Cast Boolits with gas checks for Blackout & M1A - These Work?

[psychbiker]

I found some cast 150gr and 180gr 30 cal .309 boolits with gas checks. They've been fired at 1700fps in a 30-30.

I have a pistol gas AR Blackout and an M1A and looking to make plinking rounds.

They were made using a Saeco mold and Foundry alloy of 2% tin, 6% antimony, 96% lead and a BHN of 17-18.

Will these work in the blackout as supersonic and/or subsonic? I have Lil Gun for powder. How about in my M1A? The M1A is not that important as I have 600 hornady from their rebate and some 175gr pull downs.

Thanks in advance!

[runfiverun]

maybe, it's the best I can do.
in one instance [noe 31-165-A] my b.o. does not like the same boolit my M-14 does.
in another [rcbs 30-165 silh] it shoots it just about as well as my 308's do.
all you can do is make a dummy round and see how it chambers, then test fire a couple to see.
that's the easiest route.

one more thing make sure you can release the boolit with the brass you are using.
I have some 300 b.o. brass that is .0010 thick and some that is .0012 thick I cannot use the .0012 brass with cast
[sized to 310] in my rifle.
it works perfectly with 308 jacketed bullets.

[Jupiter7]

150/180 is too light for reliable subsonic function even with pistol gas system. 200grs+ is about minimal for 300BO subsonic with function. You could load mid-range supers with 180's and cycling with 150's will be near full house loads. Be careful pushing lil gun in the 300bo, I ate up a gas tube after about 8k rounds with lee 312-155 and 16grs lil gun. I'd also be concerned with alloy and sizing. .309 may be too small, especially with subsonic low pressure rounds. All mine are sized at .3105. Powder coating took care of all the lube blowback in the gas rings and bolt.

[StratsMan]

They were made using a Saeco mold and Foundry alloy of 2% tin, 6% antimony, 96% lead and a BHN of 17-18.

Biker,

First, welcome to the forum!!

That recipe of 6% antimony for a BHN of 17-18, even at 180 grains, sounds like it would be only for supersonic loads. I can make a jacketed bullet go sub-sonic with the Hornady 208, but I'll wager that not all rifles will function with that load. Go with a heavier bullet (or boolit) for reliable sub-sonic function. I haven't used Li'l Gun before, but H110 works. Lately, however, availability can be spotty. IMR4227 has become available lately, so I've started using that for my plinkers... I prefer AA1680, but good luck finding it...

[Gunnut 45/454]

Biker
I had good success with the Lee 155gr GC as well as the Lee 150/170gr Cast GC'd bullets in my 300 Blk out. I also run them in my '06 Rem 7400. The 7400 doesn't like the 155 gr as good as the 150/170 gr . The 300 Blk shoots all three very nicely. I shoot them as supers .
The 170gr Lee can be shot as a sub as it drops at 180gr or so with my alloy. As super load I run them at around 1700 fps.

[pilot]

Biker
I had good success with the Lee 155gr GC as well as the Lee 150/170gr Cast GC'd bullets in my 300 Blk out. I also run them in my '06 Rem 7400. The 7400 doesn't like the 155 gr as good as the 150/170 gr . The 300 Blk shoots all three very nicely. I shoot them as supers .
The 170gr Lee can be shot as a sub as it drops at 180gr or so with my alloy. As super load I run them at around 1700 fps.

With what powder?

[bruce drake]

AA1680, H110 and W296 all work well with 150-170gr boolits to make supersonic 300BO loads. Start at 15gr with each of these and build them to your rifle's sweet spot. I use a 20" 1-10 barrel with a carbine-length gas tube.

Bruce

[Moonie]

Wait, that is 104%... Did you mean 92% lead rather than 96%?

[swheeler]

maybe, it's the best I can do.
in one instance [noe 31-165-A] my b.o. does not like the same boolit my M-14 does.
in another [rcbs 30-165 silh] it shoots it just about as well as my 308's do.
all you can do is make a dummy round and see how it chambers, then test fire a couple to see.
that's the easiest route.

one more thing make sure you can release the boolit with the brass you are using.
I have some 300 b.o. brass that is .0010 thick and some that is .0012 thick I cannot use the .0012 brass with cast
[sized to 310] in my rifle.
it works perfectly with 308 jacketed bullets.

that's awfully thin, one too many zero's me thinks

[pilot]

AA1680, H110 and W296 all work well with 150-170gr boolits to make supersonic 300BO loads. Start at 15gr with each of these and build them to your rifle's sweet spot. I use a 20" 1-10 barrel with a carbine-length gas tube.

Bruce

I have a 16 inch 1-7 twist with a pistol length gas system. I'm not wanting anything sub sonic, just supers, so the 155 grain should do. I'm really just wanting something cheap to plink with that will operate the rifle. Should be fun.

[RJH]

I loaded some of the Lee 170grn gas check bullets in my blackout and they worked fine. I used H110 with a close to max charge. My dad loads the same bullet for his M1 Garand with 36grn of IMR 4064.