.308 Win Benchrest Accuracy Mold Recommendations

[Wm Cook]

I’m starting on a .308 Benchrest 100/200 yard accuracy project and would like opinions of what molds that might be notorious for accuracy. My preference is something around 170 - 190 grains. Any help would be appreciated. The platform is a 700 BDL VS. My experience is short range Benchrest with 6PPC's. But cast bullets have a lot more variables and it makes it more fun. Thanks, Bill.

[geargnasher]

A detailed dimensional drawing of a chamber cast from your rifle would eliminate a tremendous amount of speculation. If you are unfamiliar with the impact impression procedure, there are threads on that here, key words "pound cast", or you can do it the usual way.

Gear

[Wm Cook]

Thanks for the suggestion Gear. The chamber is a stock SAAMI chambered new Remington barreled screwed on a proven trued / bedded Remington 700 action. With the barrel being produced by Remington within the past couple years I expect the specs to be as an off the shelf rifle as is bought today. And we know that tolerances are +/- with all mass produced rifles built today.

I'm a short range 6PPC Benchrest shooter by competition and I would consider myself a master re-loader and humbly believe I can bring the best accuracy that can be had with any given trigger, barrel and action. Although I compete in jacketed Benchrest competition I find that shooting tight groups with cast bullets more of a challenge.

What I was looking for was what .308 Winchester 170 - 190 grain bullets that folks may have had success with on a proven .308 bolt action rifle. I'm not concerned about powder or velocity. I can sort that out. In short, I'm just looking to buy a few molds that have a decent chance of consistently putting 5 holes in .75 MOA.

After talking to Al Nelson at NOE I have the 310-165-FN 30XCB on my wish list but he didn't have any two cavity gas check molds in stock. If anyone else has any suggestion I would appreciate it. Thanks again, Bill.

[tomme boy]

First thing I would do is find out how straight that chamber is. Rem has the worst chambers made bar none.

[Minerat]

FYI, I was going to do a pound cast and found that Goodsteel gathered all of his toys and left on 2/13/18 and took his excellent tutorial in the sticky on pound casting with him.:(

[waco]

Here is a very detailed thread on how to do a proper pound cast, the right way.......
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/article-2-how-i-make-pound-casts.131/

[geargnasher]

Goodsteel learned all that with a great deal of help from some other people who have been doing it for a long lifetime, but are no longer here on the forum.

I believe Outpost75 has also been doing impact impressions for a very, very long time and has given instructions just recently on a thread.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Thank you, Waco.

Post 17 here is Outpost75's description, for further reading: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?355708-Cast-bullet-size

Edit to add, Outpost75 also included in that thread a most excellent discourse on properly fitting a bullet for best accuracy, and offered some very specific tips from a highly successful cast bullet benchrest competitor.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Thanks for the suggestion Gear. The chamber is a stock SAAMI chambered new Remington barreled screwed on a proven trued / bedded Remington 700 action. With the barrel being produced by Remington within the past couple years I expect the specs to be as an off the shelf rifle as is bought today. And we know that tolerances are +/- with all mass produced rifles built today.

I'm a short range 6PPC Benchrest shooter by competition and I would consider myself a master re-loader and humbly believe I can bring the best accuracy that can be had with any given trigger, barrel and action. Although I compete in jacketed Benchrest competition I find that shooting tight groups with cast bullets more of a challenge.

What I was looking for was what .308 Winchester 170 - 190 grain bullets that folks may have had success with on a proven .308 bolt action rifle. I'm not concerned about powder or velocity. I can sort that out. In short, I'm just looking to buy a few molds that have a decent chance of consistently putting 5 holes in .75 MOA.

After talking to Al Nelson at NOE I have the 310-165-FN 30XCB on my wish list but he didn't have any two cavity gas check molds in stock. If anyone else has any suggestion I would appreciate it. Thanks again, Bill.

I believe the assumption that Remington ever cut anything near a SAAMI-spec .308 Winchester chamber, particularly in the past couple of years, may cause you some headaches. Waco's new 700 has a throat akin to the .308 Bisley, but about .002" larger all the way. The factory cuts of the .308 chamber throat and leade are probably more diverse than any other popular caliber, with great variances in throat diameter, freebore length, and ball seat angle, so it might be better assumed that you have a box of chocolates. I'm not telling you what to do, just suggesting what I would do, and why.

Many people have had extremely good and easy success with the NOE XCB bullet, it is very versatile and functions well with a variety of throat angles and casts the correct size for most modern .30-calibers with typical appropriate alloys.

Gear

[Wm Cook]

Thanks for the input. Sizing 309, 310 or 311 is just a another variable in reloading.

I can reach the lands with most any 170 / 190 grain bullet. From there it's a matter of consistency of the cast bullet, what powder, what amount of powder, primer, distance from lands into lands or from the ogive. Lets assume we're starting with a SAAMI neck and not a tight neck that requires neck turning so we skip that variable. But common sense tells me that some molds will drip bullets that will group better than others in the 308 Winchester.

Somewhere out there there must be someone who has an interest in shooting tight groups with cast bullets. And some of those have been successful. I'm looking for some mold choices to start shooting groups. Sizing is a totally different subject. That occurs after the bullets drop out of the mold.

By the way, does anyone out there shoot cast bullet Benchrest competition?

[tomme boy]

What i am talking about is if the chamber is actually centered. Look down your chamber right where your throat begins and see if you see a cressent. Like on the Turkish flag.

[35 shooter]

The 30xcb boolit on your wish list can put 5 shots in the .75" groups you mentioned @ 100 yds. and can do it at high speeds too with a proper powder for the job.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

FYI, I was going to do a pound cast and found that Goodsteel gathered all of his toys and left on 2/13/18 and took his excellent tutorial in the sticky on pound casting with him.:(

I fixed that thread ;)

[runfiverun]

Remington has been putting throat in their barrels more like marlins old lever guns than anything approaching saami specs.

if you had a true saami spec throat the rcbs 30-165 silhouette bullet with 17-18grs of 2400 is real hard to beat if you position the powder for each shot.
for a newer rifle you need a different nose shape, the silhouette bullet relies too much on the nose engaging the rifling and the front drive band engaging the ball seat area to guide everything in place properly.

the pound slug is necessary so you can ascertain the actual throat shape and make an informed decision on how best to fill all that airspace.
sizing of that bullet becomes readily apparent when you know what you really need.

guessing at a Remington stock take off barrel would mean you buying 3-4 molds and seeing which one works the best.

[Larry Gibson]

I’m starting on a .308 Benchrest 100/200 yard accuracy project and would like opinions of what molds that might be notorious for accuracy. My preference is something around 170 - 190 grains. Any help would be appreciated. The platform is a 700 BDL VS. My experience is short range Benchrest with 6PPC's. But cast bullets have a lot more variables and it makes it more fun. Thanks, Bill.

You might go over to the Cast Bullet Assoc. site and check out the detailed match results. Many use the .308W in rifles like yours to compete in "Production Rifle" class. There is a pretty detailed list of the bullets used, the alloy, lube, and powder. I suggest looking mostly at last years match results for Production Rifle as many just use what others before have used w/o any real testing to find out what works best. There are newer bullet designs, better lubes and newer powders today.

In my own .308W rifle I use in Production Class I first started off with a popular bullet used. However, since I started I've found the old Lyman standby 311466 and the newly designed NOE 30 XCB do better. Those are lighter bullets than you mention but I've found they are more accurate that the heavier 180 to 200 gr bullets I first used. At the CBA matches I shoot at we just shoot for score. The CBA score target is a very tough target as the 10 ring at 100 yards measures about .76" which means moa or better accuracy is required. Here's where I'm at currently with the 30 XCB bullet group wise.

215975

The measurement of the throat is indeed important as mentioned. You'll want the bullet to be a tight slip fit so the bullet can be seated to the leade. Most all of your benchrest experience will also be very useful for loading cast bullets for accurate benchrest shooting.

[popper]

Better order a few boxes of Hornady gas checks. And study how to put them on accurately and measure squareness to boolit axis.

[Wm Cook]

Thanks Larry. Never thought about the Cast Bullet Association and that's a big help and it gives me somewhere else to shoot with their postal matches. Locally I intend to shoot cast in Hunter score matches as a production rifle. I have a Krieger coming in a week or so and that'll give me enough variables to work with. As for molds, I think I'll start with the NOE XCB and one of the Lyman's. It looks like the 311466 is out of production? Thanks again, Bill.

[Larry Gibson]

NOE also makes the 311466.

[Wm Cook]

Larry thanks, thanks, thanks. Two with one purchase, can't beat that. I'll let you know how things shake out. Bill.

[Minerat]

Here is a very detailed thread on how to do a proper pound cast, the right way.......
https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/article-2-how-i-make-pound-casts.131/

Thanks waco for the link.

[Larry Gibson]

I must have missed something here but just for information concerning the topic of this thread the current match load I use with the 30 XCB in my M70 as shown in post #15 runs 1980 fps. It was developed with RL7 and a Dacron filler for accuracy only.

[lotech]

I have a 700 VS that I bought new at least twenty-five years ago. I've used it almost exclusively with cast loads. I don't know chamber dimensions and have no idea what a "pound cast" might be, but this rifle has shot exceptionally well with several bullets including the Lyman #314299, SAECO #315, an Eagan 200 grain, and maybe a couple of others. I usually use wheelweight alloy, size to .311", and seat bullets to slightly engrave. Velocities are in the 1,600 - 1,700 fps range. A favorite powder has been H4895, but Reloder 7 and several others work well.

[Wm Cook]

Thanks Larry and to lotech. At least I understood those add on's. Not sure what No. 1 was talking about but it sounded pretty important.

I have the NOE four cavity XCB, 8.5 x 25 Leupold and assorted bases, rings, brass etc on the way. That ought to fill a couple of months of this spring. Take care all and keep having fun. Bill.

[samari46]

Redding makes a copy of the RG4 bullet as well as their #315. While I have not shot either some members of the Cast Bullet Association have used them with good results. Think the RG4 weighs in at about 200 grains (memory a little hazy here) and the #315 about 175 grains. Funny as it sounds I have both molds and cast bullets out of wheel weights with 2% tin but never shot them. And it's not like I don't have any heavy barreled rifles to shoot them.
Rem Sendero
Savage 110FP
Rem 30x single shot
And an old Win post 64 match rifle in 30-06. Frank

[lotech]

I've had SAECO's RG4 copy for more than thirty years, but seldom use it anymore. It shoots very well, but I've found the #314299 is at least slightly more accurate in the guns I've tried it in.

One that's puzzled me for a long time has been Lyman's #311335, about 205-210 grs. wheelweight alloy. Bob Sears did a brief write-up on this one in the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN, probably in the '80s. Sears got excellent accuracy with this bullet in a (.308?) bench gun. I've gotten decent accuracy in several rifles, but I can do better with other designs.