I think Im ready for the next step.

[Eric H]

I have been casting for my 45, 40, and 9mm now for about a year. finnaly have that down pat. Short of when I buy a new pistol. There always seems to be a few quirks to work out.
Anyhow, I have a winchester model 1895. Chambered in 30-40 craig. Shoots great withall my reloads. Now I am going to start casting for it. I have done alot of reading and have gleened alot of info from the folks here aswell as my local mentor. I am on a bit of a budget so this is what I Have. 180 grain lee mold .309, Lee sizer and gas check seater, gas checks and some lube. Ofcourse my alloy as well. So I will be casting these tonight.
Any pointer from you guys would be appreciated. My alloy is straight weel wheight for the rifle bullets I am going to do.
My pistols have always been done with range scrap that has a bn of around 11 to 12 . I havnt tested the bn of the weel wheights yet.
I will post my results as well as picks if I can get them to upload. If you dont see lube on my bullets, rest assurd its there. I use rooster jacket as a tumble lube. works great and drys fast.
Back to the bench, I think my lead is melted.

[runfiverun]

water drop.
open the 309 die.
work your alloy so the nose engraves the rifling.

[bdoyle]

I had a winchester 1895 in 30US (30-40 krag). Can't remember when it was made but the bore had seen better days. I had good luck with the lyman 314299 @ .312. I've since sold it to a friend who 'really' like old winchesters and moved on to a browning 95 in 30-40 krag. I feel it's a great cast cartridge.

[nhrifle]

I agree on opening up the sizing die, atleast to .310". Most of my .308" bores run .311" boolits. Accuracy is better and leading is non existent.

[Eric H]

yep I finnaly cast some rifle boolits . Trying them out on saturday with my boys. We are shooting some 30-06 and 30-40 to test them out with.

[Wayne Smith]

Is this 1895 an original or a remake? What condition is the bore? If you have read here to any extent you know the importance of making a bore slug and measuring it with a micrometer before you decide on a boolit diameter (sizing die). If you are using the Lee sizing system you need to think about how you will lube. Pan lubing is possible and there are several threads here on how to do it well and relatively easily. If you will be shooting a lot (100-300 rds per trip to the range with 3 rifles is typical for me - plus the pistol rounds) a lube sizer will be a useful addition when you can afford it. I got two off eBay before things got crazy - one has rifle lube in it and the other has pistol/BP lube in it.

Yes, you will want to water drop your boolits, and you will need to invest in some gas checks, assuming that mold uses them. If not you will soon want a mold that does. Blammer of this site sells Gator checks, arguably the best in the business. See the group buy login at the bottom of the site.

The same boolits you load in your Krag can be used in the 30-06. I would suggest you pick up the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and peruse the data for both calibers.

[Eric H]

its an original. Been in the family since at least the 20 s. Had a gunsmith friend of mine check it out for me . When i finaly decided to start shooting it. I know about sluging the barrel. My boolits Have gas checks. I am using ww and cast bullet range scrap. water droped also. I am testing the same boolit out in both rifles. I have a feeling they are going to be a tad skinny in the 30-40 though. as cast they were 311 Bu a lube sisert now they are closer to 309. I have been useing rooster jacket paper patch lube for a tumble lube on all my pistol rounds. that is what I wanted to test the rifle rounds with. I am still learning though. Hadnt realy given much thought to diffrent lubes for rifle to hand gun though. I canall ready tell. I will be getting a few more items for rifle casting. well , more so the sizeing and lube part.