doing well and have a good idea on how to do better. We have another site called "Castpics", it has just a ton of useful information on it. Here is a link to Buckshot's wisdom on honing a sizing die to a larger size. His reference is to Lyman and RCBS sizer dies but his instructions will work just as well for the Lee. Check that out then look over the other things on the site.
http://www.castpics.net/RandD/hone_a_die/hone_a_die.htm

buck1
06-30-2005, 09:30 PM
I bet if you cast the PB boolit out of that Lino, it would shoot well for you. At least at the pressure levels your running. If it does you can start cutting it with your alloy untill you find the sweet spot for your needs. keep track of the %s so you can make more. ...buck

woody1
07-01-2005, 01:04 AM
Back to your enlarging the size die question. I just use some 400 emery paper followed with 600 wrapped around a split wood dowel in an electric drill. A thou. or so is pretty easy and quick. Use a little oil on the emery paper and all should be well. If you end up at .311, prob'ly no big deal, but do check diameters often. Regards, Woody

drinks
07-01-2005, 11:04 PM
Lee has .308-.309-311 and .314 sizer available.What is the groove diameter of your rifle?
Have you slugged it?
I have best results at .001-.002 over groove diameter,also do not think it is possible to get too much good lube on a bullet.
I use gas checks on everything I shoot over 800fps.
Don ;D

Buckshot
07-02-2005, 12:52 AM
............David, realize that even though a size die might have .309 (or whatever) stamped on it, that it might NOT be that size. A thousandth of an inch is a tiny little thing, and during a production run things may spread a bit.

Also, alloyed slugs will have a bit of springback to'em. The more highly alloyed, the more springback. If your .310" die is actually .3104" and you use lino you could end up with a .3113" or somesuch boolit diameter. However if your boolit is .310" to start it will not grow. Just in actually sizing down can a slug kind of pop back a bit.

...............Buckshot

dmdracer
07-03-2005, 09:57 AM
I've been out of town for a couple days and just now getting back here.
Scrounger, good link thanks
Buck, He only gave me about 6 pcs. of the lino, kinda of a tease but now I know what it is, I will see how my last batch shoots in a few days, if good, well I can cast maybe 800 or so with what I have and then go to plan "b" to find more.
Drinks, yes I have slugged it....3083 and I have heard the same...thats why I have the .310 stuck in my mind and want to open the sizer die up. I have to get some 400 and 600 and will open it up.
Buckshot, thanks, I checked a slug put thru sizer and g/c'd and if anything it looks like it is a .0002 under .309". This was one of my first cast without the lino mix. I'll do the emery thing on it and try my lino mixed slugs in the next few days and see how it works.
thanks again to all
Dave
BTW...happy and safe 4th to all