308 molds

[bbs70]

I have a Savage Hog hunter in 308.
I already have an accurate jacketed load for it.
20" barrel with a 1:10 twist

As of late I decided to try casting bullets of it.
I've been casting for my hand guns for some time now, so I'm not new to casting boolits.

I will be using this cast boolit for killing paper & other such things, not hunting.
Range out to about 100 yds
Can't decide on what mold to get, it'll probably be a Lee mold.
In 309 dia there is 150gr.
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Or this 309 dia 170gr
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This one is for a 312 dia 155gr. I like the looks of it. I know I'll have to size it down to 309 dia
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Anyone have any input pro or con on these.
Also if you should feel inclined to do so, you can add your favorite powder & charge.

[Tom W.]

I have an old Lee 160 gr. gas check that I shoot from my .30-30 and .30-06 I use 30 gr. of 3031 mostly. In the '06 it shoots a bit low, but with holdover I can hit very well at 200 with it. I also use the bullet with light loads of Red Dot as a fire forming load for my .30-06 a.i.

[LAGS]

My .308 likes the Lee 155 gr really well sized to .309 .
I am going to try a NOE .311 - 198 gr sized to .309.
I havent yet, but soon will be shooting my boolits Powder Coated in the .308 , 300 Win Mag and 30-06 with both the boolits mentioned.
I am having excellent grouping with both boolits PC'ed in my Mosin Nagants.
If cost is a factor and one mold is all that you are getting, then I would go with the Lee 155
I also shoot the 155 in my SKS

In the .308 Win I am shooting 28.0 gr of Reloader 7, but like IMR 4198 and 5744 but do not have any specific loads for those powders at hand.

[bbs70]

From what I've read here 4198, 2400, & re-7 are what most are using in the 308 for cast.

In jacketed bullets my Savage seems to like 150- 155 grain bullets.
My rifle seems to shoot them better than the 168 grainers.
So it looks like the cast 150 should work the best.
But I still like the looks of the 312:-P

[1johnlb]

If it's got to be a Lee definitely, the 155 with 17.5 ~ 18.0 of 2400. It works well in almost all 30's.

[waco]

Give the 155 a try. I size mine to .311" and Lube with BAC. I load them for my Rem. 700 in .308 over 19gr of SR4759. It will put 10 rounds into a ragged hole at 50 yards.
It will shoot 1.5" 5 shot groups all day at 100 yards.
2400 is a good powder too. I still need to do some testing with some slower powders.

[popper]

Or try 31-145C PC'd (plain base) over 19gr. 4227 or 2400 with some dacron added. ~1900fps in rimmed 20' 1:10 308 (308MX). About the same in 300BO & AR-10. Has a small meplat that should be god for hunting also.

[RU shooter]

For just shooting paper get the 312 155 that was the first mould I owned and have shot a lot of them in 30 cals.

[depoloni]

Only guy that the 170gr works reasonably well for?
Drops closer to 180gr with my COWW alloy, but shoots very well out of my 30-30, and looking to try it next in my commercial 98 30-06. Holds 3-4" in my M94, with opens/rear peep setup. Part of that is me at 100yds, I'm sure, but never tried the load with a side-mount scope. Maybe I should try the 155gr, couldn't hurt :-D

[ShooterAZ]

The Lee C312-155 is a very good boolit for me in 30-06 for paper punching. I don't see any reason that it wouldn't be good in 308. I don't think you will want to size it to .309 though. .311 is what I size mine to for my M700 30-06. I can get nearly 2300 fps with it using Varget powder with great accuracy.

[Kraschenbirn]

For plinking and practice, the Lee 312-155 should work pretty well but you'll probably need to size .310/311 for best results. I've obtained decent accuracy with that boolit from two .308s, a .30-06, and a bolt-action .30-30 without any leading issues.

Bill

[bbs70]

Great info guys, thank you.
Kewl, size the Lee 155 to 310/311 for best results.
I was kind worried about sizing a 312 down to 309.

[runfiverun]

.310 should scuff the ball seat area just fine.
I'd be more worried about the nose engraving properly.

[Ben]

On a hog, I'd shoot the heaviest bullet that would shoot accurately in my rifle.

Ben

[robg]

i use lee160&180 boolits in my savage116 in 308 . i size to .309 lla lube 18g 2400 about 1inch at 100yards,drops about 9inches at 200yards.nice gentle & accurate

[rsrocket1]

I bought three. The C309-113-F "soupcan" for inexpensive plinking, the C309-170-F for trying out "full power loads" and the C309-200-R for heavy subsonic shooting. I've developed some pretty good loads both with and without gas checks. I think you'll do well with any of the bullets in that gun and you'll see that with nothing more than a gas check, you can successfully go pretty fast with a cast bullet. I've gone to 2400 fps without the bullet batting an eyelash.

All of the Lee 30 cal bullets look the same from the top lube groove down so for me a seat depth of 0.300" puts the top drive surface into my 788's throat which is 0.309". That lines up the bullet and even the short bullets shoot pretty accurately, at least good enough for lots of fun inside 50 yards. That's where these were shot at.

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[wquiles]

Ranch Dog (Michael) has a group buy going on right now at NOE for his first design for the 308:
http://noebulletmolds.com/smf/index.php/topic,588.0.html

I am signed up already :)

Will

[gwpercle]

No, you're not the only guy the 170 grain Lee works for. I use it with great success in a 30-30 Winchester and a 1903-A3 30-06 Springfield. I like the weight, cast with 50-50 COWW and lead, closer to 180 gr, that's good , and for hunting I like the flat point. For $20.00 the Lee double moulds are cheap enough to give a try and not break the bank.
Gary