30-06 plain base boolits help

[rfd]

currently casting lead for 45-70, 45acp and .440 and .530 balls for my flintlock rifles. just acquired a winchester m70 ultimate in 30-06 and want to cast low speed boolits with plain bases (no g/c's). most all of the .30 caliber moulds are gas checked, but i read some older threads at this forum where the correct use of a 5/16" drill can clean out the the mould's g/c base to p/b. i think i'd like to try that, first with a cheap lee mould such as their 160 grain rn C309-160-R. questions, please ...

cast with #2 alloy? (i have about 40lbs of #2 and 30lbs of 20:1 - all from rotometal) should the resulting cast boolit be sized and if so, to what diameter? (i'd be using a lee sizing die and can do .309", .310" or .311")? i'd be pan lubing - what's a good lube formula?
any comments and opinions are welcomed, i need some schooling in all this!

thanx fellers.

[runfiverun]

#2 would work but so would cutting it in half or more [like half again] with soft lead.
310 is my de-fault 30 caliber diameter but 311 would most likely work just as well.
for pan lubing use a bees-wax based lube, whatever you are using on your 45-70 and 45 colt would do just fine.

[375RUGER]

If I was going to take the GC out of a mould I'd buy a reamer the correct size. If using a drill bit I'd use a good drill press or mill and and a good solid vise to hold it. It will be easier to do a cast mould like lyman or RCBS, because an aluminum mould will want to grab a drill, hence the good solid setup.
Alloy- I'm casting range lead mixed with pure and water dropping it for my 308. I'm pushing these in the 2300 fps range with GC. #2 is probably overkill for low velocity and if you are going to hunt with same boolits I would want something a bit more mallable.
Lube- Felix Lube (FWFL) is a good pan lube.
Size- make a bore slug and chamber slug with pure lead of the neck/throat area of your rifle and size accordingly. I size to fit the throat dimension when I can.
These are my opinions only and not to be taken as gospel.


Here is a good thread to get you started. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?158805-Just-a-few-tips-for-new-rifle-casters
Read it carefully-more than once.

[Outpost75]

A GC design can be used successfuly without the GC as long as the base band diameter is large enough to seal the throat. I cast them soft, 10-12 BHN, and load as-cast and unsized, lubed with Lee Liquid Alox. Use a standard-weight bullet for the caliber. Using the HM2-.312-160-5 from the current group buy I use 8 grains of Bullseye in the. 30-'06 for about 1300fps, and 2-inch groups at 100 yards in my Winchester 54 boltgun with iron sights.

If you want to modify a GC mold to plainbase, www.hollowpointmold.com has done several for me, boring out the GC heel to provide a .312" diameter base band which works well in most. 30 cals which have been shot alot.

[Echo]

Re the pan lubing - someone here posted their method of dip loobing. Heat the loob until it is liquid (or use Mule Snot, or 45/45/10), dip the boolit in as far as you please (maybe putting liquid loob in a shallow pan, to the depth you wish the loob to come up from the base), then set base-down on waxed paper. Use a Kake Kutter ot scrape excess off when the loob has set up, or maybe use a case with the base cut off, or if you are bucks up, a commercial device is available.
And I would have no qualms about using a 5/16 drill (in a drill press) to take out the GC shank. Use care, and press on... I used a 21/64 drill to take out one shank of a Lee 8mm 2-banger - worked fine.

[oldandslow]

RFD, 10/21/13

Tom at www.accuratemolds.com has a number of .308 caliber molds from 150 grains upwards without gas checks. Take a look at his website and see if something might work for you.

best wishes- oldandslow

[shredder]

I modified my lee 160 round nose mould with a drill bit in my drill press. Many who have never done it will tell you it can not be done. It worked out just fine for me. I lube with speed green by hand, or just tumblelube in 45-45-10, size to .309. My favorite load is 10 grains of Herco in the 30-06. I also shoot them in my 30-30.

Very fun plinkers and no trouble at all to cast. Be sure you let the mould float on the drill table so that the bit can centre itself and go slow. Take your time setting it up and be absolutely sure your stop is set correctly, can't put metal back!

I figured it is a cheap investment to experiment on and I have a huge stockpile of gas check boolits from this mould so why not? I am sure glad I did. I found a thread by BEN here about drilling out the gas check portion so an hour later I had mine done. Low risk high return. Even if you do pooch the mould somehow, mine was about 25 bucks.....

[Prospector Howard]

I've made a few gas check aluminum molds into plain base by drilling them out. The main thing I think is to drill it out in steps on a drill press. The gas check part starts out at about .288+ or -depending on the mold. If you do it with drill bits in about 5 to 6 thousand increments with 4 or 5 different bits, it'll go smoother, center better, and won't try to grab. You need to have alot of drill bits like I happen to have though.

[Mk42gunner]

Search for Ben's posts. He recently showed how he drills out the GC shank on molds, plus he has a lot of results for plain based .30 caliber boolits.

Regarding your questions:

1. I would use softer alloy than #2.

2. My go to size for .30 cal is .311", but let your rifle tell you what it wants.

3. There are a couple of stickies (started by Ben) farther down that show a relatively painless way of pan lubing.

Good Luck,

Robert

[popper]

Rfd - try the boolit sans GC with slow powder first. I got 2 MOA~1300+ with #2 & LLA, ~1/2 MOA with coating at same fps, ~SOWW heat treated. Get an easy MOA with GC @ 2000+.