Lee 170 feed in a 30-06 & 308?

[GrizzLeeBear]

Looking to get a boolit for a Rem. 700 in 30-06 and a Mauser in .308. Would be for hunting and target shooting, so I thought the Lee 170 gr. flat nose would work well. The nose looks like it has enough roundness before the flat so that it should feed well out of the magazine. Am I correct?

[Larry Gibson]

You shouldn't have any problems with the push feed M700. However the CF Mauser can be troublesome with FN cast bullets. Mos will feed fine with one round in the magazine from the right side. Many will feed ok with two rounds or three rounds in the magazine. Most will give feeding problems with 5 rounds in the magazine. Most often the edge of the FN catches on the chamber mouth before the rim of the cartridge is released from the feed rails, most often when feeding from the left side. The shorter length actions seem more prone to this. Many times adjusting the OAL of the loaded cartridge can solve this feeding problem. Polishing the feed rails in the front half to help the rim slip out quicker up under the extractor also helps. It doesn't take much change to make the Mausers reliable feeders with FN cast bullets.

Larry Gibson

[grumpy one]

My FN Mauser military 30-06 (1952 Columbian contract) will feed the Lee 170FN perfectly, but won't feed the RCBS 150FN. The reason is the slightly larger meplat on the RCBS - the Lee's meplat is visibly smaller and doesn't hang up on the feed ramp. My feed ramp was fairly coarsely ground when it was manufactured. I'd rather limit the range of projectiles I use than modify the rifle, so I haven't polished it. Incidentally it shoots more accurately with the 311291 than with the Lee anyway.