Looking for a 303 Brit mold- help

[Geezer in NH]

noe's 316299.

to measure a 5 groove slug you wrap it, measure the outside of the wrap, and deduct the wraps thickness x-2.
thin copper works the best for me, card stock works too.

Great idea thanks for that. I learn more here every day!

[JeffinNZ]

Don't foget CBE in Australia too. David has a large number of .303oulda on catalogue. I have 4 of them and all are great.

[redbullitt]

I use that GC NOE mold as well. Seems to shoot pretty well out of the enfield and mosin I have used it in!

[LuckyDog]

I'll ask here since I hope it is on topic......

Which would you recommend in the 31x299 mold; a Gas Check or Plain Base mold?

Why? (trying to learn)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'll ask here since I hope it is on topic......

Which would you recommend in the 31x299 mold; a Gas Check or Plain Base mold?

Why? (trying to learn)

That will depend on what your shooting goals are.
thrifty plinking or faster hunting type loads.
the nice thing is, NOE makes those with mixed GC/PB cavities.

[Greg]

LuckyDog –

If your wanting inexpensive plinking loads under @ 1500 fps

a plain based boolit will work fine, with maybe Herco or Red Dot speed powders

alloys can be inexpensive also, range scrap would be fine only add tin if needed for mould fill-out

[10x]

noe's 316299.

to measure a 5 groove slug you wrap it, measure the outside of the wrap, and deduct the wraps thickness x-2.
thin copper works the best for me, card stock works too.

i have to second the NOE version of the 314299

i use it in both of my 1891 argentines, and both of my m91/30s. my favorite M91/30 has a .316 groove and it shoots the 314299 sized to .314 just as good as the other guns.

realistically you may need to get some samples of the NOE 314299 and the 316299 and see which one your gun likes better.

you can't really go wrong in a 303 with a NOE 316299 in 303 brit. The barrel will size the bullet to the bore.

[dodgyrog]

noe's 316299.

to measure a 5 groove slug you wrap it, measure the outside of the wrap, and deduct the wraps thickness x-2.
thin copper works the best for me, card stock works too.

316299 agreed - sized to .315"
I sell a lot of these with a lot of positive feedback and repeat orders.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Retread; Before jumping off a cliff here, I see you have the capability to machine stuff, so You need to make a brass plug gage at .303 dia. and see if it fits in your bore. There is way too much criticism of British Rifles all having worn out barrels, oversize bores and chambers, and in my very condensed experience over the last 9 months I have to say I am not seeing it. Everyone I have looked at, 20+, in that time frame have been perfect. If the outside of the gun looks clean then chances are the inside of the barrel has been taken care of too.

If the .303 plug gage is a nice tight fit then the Bore is in fact probably .303. British 5 groove rifling was typically .005 deep on a side. which would mean your bore is .303/.313,,, Just like mine is.

After you make the plug gage fit the bore ,,, if it takes more than one try, work up in .001 steps. When you get the actual bore dia. established then Measure with your calipers across the bore from a land to a groove. If you get a number like .308 then that means your groove dia. is .313 .303+.005 =.308. .303+.005+.005=.313. or what ever it comes out to.

If your barrel's crown is buggered you won't be able to get a good measurement so then slug the barrel and measure across a land and groove just like above.

Do this several times to make sure your measurements repeat. You only have an accurate measurement if you can get it to repeat 2-3 times in a row.

Unless your gun is a #1 Mk3 I would doubt the bore is worn any significant amount. None of the 5 groove #4's I have looked at had had worn bores. and they all were made at .303-.313 or very close to that.

The .314299 is a Bore Rider style boolit. there are two "fits" that have to be made with these boolits. The nose must fit the bore and the driving bands must fit the grooves or be a bit bigger. If a .316299 is what you need then your bore will be larger than .303 If your bore is in fact .303 and the grooves are deeper then you will have to size the nose portion as well and this can be a problem. I doubt this is the case.

My Lyman 314299 drops at .303 on the nose and .313-314 on the driving bands. This is a little smaller on the bands than I want but after the gas check is installed the bore seals just fine and accuracy with sorted boolits has become very good at <1" at 50 yards using 16 gr of 2400.

If your gun is a #4 Mk1 With a 5 groove barrel like mine is I would bet that if the bore is in good condition IE not rusted or pitted, then it will be on size. In order for a barrel to be worn much bigger there would have had to have been a bunch of use or neglect or both.

So before you spend a bunch of money on something you can't use,,, figure out exactly what you've got,,, then go from there.

Randy

[LuckyDog]

That will depend on what your shooting goals are.
thrifty plinking or faster hunting type loads.
the nice thing is, NOE makes those with mixed GC/PB cavities.

Mostly Plinking. I sorta shoot so I can reload, if that makes sense.
I am leaning towards a NOE mixed mold.

LuckyDog –

If your wanting inexpensive plinking loads under @ 1500 fps

a plain based boolit will work fine, with maybe Herco or Red Dot speed powders

alloys can be inexpensive also, range scrap would be fine only add tin if needed for mould fill-out

Thank you to both of you.
Now I need to decided two cavities or four. I it will be the mixed PB with GC mold.
I have jumped on the NOE group buy for the Ed Harris Mold. I am ordering a four cavity 2GC/2PB. Thinking plinking and hunting. Again more plinking that anything.

I am very new to casting. Meaning, I haven't yet. I am gather the supplies though and reading and watching videos. I was watching a video and a couple of things the narrator said made me think, "That's not right!" "Castboolits says different!"

[longbow]

Yes, Lee neck sizing collet die. Works very well for me.

There is another make that has different neck sizing rings IIRC that Larry Gibson mentioned. Seems to me I looked it up and while a nice unit it is costly... at least compared to the Lee die.

I also anneal regularly and occasionally full length size but most of my .303's have the same sloppy chambers except one that is tighter.

The main reason for not using a "standard" sizing die is that they squish the neck down to suit factory spec bullets at 0.311"/0.312" and I am using 0.315"/0.316" so brass gets worked a lot by sizing down then stretching up.

The Lee die only neck sizes but that works for me.

Longbow