Yes , I am stupid

[hoss-noogy]

I was just over on the LEVERGUNS WEB SITE AND A THOUGHT OCCURED TO ME. i HAVE RELOADED MANY CAST BOOLITS IN STRAIGHT WALLED PISTOL CASES BUT NEVER IN A RIFLE. How do you get a .311 cast boolit down a 308 hole? Are ther special dies or what? Been reloading for years but never thought about it

[Jack Stanley]

As long as the .311" bullets when loaded in the cartridge will fit the throat chances are very good they will go down the tube . Getting the bullets into a case without beating up the bullet involves using a "M" die to flare the case just a bit . It's very easy to make it work right , dive right in with the rest of us [smilie=1:

Jack

[45nut]

It happens the same way all the water behind a dam gets pushed through the turbines to create power for lights, pressure. The powder charge shoves it down that pipe pretty as you please.
Especially with cast, the pressure to swage the boolit down the bore happens easily and quickly.

Cast or swaged lead requires less pressure to get the same velocity to attain the same speed as a jacketed would need because lead is "slicker".
As for "special dies", well yes and no. Many people do not feel compelled to use them but there are indeed some dies made with an oversize neck area such as the RCBS Cowboy dies and then you have the Lyman M-Die series that opens the neck slightly over the size for jacketed.

Simple EH?

[hoss-noogy]

Thanks Mr. Stanley . I Knew it would go down the barrel, I was wondering about getting the boolit in the case. I would also like to add that I have bought several lee moulds but today I used for the first time my new lyman 357 mould. No more lee for me



Hijacked my own thread

[6pt-sika]

Just for reference I size all my home cast 30 caliber bullets for the 30-30 in a .312" die !!!!

Now when I load in the cases after resizing I always bell the necks with a Lyman "M" die !

They work fine for me and I have tried them in about 6 different Marlin 30-30's !

[AlaskaMike]

I've never tried the Lyman M die--I've always been cheap and lazy and used a center punch that has a nice taper to it. I just press it into the case mouth a little bit and get a nice gentle flare.

Mike

[Boomer Mikey]

I use Lyman "M" dies for everything... pistol too. For ten bucks they can't be beat for improving bullet seating alignment and reducing damage to the bullet's base during the seating process. I remember reading an article by Ken Watters many years ago when he was testing 308 loads; he commented on how loads made using an "M" die improved accuracy in general for his Jword bullets as well as cast.

I use a Dillon 550 to process brass and load in two stages for volume production; decap, size, and run through the "M" die in the first stage' then clean, trim, prime, and charge by hand then seat and crimp in the Dillon. I use two die plates... one for processing cases and one for seating. Doing the extra two steps of running cases through the "M" die and adding a profile crimp are somewhat painless as I'm pulling the handle once for each case anyway.

Boomer :Fire:

[Don McDowell]

I was just over on the LEVERGUNS WEB SITE AND A THOUGHT OCCURED TO ME. i HAVE RELOADED MANY CAST BOOLITS IN STRAIGHT WALLED PISTOL CASES BUT NEVER IN A RIFLE. How do you get a .311 cast boolit down a 308 hole? Are ther special dies or what? Been reloading for years but never thought about it

As a general rule cast bullets in a rifle, sized .002-003 over the groove diameter is where the best accuracy is coming from.
Not always the case but for the most part staring with a bullet .002 is a good thing to do if you want accuracy and minimal leading.

[WyrTwister]

Thanks Mr. Stanley . I Knew it would go down the barrel, I was wondering about getting the boolit in the case. I would also like to add that I have bought several lee moulds but today I used for the first time my new lyman 357 mould. No more lee for me

Hijacked my own thread



Being cheap , I will stick with the Lee molds . Not perfect , but well worth the money . I plan to buy a Lee .311 mold for .30-30 . Wish Lee sold it in 6 cavity . :-(

God bless
Wyr

[dubber123]

I shoot .312" for .30 cal, and I seem to do well with just the Lee universal flaring die. It's dirt cheap, and will do .22 through .45 caliber, so it's pretty handy.

[oso]

A couple of my 308 Win rifles prefer the Lee C312-185-1R, when seating those I use the 31R expander in an M die. Using a punch by hand I don't get the consistency I want.

[Lead melter]

oso,

Do you have any problems or take any extra precautions using the RN Lee 185 in the Winny lever? It's a boolit I have tried in my Marlin and it does great, but I have always modified it to a FP so the bang is in the barrel, not in the magazine.

[oso]

OOPS! This is the LEVER forum. I got lost thinking about larger expanders for larger boolits. I only use wide meplat boolits in tube mags.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I use the M-die for cast and jacketed bullets too on most calibers I load.
My .308 marlin dies from Hornady have such a small expander button that the pressure required to seat a jacketed bullet will wrinkle the case below the sholder on some of the cases . Using the M-die they are just right.:-D

[Boomer Mikey]

Forget about what size the hole in the barrel is as long as it's smaller than the chamber. Size cast bullets for a good snug but not tight fit inside the chamber and long enough to fill the throat without sticking bullets in the bore when unchambering as long as they will feed.

Boomer :Fire: