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johnho
11-03-2005, 09:43 PM
I am wanting to cast some bullets for my 03 and want an accurate one. Which ones seem to be the most popular?

Thanks

TCLouis
11-03-2005, 10:37 PM
It had a 03 target fired with Red Dot and "Soup Can" boolit. If it will shoot those kind of groups from my aught sixes I will certainly try it for fun practice load.

David R
11-03-2005, 11:44 PM
I have been told 311284, but never shot it. In MY gun, 311291 is my 200 yard boolit. 311466 shoots great too. MY 311644 goes sideways out of my enfield. Got a group buy going on a 31141, but dunno how it would shoot in YOUR gun.

David

ammohead
11-04-2005, 12:02 AM
I have had good luck with the rcbs 180 fn.

ammohead

NVcurmudgeon
11-04-2005, 12:41 AM
My favorite boolit is Lyman 314299, 200 gr. I originally bought it for my .303 British. I size this boolit to .310 for an NRA Sporter Springfield. If you do not have a .303, try the identical (except for diameter) 311299.

Bad Ass Wallace
11-04-2005, 08:59 AM
There are two recommended bullets for the springfield but it depends on your barrel. I have both 311291 and 311284 which I use in my own rifles.
In the two groove barrel I use 311291 however in my scoped hunting rifle which has a new 4 groove (8/44) barrel fitted I have the attained the best accuracy with the 311284.
100yd groups run 1.5MOA consistantly

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/BAWallace/Springfield_cast.jpg

Char-Gar
11-04-2005, 12:39 PM
It is hard to find a bullet my 4 groove Remington 03A3 does not shot well. The top performers are RCBS 165 Sil and 311284. With scaled bullets and if I hold my mouth right, I can get 10 shot 1.5 - 1.6" groups (100 yards) with either bullet. That is about as good as it gets with that rifle. Of the two I like the lighter RCBS bullets best. Less recoil, more bullet per lbs of alloy and sterling accuracy.

Newtire
11-04-2005, 08:10 PM
I had the best luck so far with the 311290 (an older design that's no longer made) but the 311299 looks a lot like it. I just haven't had the chance to try the RCBS 165 Silhouette in my Springfield but it really shoots out of my Wickliffe single shot. I tried it with some RX-7 & really had some great groups. The 311290 with RX-7 beat anything I tried so far in that Springfield.

StarMetal
11-04-2005, 08:26 PM
I'll have to agree with charger, all the Springfields that I've own (and they were four groove barrels) the 311284 was far and away the best bullet. They shot better then the rifle would do with jacketed bullets and a scope and I was using peep sights. I bought that bullet originally for my 30-40 Krag and have never regretted that purchase....damn good bullet.

Joe

45 2.1
11-04-2005, 09:11 PM
I like the two groove barreled ones the best. All of them i've had shot much better than the best of the four groove ones i've had. A world of difference.

johnho
11-04-2005, 09:27 PM
thanks a lot guys. Looks like the RCBS165 sil or the 311284 are worth the first trys. Appreciate all the comments.

StarMetal
11-04-2005, 09:28 PM
Bob,

I had two Remington 03's, not 03A3's, four groove barrels, glassbedded them and put receiver sights on them, and both would put the 311284 in 3/4 inch at 100 yards. Sold the one to a friend that pestered me for a year and he just shoots match jacketed. First time out with my old gun he shot a 5/8 inch group at 100 with peep sights, how much better could two groove barrels be? You must have had some crappy four groove barrels is all I can say.

Joe

45 2.1
11-04-2005, 09:34 PM
Bob,

I had two Remington 03's, not 03A3's, four groove barrels, glassbedded them and put receiver sights on them, and both would put the 311284 in 3/4 inch at 100 yards. Sold the one to a friend that pestered me for a year and he just shoots match jacketed. First time out with my old gun he shot a 5/8 inch group at 100 with peep sights, how much better could two groove barrels be? You must have had some crappy four groove barrels is all I can say.

Joe

A good two groove will shoot right beside your mentioned groups with the RCBS-165-SIL bullet. My standard 30-06 load will go about a half inch at 100 yds when the light cooperates. But that usually requires aged bullets.

sundog
11-05-2005, 08:52 AM
The 308-165-SIL and 311284 are both fine boolits. I've used ALOT of them. But there are two others that work very well also. The 311291 is a mainstay. It works so well, it is sometimes boring. The other is the 30-180-SP. I've seen mixed results with this one, but when it works, it does so very well.

About group sizes. I've been shooting mil bolt matches for a number of years now. All targets are shot in 10-round strings for either group or score at 100 yards. I've seen ALOT of targets shot with 'as issued' rifles. Sub 2-inch groups, while not rare, are an exception, even though a few of the more talented shooters do it more often. Most good shooters can regularly do sub 3-inch. And whether cast or jacketed doesn't seem to matter. With a halfway decent rifle and load the limiting factors are the sights and the shooter's ability.

If I were recommending a boolit 'to start with' it would be the 311291. Once you have and see how well it works, you'll want more.... sundog

oh, one other idea, why don't you beg a bunch of different designs from the fellers here to shoot and see which one does well before you go buyin' yer own.

Buckshot
11-06-2005, 07:33 AM
.............I've heard it said that the Lyman 311291 is a benchmark. If you have a 30 cal that won't shoot it well, chances are it won't shoot ANY 30 cal cast slug. From results I've read from others, and my own experience that is probably a truism.

My first 30 cal mould was the Lyman 311284, and I have shot more of them than any. It is a superlative boolit designed specificly for the 30-40 Krag for 600 yard guard competion and practice. If it has one fault it is that it is shooting a lot of lead downrange.

Everyone will have a favorite and as the posts have shown, many are different. Many years ago before I was even a member of the range I shoot at now I was shooting a 30-06 and I don't recall the load or even if it was a cast load or not. But the point of bringing it up was that I was really excited by the groups I'd shot and had gone back to the rangemaster to show them to him.

He's passed on now, and I didn't really know him at the time, although we did become good friends over the years. I HAD to show someone and the remark he made has stuck with me. He said, "That damn -'06 will shoot anything". When you consider you can shoot the Lyman 311252 (77gr 32 ACP slug) to the 220gr Lyman 311284, or those as different as the Lee C309-113F or the Saeco RG-4, you can understand the remark.

...............Buckshot

PatMarlin
11-06-2005, 02:12 PM
Aught Six... one rifle owners rifle fo sho. :lovebooli

Char-Gar
11-06-2005, 09:24 PM
I just wanted to add a hearty "Amen", to those who have boosted 311291. RCBS 165 Sil and 311284 have given me a very slight accuracy edge over 311291 in the 03A3, that edge is not enough to make change on.

311291 is a 1905 Barlow design that have earned it's way for a hundred years now. It is the most versitile 30 cal bullet on market. If a fellow is going to own only one 30 cal. bullet mold..311291 is it.

brimic
11-06-2005, 11:46 PM
Maybe not the most popular, but it shoots as good as I can hold for me, is the Lee 309-180-R.

I hear that Lee's tend to be undersized, a problem I had with an 8mm mould of their's that I bought, but I must have got lucky with this one. It casts .3095" on the bands and .302" on the bore riding portion with straight W/Ws. I seat them out to firmly engrave on the rifling and use 16 gr of 2400 and it shoots just as good in my 2-groove barrel as match loads using SMKs at 100 yards, except without the annoying recoil and muzzle blast. :)

sundog
11-07-2005, 12:07 AM
Charger, Amen, and Amen. 311291 wasn't my first, maybe second or third, but I keep going back to it. Plain Jane is never out of vogue, because she ain't high maintenance. I think my first was a SC Lee that was about a hunert and sixty grains. If it was all I had, I would shoot it and it would do well. But, there's just 'sumthang' about the 311291....

Brimic, gotta agree about that 'annoying recoil and muzzle blast'. Shot some 311284 over surp IMR 4895 today in the scoped 03 Sporter - really nice..., real nice. sundog

StarMetal
11-07-2005, 12:16 AM
Sundog,

Let me tell you about the 311284 that I bought. My Dad gave me his unaltered 30-40 Krag, it was in very good shape. So through reading I found that the Lyamn 311284 was supposely a good bullet for it. I ordered the mould. Well I was living in Claremore, OK then when I got the mould. Cast up some and went out to a ranch were I use to shoot. I remember there was a set of railroad tracks at the end of the makeshift range, then a big hill. The tracks were about 200 yards from where I laid a tarp down to lay prone and shoot from. Been so long ago I don't remember the load but I'll gaurantee you it was up to snuff meaning it was no light pistol powder load. I found and set a glass Pepsi bottle on the rail (yeah I know slop practice for sure and I'll tell you I don't do that anymore, shoot at glass). Some first test for a first time lead load out of a Krag huh? Two hundred yards at a pop bottle. I think it was the second shot that smacked it. I knew I was in love with that rifle and that bullet. That's why the 311284 has been my favorite 30 cal cast bullet. Went on to shoot it in a bunch more 30 cal rifles.

Joe

Patrick L
11-07-2005, 06:30 PM
I use the SAECO 196 gr (I think it is the old RG4 but I'm not sure) and am delighted with it.

The Lyman Silhouette bullet (311644) shot very well too, but was a pain to cast with all those little grooves. The SAECO has one big fat one.

JRParrish
01-08-2006, 12:00 PM
Any suggestions for US Rifle Model 1917? mixed reports on the accuracy potential. Got a lot of wheel weights saved up.
JRParrish

hydraulic
01-08-2006, 09:30 PM
I use that same Lee bullet as Brimic. 40 grs. of WWII surplus 4831. Works good in the '03 and in the M1. One of the guys here recommended that load.

Buckshot
01-09-2006, 06:10 AM
Any suggestions for US Rifle Model 1917? mixed reports on the accuracy potential. Got a lot of wheel weights saved up.
JRParrish

http://www.fototime.com/F98B58C1BB74F78/standard.jpg
Group fired at Winnemucca, NV. Very first 'For Effect' group fired with new rifle. Load 23.0grs H4198 + Dacron, Lyman 311284. Fired at 50 yards, 1.050". Those 4 rounds go a scant .375".

http://www.fototime.com/36BEAF825B756E0/standard.jpg
A Remington.

After I got it all together I scrounged up 50 FC once fired -'06 cases and FL sized'em. Then I fire formed them, necksized and reloaded them with the load above, and shot that group! I ended up shooting off most the rest of the ammo there, and finished up shooting one 10 rnd match back at home.

The rifle was a put together built from a complete barreled action. The wood was relieved so the barrel floated. Then I added 2 half pieces of oiled business card under the barrel at the forend. That's the only point the barrel touches. You can grab the forend metal and lift the barrel with a bit of thumb pressure. It is not clamped between the 2 pieces of wood.

........................Buckshot

Uncle Grinch
01-25-2006, 07:36 PM
I too am considering a .30 caliber boolit mould and had been considering Lyman's 311299 based on various reports I have read. Plus it looks like it seats out enough so as not to extend too far inside the neck.

MidSouth Shooters Supply now lists this mould as a double cavity on their website. Any comments on using this with my 2-groove '03A3?

KCSO
01-25-2006, 11:20 PM
This may sound dumb as all get out, but I have had excellent results with the Lee
165 spire point gas check for the sks. This bullet and Red Dot has given me numerous groups in the 1 1/2 " range at 100 yards with Lyman peep sights. If the rifle wasn't a classy 50's sporter I would like to try it with a scope. I load it to just touch the rifling and use no filler and use pistol primers. The next best bullet has been a custom mold from mountain molds.

StarMetal
01-25-2006, 11:36 PM
Jim,

On that Lee, did you mean the 160 gr instead of the 165gr for the SKS?

Joe

Newtire
01-26-2006, 12:59 AM
Boy KSCO, That's pretty hard to believe since we all know those Lee's just won't shoot!

Ron in PA
01-26-2006, 04:21 PM
My favorite boolit for my Rem 03-A3 is the Lyman 311284 sized to 311, with 33Gr. of surplus 7383