Which Lee lube & size for their M1 carbine boolit?

[LouNC]

I'm thinking of buying myself a Lee mold and sizer so I can cast for my M1 carbine. (Up to this point I've been casting only pistol calibers). I see that Lee offers three different lube & size options for .30 caliber. They have a .308, .309, and .311. I plan to use the Lee lube & sizer to install gas checks on these carbine bullets. What size do you recommend?

Thanks,
Lou

[Mk42gunner]

Slug your barrel first to see what size you need. It will also depend on how tight your chamber is. There is quite a bit of info on the .30 Carbine here, a search should bring up a lot of interesting reading.

A SWAG says that .309" will work, but .311" may be possible.

Robert

[Larry Gibson]

I've shot cast bullets out of many M1 Carbines. Numerous of them would not chamber rounds with .311 sized cast bullets using GI or commercial cases. The specified diamter for the GI bullet was .3075". I use a Lee .309 sizer to seat the GC and size the cast bullets. I have fired thousands of them at this diamater with perfect success.

Larry Gibson

[captain-03]

I have used both 309 and 311 in the Carbine. Never had a problem with either ... I have sized 312 bollits down to 311 and the 311 seemed to offer a little better accuracy; however, each gun and each mould is different ... I have a mould that drops at about 310 (most of the time) and I use the 311 die to seat the gas checks. You need to know what diameter your cast boolits are dropping. If they drop between 308-311 the 311 is being used to just seat the gas check -