Tl309-230-5r in a 308win

so I'm looking to start a new project, finding the long range load for my new Winchester m70. in 308win..

my idea is for a load that has as high of a BC boolit as my gun will hold to 1 moa. im not so worryed about speed as long as it groups.

i have the TL309-230-5R mold and was wondering if anyone had given it a go.. i know it's really long for said caliber but would like to give it a try..

after that I'll start looking at some new molds. i have some NOE TL310-178-RF-AO5 to test that my b.i.l. cast for me.

p.s. i have imr4227 that i was hoping to get a load worked up with it..

I don't have that one. My Savage .308 likes the Accurate 31-210E (an Eagan clone). It is stable at 1700fps and likes 1800fps best.

If you use the Lee bullet I'd suggest applying a gas check if one will fit. The plain base bullets I have used don't like to go above 1500fps, even when powder coated.

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How far is long range might I ask?

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Originally Posted by charlie b

I don't have that one. My Savage .308 likes the Accurate 31-210E (an Eagan clone). It is stable at 1700fps and likes 1800fps best.

If you use the Lee bullet I'd suggest applying a gas check if one will fit. The plain base bullets I have used don't like to go above 1500fps, even when powder coated.

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thanks for the heads up. i don't think the lee 230 will take a check as it has a boat tail.

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Originally Posted by waco

How far is long range might I ask?

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well waco that is a good question. for my club that i do target shooting at right now 200 meters is all we have. hoping to get set up on the farm to shoot out to 900yd. but that may take some time..

my idea is for a load that has as high of a BC boolit as my gun will hold to 1 moa. im not so worryed about speed as long as it groups.

Your gonna need a good fast twist to shoot that boolet. YOUr Win propably has a 1:10-12 twist so not gonna work in that. Sorry.

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Originally Posted by Krag 1901

Your gonna need a good fast twist to shoot that boolet. YOUr Win propably has a 1:10-12 twist so not gonna work in that. Sorry.

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yes the new gun is a 1:12 but it never hurts to try.. as discussed in other threads on here RPM is what maters so i'll try and see what happens.

i have though about hollow pointing the mold to make a shorter boolit that it could stabilize..

That bullet's a +/- 90 year old design that didn't work then and is still worthless to this day. Might look good on paper but it will never fly

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Originally Posted by Krag 1901

Your gonna need a good fast twist to shoot that boolet. YOUr Win propably has a 1:10-12 twist so not gonna work in that. Sorry.

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I have no experience with this bullet but do know it is associated with the .300 Blackout. That round uses 1:7" twist to stabilize. Heavy bullets at subsonic velocity. The normal 1:10" twist in .30 rifles stabilizes 220gr bullets which is very close to 230gr.
A friend has a .32-40 with a 1:16" twist barrel. That barrel is "supposed" to favor bullets lighter than 200gr yet it shoots 220+ grain bullets very Ccurately at 200yds. Starting out the 220+ bullet showed instability but 50 - 100fps increase in velocity. I relate this to make a point that these are not written in stone.

I shoot this bullet unsized and powdercoated in 300blk and they shoot great subsonic. My barrel is a 1-8" and it stabilizes just fine. If I size them to .309 they are a little wobbly... the rear end tapers into a long boat tail, so there isn't a lot of surface area on the bullet for the rifle lands to engage unless you shoot them unsized. I can mail you some if you want to try before you buy. They pour 250gr with my soft lead alloy.

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Originally Posted by Grampo

I shoot this bullet unsized and powdercoated in 300blk and they shoot great subsonic. My barrel is a 1-8" and it stabilizes just fine. If I size them to .309 they are a little wobbly... the rear end tapers into a long boat tail, so there isn't a lot of surface area on the bullet for the rifle lands to engage unless you shoot them unsized. I can mail you some if you want to try before you buy. They pour 250gr with my soft lead alloy.

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Thanks for the offer grampo but I have this mould already as My brother-in-law has a Blackout so of course I want to try them out. Going to load some this week and hope for weather to shoot soon.

Let us know the results of your testing; I am sure there are a number of us interested as to whether such an unconventional design can be made to shoot.

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Originally Posted by Forrest r

That bullet's a +/- 90 year old design that didn't work then and is still worthless to this day. Might look good on paper but it will never fly

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how do you mean its a +/- 90 year old design? i not familiar with cast boat-tails of that age.

In 1933 Belding & Mull was selling bullet molds bullets designed with long pointy noses and boat-tail bases.

25990
90gr pointed bullet plain boat-tail base .873"

311193
195gr pointed boat-tail bullet 1.28"

They also offered cast bullets so you could actually test the bullet molds/designs they were selling. They sold them as cast for 25990 $.78 per 100. The 311193's sold for $1.00 per 100. If you wanted them sized/lubed it cost $.50 per 100.

Anyway, that llloooooonnnnnnggggg pointy nose will give you nothing but trouble as the speed/rpm's go up.

We all have a little Don Quixote in us.

Attachment 283335

I bought the TL309-230-5R mold back in December 2020; primarily because I have a couple friends who shoot 300 Blackout and have been providing them cast boolits of a variety of weights to reload with given the shortage of reloading components (they have been jacketed shooters/reloaders until recently). Idea was to cast some heavy boolits for them to experiment with for Sub-Sonic.

Any way - I got a bug about loading some really heavy .308 winchester loads and thought this would be a WIND MILL to go after.

Cast some for the first time today; then powder coated 10 in blue and 10 in green (to keep them separated after loading). Will be using W-760 (using H414 as load date) and surplus 50BMG powder W860. Thinking a 2000 fps (+ or -) 230 grain .308 boolit will pack some umphhh out to 500 yards. Yeah, RAINBOW Trajectories, but then again they worked in the old 45-70/100/110's in the 1880's to 1900's; and in the turn of century (1900's not 2000's) military bolt actions were running up to 220 grains.

Currently scratching my head and deliberating on an OAL (Over All Length) in the 308 Winchester. That short neck is looking like it will drive to boolit seating with the Gas check below the neck (yes I put an aluminum DIY gas check on these). Looking forward to hearing range report and additional information from grampa243 efforts.