Lee 309-160r

[MK1MICAH]

Just got in the Lee 2cav .309-160 grain for my savage 308. I think I went a little light although it is casting supurb boolits. What should these be used for? does any one use a Lee .30 cal rifle Boolit? any one use there 7.62x39 .311 Boolits? Im looking for more of a spitzer round to target shoot unless I just dont need that for 300yard plus shooting. Please Help I love to cast but due to my budget (new baby/new house) I am stuck with the Lee Dies.
:popcorn:

[Ben]

Have you miked your bullets yet ?
The dia. of the nose and the drive bands will dictate the bullets useful applications.

Ben

[RU shooter]

Just got in the Lee 2cav .309-160 grain for my savage 308. I think I went a little light although it is casting supurb boolits. What should these be used for? does any one use a Lee .30 cal rifle Boolit? any one use there 7.62x39 .311 Boolits? Im looking for more of a spitzer round to target shoot unless I just dont need that for 300yard plus shooting. Please Help I love to cast but due to my budget (new baby/new house) I am stuck with the Lee Dies.
:popcorn: Mine(160 gr. RN) are .311x.301 and fit my rifles well ,Shoots well too . They are fine for out to two hundred yd. target work. I also use the "sks" bullet and shoot just fine also in alot of different barrels I use both in my 03A3 and 300 black out .Lee makes some decent designs its just there mould quality and consistency that can be a issue.

[MK1MICAH]

Mine(160 gr. RN) are .311x.301 and fit my rifles well ,Shoots well too . They are fine for out to two hundred yd. target work. I also use the "sks" bullet and shoot just fine also in alot of different barrels I use both in my 03A3 and 300 black out .Lee makes some decent designs its just there mould quality and consistency that can be a issue.

I wanted to check into the 7.62x39 mold also but to me it looked a little too long in length for .308. which grain are you using and do you have pictures of any of its Boolits? does it matter where you crimp on them. Id like to use that profile for CMP match shooting for my M1 .30US.

[MK1MICAH]

Have you miked your bullets yet ?
The dia. of the nose and the drive bands will dictate the bullets useful applications.

Ben

Only for dia after sizing. (.308)

[quilbilly]

I use that 160 gr Lee Rn in my Mossberg 30/30 with the 309 sizer. it shoots beautifully at any velocity between 1300 to 2100 fps but best at about 1600. 5744 is the powder.

[Tom W.]

I bought one many years ago, but a single cavity. It shoots excellently from my 30/30 and 30/06, but the last time I tried it in my .308 I had a pattern rather than a group. Probably too heavy of a charge.... My .308 likes the 168 j-word bullets.

[RU shooter]

I wanted to check into the 7.62x39 mold also but to me it looked a little too long in length for .308. which grain are you using and do you have pictures of any of its Boolits? does it matter where you crimp on them. Id like to use that profile for CMP match shooting for my M1 .30US. I use the 155 version with the standard lube groove. I dont crimp so I cant answer that question just normally seat till it kisses the rifling.No their not actually that long a bullet , shorter than say a M2 or M80 ball bullet just a touch longer than the 309-160 you bought .I have shot them in my Garand, They worked OK but had better luck with the 312-185 Lee bullet .The 155 works much better for me in my 03A3 at lower speeds around 1600-1700fps

[frkelly74]

That was the first rifle boolit I ever cast, for a 30-30 Handi Rifle. It was so much fun I got more molds and equipment and now cast for lots of calibers. I have had that mold about 15 years. I only wish it were a double cavity, but once it started to drop boolits without pounding on the mold, due to some minor leementing, it really goes pretty fast.


I don't know if you are trying to get one mold for all your needs, but you might as well forget that idea if you were. You will need several 30 cal molds before you are done.

[Ben]

Only for dia after sizing. (.308)


Not many of us shoot .308 " dia. cast bullets in .30 cal. rifle barrels, a lot of .309", .310" , and .311" cast bullets are fired however. Remember you've got to fill the throat.

Ben

[trixter]

I use the 155 version with the standard lube groove. I dont crimp so I cant answer that question just normally seat till it kisses the rifling.No their not actually that long a bullet , shorter than say a M2 or M80 ball bullet just a touch longer than the 309-160 you bought .I have shot them in my Garand, They worked OK but had better luck with the 312-185 Lee bullet .The 155 works much better for me in my 03A3 at lower speeds around 1600-1700fps

I use that same boolit, with gas checks and crimp lightly for my A3-03 sized to .309 and I am loving it, been using 12 gr of Unique, and loving that too, I don't go home with a bruised shoulder LOL Are you using gas checks?

This is such a fun hobby.

[PuppetZ]

The c312-155-2R work good in my '06. As do the C309-180-R. Gotten MOA performance from both design with surpisingly little fiddling around. Look at taking a measurment of your bore. I think you might be sizing a tad smallish for a 30cal like that. You will usually get better performance from a boolit a little over rifling size. Say 0.001"-0.002" over. Mine slugged at 0.308" so I size 0.309". Fit is paramount to a boolit load that shoot well.

Of course, YMMV.

Frank

[GunFun]

I am considering this for 30-06 as well as 308 Win out of an AR10 type. I plan to do casual target shooting with this and plinking, but want decent accuracy, otherwise why bother.

2 questions:
1 what actual drop weights are you getting. So far my pistol bullets I cast are always heavier than what Lee specs. I'd like to aproximate the ballistics of 165 grain Jacketed, so I am trying to choose between this (C309-160-R) and C309-170-F. Any suggestions as to which I should choose?

2. For 308 Win, will one likely feed better than the other? (for LWRC Repr AR10-ish thing. 1 in 10 twist. Piston operated.)

And I plan to be using improved Piglet Method poly coat, so I am not overly concerned about lead dust out of the gas, out shooting my lube, and hopefully gas checks.

[popper]

gunfun - I'm using a 165 from Accurate, profile like an 168 Amax with flat nose in LR308 (AR10). Works well, normal lube or PC, same accuracy at same load as jacketed, GCd, sized 0.310 of course. The 160 is maybe a tad lighter than I'd like but works well from reports I've seen.

[quilbilly]

I have been using that boolit in my 30/30 (my cowboy action RCBS seater slightly flattens the nose) and the rifle loves it at any velocity from 1200 to 2100. I settled on a muzzle velocity of about 1550 as useful and fun. At 40 yards and that MV, the boolit gets over 17" of penetration in soaked phone books plus a piece of plywood to simulate a clipped rib bone. At 6" of penetration the boolit begins to tumble leaving a huge "wound channel". I have also used it on targets out to 400 yards where the boolit remains accurate even with that low starting velocity. The powder is 5744.
Of course, all this depends on the twist rate of your rifle which may be different from mine.

[DHurtig]

I like the Lee 180 in my 30-30 TC carbine.

[Qc pistolero]

Used to have an AR10 in the mid 80's.Shot thousands of the Lee 309-170F on top of a charge of IMR 4227(don't remember how many grains but it was runnin in the 2200fps area).Just open up the gas meetering system to the max and clean every 500rds or so.

Oh yeah!in the accuracy dept,it held it's own with the AR 15s that were shooting with us and it didn't jam.

Qc Pistolero

[GunFun]

Thanks for the report.