My pound cast and a new mold.....

[DeanWinchester]

Okay, so i did my pound cast. Did my best measuring. Here's what I come up with.
It measures .311 right in front of the step, .3104 over the rifling. I'm thinking a .310 sizer opened up a half a thousandth to start out. Maybe more if need be. easier to make them bigger than smaller;)
Taking the distance from the bottom of the case neck to just where the rifling starts I'm getting .460 as best as I can tell. SO, I started digging through Tom's prints and this one looks awfully close. Having him make it as .311 with his +.002/-0 tolerances will work perfect I think.

Notice the angled lead in at .410 from the base ending at .450. I'm thinking if I fiddle with seating depth until I get a light engraving at the rifling along with the bore riding nose, this one should shoot like a house fire! The large bearing surface in the front should completely fill the throat.

I need/want opinions. good or bad. What am I missing? I'm sick of buying mold to SEE if they'll work.

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/DSC03146_zpsebd67955.jpg



104199

[DeanWinchester]

I didn't even think about the weight, it's a 165g boolit and my rifle is a 1/10 twist so I can't see any issues there.

[tomme boy]

That bullet shoots really good. I had it made for a newly chambered 308 win. It shot very well. I sold it to I think Run...... something. He uses it in a AR10 if I remember right.

[DeanWinchester]

I wish I knew who you sold it to!!!
I've had a post begging for a handful of them. I'd love to try a few before I cough up the dough for ANOTHER new mold.

[RickinTN]

Tom did the 31-180R for me. My rifle has quite a bit longer throat than yours and we "stretched" the bullet to fill the throat and gain a little weight. My bullets actually drop at around 173 grains bare in approximate coww alloy. I'm very pleased with the design of the bullet and my results thus far have been very promising. My last outing with my Remington 700 VS delovered several 100 yard groups in the 1 1/2" range. Most groups were three in less than a half inch and two others opening the group to 1 1/2". It looks like maybe I should be inspecting my bullets a little closer. I think you would enjoy the mold and it should work well for you.

Rick

[tomme boy]

PM sent

[runfiverun]

I do have tommy's mold.
it is the cat's meow in a 308.
I measured two of my 308's and it was like fate when I popped on the site for a minute right before ordering one from accurate and seen tommy's for sale thread.
I'm scuff sizing to 310 and will reject any boolits that go large from the mold. [it squishes the front drive band and deforms the boolit slightly]
the 310 size allows them [the front drive band] to make contact right on that ball seat area you see in front of the case mouth which aligns the front of the case and the boolit with the barrel.
anyway I easily have made it to 2400 fps in my AR-30 rifle and a slight velocity drop in my 20" barreled ruger using the same loads and oal, they also feed through my M-14 rifle from the magazine with no issues [once again using the same load and oal]
I also drew up a 300 b.o. boolit based on this design which was out voted for the ED harris design [shrug] too bad though as it would also have been a stellar performer in the 308 and 300 b.o. [and other 30 cases too] but at a much higher velocity than Ed's design.
thankfully 338 [Joshua] drew up a similar design in a lighter weight which should also be a good performer.
i'll find out in a couple of months, as I ordered one cut to 310 and 300 with plain ww alloy.

anyway I wouldn't hesitate to order that mold and tweak the alloy a tick to make it a slightly better fit to YOUR rifle.
I have to add some soft to my ww alloy to make the diameter just so from the mold and carefully maintain a consistent mold temperature.
I get cast weights from 166.3 to 166.9 after checking and lubing with the waaay vast majority [70+%]coming in at 166.4-166.6, the 166-7,8 and 9 are about too big for fast flight so I use them for chrono-graphing and for "normal" cast loads.
I save the 3's for my 300 b.o. as I shoot it at 50-75 yds mostly and at some super slow speeds.
the results are definitely worth the effort.

[DeanWinchester]

Okay, got to give her a go. It's definitely got promise.
I had a couple feed issues. I think it has to do with the cartridges sitting ALL the way back in the magazine. If I load five rounds, the fourth round hits the top of the chamber and I have to push down on the cartridge for it to feed in. Over 100 rounds, it happened four times. I don't think that will be a real issue.

My first loads were with AA2015. Best five round group of the day was (5 rounds) .875 @ 50 yards. Worst was 2.5 inches with most groups teetering between 1.00-1.50
Second lot was with IMR 4198. This load just "FELT" better. Best (5 rounds) group of .500 @ 50 yards. Worst was 2.250 with most groups between .75-1.25

I didn't separate these boolits by weight because of the finite supply I was gifted. (THANK YOU TOMME BOY!!!!!!)
I'm pretty happy with the results. It could be better, but I have to factor in, I'm a pisspoor shot and half way through testing I noticed NONE of the lock down pieces on my rifle rest were tight.

Here's some of my results with IMR 4198. I ran fifty rounds. Five different loads, two five shot groups of each load. 25.0g, 26.0g, 27.0g, 28.0 & 29.0g
These were my first groups. I believe the center group is about the time I noticed my rest was loose. I'm going to revisit 27.0g of 4198. Group #3 bottom right was 27.0g and I was tickled pink with that! That's as good as I ever hope to be with anything. If I could just repeat it. Best group happened at 27.0 but best group average happened at 28.0 so I'm thinking SOMEWHERE in there is the sweet spot.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/target2_zps89cb69ba.jpg


Second set of groups.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/target1_zpsd9099907.jpg



I think a lot of the accuracy MAY be in part to heat. My range runs 30 minute relays in between clears. I was doing 50 rounds in less than 30 minutes and the rifle was really getting warm. Too hot to handle the barrel that's for sure. I was pressed for time this morning. BUT, the Japanese Weatherby certainly does have some potential I think. I ain't after no bench rest rifle. Just a moderately accurate workin' mans rifle. (On top)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/Triad_zps0eb44935.jpg


I welcome all thoughts and opinions.

[DeanWinchester]

I don't have a chronograph at the moment. I KNOW extrapolating velocity mathematically by using the velocities in out load book is in NO way an accurate method, but.....
These boolits weigh 168g. My lyman manual says a 170g boolit starting load of 24.0g is 1897fps and a max load of 30.5 is 2341fps. Divided evenly that puts 27.0g at 2100fps and 28.0 at 2170fps roughly.
A 168g cast boolit running 2k fps will do anything I ever want to do. Death to deer without massive meat loss. Anyone have a better guess as to velocity on this load, I'm listening.

[jaysouth]

Okay, got to give her a go. It's definitely got promise.
I had a couple feed issues. I think it has to do with the cartridges sitting ALL the way back in the magazine. If I load five rounds, the fourth round hits the top of the chamber and I have to push down on the cartridge for it to feed in. Over 100 rounds, it happened four times. I don't think that will be a real issue.

My first loads were with AA2015. Best five round group of the day was (5 rounds) .875 @ 50 yards. Worst was 2.5 inches with most groups teetering between 1.00-1.50
Second lot was with IMR 4198. This load just "FELT" better. Best (5 rounds) group of .500 @ 50 yards. Worst was 2.250 with most groups between .75-1.25

I didn't separate these boolits by weight because of the finite supply I was gifted. (THANK YOU TOMME BOY!!!!!!)
I'm pretty happy with the results. It could be better, but I have to factor in, I'm a pisspoor shot and half way through testing I noticed NONE of the lock down pieces on my rifle rest were tight.

Here's some of my results with IMR 4198. I ran fifty rounds. Five different loads, two five shot groups of each load. 25.0g, 26.0g, 27.0g, 28.0 & 29.0g
These were my first groups. I believe the center group is about the time I noticed my rest was loose. I'm going to revisit 27.0g of 4198. Group #3 bottom right was 27.0g and I was tickled pink with that! That's as good as I ever hope to be with anything. If I could just repeat it. Best group happened at 27.0 but best group average happened at 28.0 so I'm thinking SOMEWHERE in there is the sweet spot.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/target2_zps89cb69ba.jpg


Second set of groups.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/target1_zpsd9099907.jpg



I think a lot of the accuracy MAY be in part to heat. My range runs 30 minute relays in between clears. I was doing 50 rounds in less than 30 minutes and the rifle was really getting warm. Too hot to handle the barrel that's for sure. I was pressed for time this morning. BUT, the Japanese Weatherby certainly does have some potential I think. I ain't after no bench rest rifle. Just a moderately accurate workin' mans rifle. (On top)
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/Reloadingfool/Triad_zps0eb44935.jpg


I welcome all thoughts and opinions.

What model Vanguard do you have? It should be very accurate. I have a Vanguard S-2 what shoots MOA with my jacketed reloads. Not a bench rest rifle by any means, but it shoots better than I can hold it.

[DeanWinchester]

It's the Vanguard 2 threat response.