Lee c309-170-F for 30-06?

[brewer12345]

Since I will be reserving 300 yard shots on elk for j-word loads, I am back to the drawing board with 30-06. Soup can casting went well today, so I am starting to look at real deer-capable molds. Anyone use/like the lee 170 grain flat nosed mold in 30-06? Plan would be to cast something like 50/50 + 2% tin and drive them at ~2000 FPS for deer (and maybe hogs) with ranges up to 150 yards or perhaps a bit longer (unless someone tells me range should be considerably restricted or elongated). I am fooling around with 4198 for 35 Rem loads, so I would probably start with this powder for a 30-06 deer load for the sake of simplicity.

[sghart3578]

I had the same idea at one time. I was going to cast the Lee 170 for my 30-06 and my 30-30.

Before I go any further I should tell you that I am a Lee fan big time.

Well, the 170 mold that I bought cast undersized. The bands were .309" and the nose was .298". I got pretty bad results with it.

I then bought the Lee 309-150-F mold. What a difference! The bands drop at .310" and the nose is .301". I size and gas check them at .310" and get light engraving on the nose. It is extremely accurate in my Winchester model 70. I do beagle it up for my 30-30 so that I can size them to .311" (Marlin microgroove barrel). And it shines there also.

I tried beagling the 170 mold but it made the nose too big to chamber.

I sent the mold back to Lee with some bullets that I cast from my alloy so they could see for themselves. They sent the mold back to me with some bullets that they cast from the mold. The bullets measured exactly like the ones I had sent them. They told me that the mold was in spec. Sometimes I wonder if anyone at Lee actually casts and shoots.

Oh well. It's too bad. If Lee could get the dimensions corrected on the 170 mold it would be the only 30 cal mold anyone would ever need.

Best of luck,


Steve in N CA

[gwpercle]

I use the C309-170-F in 30-30 (model 94 Winchester), 308, 30-06 and 7.5 Swiss . The 2 cavity mould drops them .310 with my alloy and I size them to .309 for all 4 rifles. They shoot just fine in all of them .
Gary

[Boolseye]

I’m surprised they didn’t send you a new mold. That’s penny wise and pound foolish on their part. My 309-170 drops boolits around .312 which I size to .311 for 30-30 and .308. Nice shooting boolit.

[Hick]

I shoot a lot of C309-170F gas checked. Very accurate in both my M1 and my Win 94 30-30. I've run them at 1900 fps in my M1-- but haven't tried pushing past 2000 yet.

[brewer12345]

I shoot a lot of C309-170F gas checked. Very accurate in both my M1 and my Win 94 30-30. I've run them at 1900 fps in my M1-- but haven't tried pushing past 2000 yet.

Shot any game with them?

[jerry6stl]

Eight years ago, I shot a doe antelope in Wyoming with RCBS 180FN and 26 grains of SR4759 from a 30-06 sporterized Springfield 03-A3. Clean one shot kill at 110 yards. The RCBS 180FN is pretty similar to the Lee 170; I'd anticipate a similar result on small deer.

[ABJ]

I had the same problem with a lee mold, one cast under size and one was oversize. I called lee and was told their tolerance was plus or minus 3/1000. So not the answer I expected but I messed around with the alloy to get what I wanted. If the as cast size is critical I go with Tom at Accurate Molds.
Tony

[Ed_Shot]

"I then bought the Lee 309-150-F mold. What a difference! The bands drop at .310" and the nose is .301". I size and gas check them at .310" and get light engraving on the nose. It is extremely accurate in my Winchester model 70. I do beagle it up for my 30-30 so that I can size them to .311" (Marlin microgroove barrel). And it shines there also."

I also got much better performance with the 309-150-F in 30-06, 30-30 and .308.