314299 questions

[Cottage Hill Bill]

Hello all,

First post here. I have experience casting, reloading and hunting, but not all together.

I've just picked up a Martini-Henry carbine in .303 British. (Think of it as a 100 year old ruger No.1). I'd really like to use it for whitetails in southern Alabama next fall. My problem is that like many Enfield barrels it has a generous bore. Looks like about .316.

312 is about the biggest jacketed bullet I can find so I'm wondering what you all think about a Lyman 314299? I figure I can bump it up a bit in my sizer/lubricator.

Another choice might be a .318 bullet for the old j-bore mausers.

Most of the shots would be at 90-180 lb. deer at 200 yards or less.

Any suggestions on alloy, suitability or other bullets cherrfully accepted.

Thanks,
CHB

[koehn,jim]

The 314299 works very well in my enfield but i am lucky enough to have a tight bore. In groupe buys tge 311365 is being offered in 316 if interested.

[Larry Gibson]

You might take a look at current 32/8mm bullets. I have lubed and GC'd them in a .325 H die and then run them through .314 Lee sizers or honed out Lee sizers to .318 for such over/odd size barrels. They always hoot much better than bumped up or leemented bullets. The Lyman 323470 has always been a really good bullet for such use in over size .303s and 7.62x54s.

Larry Gibson

[303Guy]

Welcome aboard, Cottage Hill Bill.:drinks:

Your Martini is more like a 150yr old No.1:mrgreen:

Might I ask what muzzle and crown condition are? Being a Martini, it is likely to have suffered a little muzzle wear from the cleaning rod or pull through.

You might do well to slug your rifle's thoat to see what you have. Cordite ammo modifies a throat quite considerably but a custom boolit will sort that. Being a single shot you are not restrained by magazine length so you at an advantage already as far as boolit and cartride length are concerned. You also have no case neck tension issues (other than preventing the boolit from falling out in your pocket!)

A possibility you might consider is the use of fillers. The trick I have in mind is using a slow powder that almost fills the case then stuffing something suitable between boolit and powder. (I have only tested this in my test tube, so.... ) Reports are that this can act as a substitute for gas checks and my own tests have indicated that the boolit is protected in the bore and seems to skid the rifling less. All encouraging stuff and may be the ticket to making cast work for you. I must stress that I am not recommending small charges of fast powder with a filler. I suggesting a filler that acts as a wad behind the boolit. I've tested wheat bran, compressed on top of a 65% load density and the result was promising. No gas cutting and it cleans the bore too!

Keep us posted.:drinks:

[Coffeecup]

You might try paper-patching. I had decent luck with this in one old Martini. Don't know why I never considered sizing down 8mm bullets.

[Cottage Hill Bill]

Much thanks to all, there have been some good ideas here.

The rifle started out as a .450/577 made in 1881, it was converted to an Artillery Carbine ME .303 in 1898. The story that came with it is that in the 1920's or 30's it was set up in it's current configuration as the light gun for a New Zealander's African safari. It has a 20 inch barrel that is like new.

Paper patching is also an option, given the small number of rounds I would need to have for a typical hunting season once I have a load worked up.

I've ordered one of the molds on the group buy. I've got about 40 Lee Enfields or Ross rifles in .303 Brit with bores from .311 to .318 so you can't have too many molds.

You've given me plenty of ideas to work with, guess I better fire up the pot and try some of them out.

CHB

[Boz330]

Much thanks to all, there have been some good ideas here.

The rifle started out as a .450/577 made in 1881, it was converted to an Artillery Carbine ME .303 in 1898. The story that came with it is that in the 1920's or 30's it was set up in it's current configuration as the light gun for a New Zealander's African safari. It has a 20 inch barrel that is like new.

Paper patching is also an option, given the small number of rounds I would need to have for a typical hunting season once I have a load worked up.

I've ordered one of the molds on the group buy. I've got about 40 Lee Enfields or Ross rifles in .303 Brit with bores from .311 to .318 so you can't have too many molds.

You've given me plenty of ideas to work with, guess I better fire up the pot and try some of them out.

CHB

CBE out of Australia makes a very nice oversize mold of 235gr for the 303 and reasonable cost as well. It is the first thing that has even produced straight on hits from my #1 and ME carbine with cast. I haven't worked with the ME enough to recommend a load though. With the #1, 20gr of 4759 is looking very promising.

Bob

[jtaylor1960]

NOE lists a 316299 mold which is just an oversize 314 or 311299.It would suit your gun better than something too small.

[DIRT Farmer]

Don't know if you are still watching the thread but 20.5 of 4227 will dance beer cans with the 314-299 in mine.