Best 308 Cast bullet

[Birddog 1]

Hi everyone I would like your oppioion on what would be a good cast bullet for a 308 bolt/ 1/10 twist and 18" long barrel for hunting and just busting rocks you see if I miss odds are I will hit a rock and we have a bunch of them in Az. TIA BD1

[tazman]

Lots of good info on this site for that question. I think you might be well served by using the search engine to help answer that question.

Besides, everyone has their own favorite and I am sure you will get many different answers to the same question.

[GabbyM]

Picked up a mold here last year on one of our group buys. MP 180 grain hollow point. Similar to a Lyman #311332.
Design fits the neck length of a 308. Although I'm running it from a 30-06. Hollow point makes it lethal.

[waco]

I'm trying the NOE 311365 198gr.
95811
I haves few different powders loaded. Just waiting to be able to go shoot them.
These molds are in stock now at noebulletmoulds.com

[Kraschenbirn]

I'm partial to the RCBS 30-165-SIL for all-around use my .30 cals. Boolits drops a touch heavy from my 'rifle' alloy, finish out (sized and lubed w/GC) at 175 gr, and easily beat ball ammo accuracy in my Garand.

Bill

[tayous1]

Looking for the same thing but for my STG-58 from what I read on here it seems a lot of people like the heavy boolits 180+ like to find a 200gr HP! I email Erik asking him and he said in a few months he was going to have some HP in 30 caliber out in a few weights just hope he makes one in 200gr that is 200gr with the HP not solid!

[cbrick]

Welcome to CastBoolits Birddog,

That's a very generic question and the most accurate answer will be someone's personal favorite, they're not wrong for them in their firearms.

There are too many 30 caliber molds to properly catalog and most are probably the best 308 cast boolit for somebody in their firearm with their loads and shooting. Right now I have 9 different 30 caliber boolits cast & ready for a friend to come and pick up so he can see what his rifle likes best of these nine so he can buy a mold. 9 is a small sample of available 30 caliber molds.

Like everyone else all I can offer for advice is what worked well for me with similar criteria of hunting and a 1 in 10 twist. The RCBS 30 cal 180 FPGC is an accurate design & works well on deer size game. I can also testify it is deadly on rocks.

The list of "best 308 molds" would contain dozens of molds.

Rick

[ShooterAZ]

The Lee 150F and 170F both could qualify as inexpensive hunting/rock busters. For more serious target work, the RCBS 165 gets the nod. Best accuracy for me has been in the 1600-1900fps range. As has been mentioned, there is a plethora of 30 cal molds for a plethora of different uses.

[Doc Highwall]

Welcome to CastBoolits Birddog, maybe we can narrow it down by asking what are you going to hunt with this bullet and what kind of gun are you going to shoot it out of along with what distance?

[Larry Gibson]

Hi everyone I would like your oppioion on what would be a good cast bullet for a 308 bolt/ 1/10 twist and 18" long barrel for hunting and just busting rocks you see if I miss odds are I will hit a rock and we have a bunch of them in Az. TIA BD1

With hunting in the picture I would go for the 311041 or one similar. Understand about the rocks....so many to kill, so little time.........

Larry Gibson

[Smoke4320]

rocks are like starfish.. bust one and you have 3 or 4 replace it..
RCBS sil molds (165 grn) will cast very well for you.. molds with WFN will do well for hunting deer sized game with the proper alloy ..Noe, Mil hec or lyman all make quality molds for the 308 caliber
but it will really come down to what YOUR gun will like and shoot accurately

[guicksylver]

If I HAD to choose it would probably be one of the 299 family 311299, 312299 etc.
It is not my favorite boolit but it works in almost every 30 cal I own.
On good days with iron sights it is sub MOA , with scope always 1 MOA or under.
The 311332 runs second for me, the 311284 is also in the running.
Lots of folks like the Saeco 315.

Like most things in life the above mentioned boolits are not my favorite but are my most consistent performers.

My favorites look cooler but do not necessarily perform as well.

Some just plain work (Ho Hum) and some you have to work at (they are more fun).

I know I am making too much of this but, ask people what their favorite boolits is and then ask what boolit really
works best for them and I'll bet you come up with two different answers.

Interesting and Fun.

[guicksylver]

P.S. Here on Cape Cod we used up our rocks and we are working on starfish as they are a renewable source.
They work pretty good at 1000 yds ,but we try to keep it closer because of the cost of outboard gas.

[cbrick]

ask people what their favorite boolits is and then ask what boolit really
works best for them and I'll bet you come up with two different answers.

Interesting. I can say in all honesty that I have never loaded a boolit because it looked cool. My favorite boolits ARE the ones that work best, if they don't what difference could it make what they look like loaded in a case? I can't see me loading any round knowing that I have another that is more accurate just because of what it "looks like loaded". But that is interesting. I guess.

Rick

[btroj]

I really like the RCBS 165 SIL but it would hardly be best for 2400 fps shooting. I keep it around 1700 fps and it works great. It would also not be my first choice for hunting.

Best is subjective. What is best for one application my not be best for another. Maybe this is why Rick has 9 different 30 cal moulds......

[cbrick]

Maybe this is why Rick has 9 different 30 cal moulds......

No, no, no.

I have 9 different boolits waiting for winelover to come pick up, I didn't say that I only had nine 30 caliber molds, just that I only had nine already cast for him to try out. How could anybody get by with only 9 30 caliber molds? That's like when you thought I only had one revolver, [smilie=1: I couldn't sleep at night if I only had one revolver. :mrgreen:

Rick

[btroj]

I don't have close to 9 30 cal moulds. The a gain, I pretty load for just a 32-20 and 30-30 far as 30 cal goes.

Now 45-70 is another story. Must have 7 or 8 for that one gun......

I'm somewhat creeped out that you stay awake at night pondering what I say. Yeah, creeped out is the right word.

[cbrick]

I'm somewhat creeped out that you stay awake at night pondering what I say. Yeah, creeped out is the right word.

Naw, just cursed with a fairly good memory I guess. :mrgreen:

Rick

[btroj]

I had a good memory then I forgot where I put it........

Face it, no single mould is best for all uses in any one cartridge. I will admit to using a single bullet in most cartridges for simplicity but I don't shoot the whole gamut of loads, velocities, etc either.

Sure keeps it easier to stay on top of things with one or two bullets per caliber. I'm still swimming in bins of bullets and can't imagine more.

[guicksylver]

Rick I AGREE with you.

I too use what works.

But Look at some of the designs that have surfaced, i.e.; 311365, I own one looks cool (pointy)
excellent performance in a specific velocity range, same with the 311413 and then the real example
of what I speak are "Zombie" boolits.

From what I have gleaned on this site the perfect design to look for would be something like this.
Driving band section no longer than a case neck on a 30-06 class cartridge, bore riding nose, no scraping groove and hollow pointed.
Oh Ya, it would be in the 175 + grain weight area.

[robg]

lee 160 & 180g gas checked work well in my 1:10 savage with 18g 2400

[Doc Highwall]

I agree with Larry post#10 about using 311041 with it's flat point for hunting or the RCBS 30-180 FN and would try for a velocity of 1800-2000 for hunting and plinking.

[MT Gianni]

I have had good luck in the 308 with the lee 113 fp up to the 311407 180 gr. Pick a flat pointed bullet and a powder, it is a fairly forgiving cartridge.

[Artful]

First you need to check "YOUR" rifle for size - not all 308's chambers are the same. Once you determine what will fit your rifle (.308, .310, .311, .312 etc) then you need to determine what you are trying to do with it (gallery loads, big game hunting, long range shooting) As a rule of thumb it's easier to get the larger 170+ grain in 30 caliber to shoot as long as you don't go overboard.
Now how much do you want to spend - is this your first fling and your not sure your going to get into
casting in a big way? - 170 or 180 LEE mold is a good starting point without breaking the bank.
I choose the RCBS 180 to start with - it shoots pretty good in "MY" rifles

[CSH]

What Artful said. If the throat in your rifle proves to be on the generous side, the typical .309 sizer that is widely used for 30-06, 308, and 30-30 bullets probably won't give the best results. Bullet fit is king, then you can worry about the profile. Having said that, the best accuracy at higher velocities (2350 fps) I've been able to consistently achieve (1.5" - 2" @ 100 every time) was with the Lyman 311041, quenched, sized to fit the throat, lubed with LBT soft, and loaded over a maximum charge of WC860 in a 30-06. I would probably pick the slowest powder suitable for a .308 if looking for higher velocity. WC860 is probably too slow in the 308.

[GunFun]

That's good to hear. I just picked up a 6 cav lee semi custom plain base version of Lyman's 311041. The same seller had a few of the gas checked version. I'm planning to use it in both 308 and 30-06

[paul edward]

There are probably a few members of this fraternity who live near you who might share some different examples of their favorite cast boolits so you can try them.

With .308 and .30/06, I have had good luck with 311299 and Lee C309-160-R.

[jaysouth]

I have had good luck in the 308 with the lee 113 fp up to the 311407 180 gr. Pick a flat pointed bullet and a powder, it is a fairly forgiving cartridge.

Flat pointed powder? What do you recommend? My eyes aren't good enough to inspect grains of powder any longer. Must be something like 4895 or 4831. There is nothing flat about the H-335 that I like.

[MT Gianni]

Check your quote again jay, it still reads flat pointed bullet and a powder, not a flat pointed bullet and a flat pointed powder. It is still hard to find any of the usual suspects when choosing 308 powders that doesn't work.

[Birddog 1]

Thanks everyone for your replies it has got me thinking and that can be a bad thing sometimes. Thanks again. BD1

[Artful]

Have you slugged your barrel and throat?