C-309-200-R Diameter

[Mark Daiute]

mold cleaned up. Nose: .001 out of round

driving bands .001/.002 out of round.

Boolits drop pretty easily out of mold

It's a little difficult to get a good, sharp fill-out beneath the sprue plate, you know, at the shoulder for the gas check at the base/bottom of the boolit.

alloy is 5% linotype 95% lead.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

improving the venting helps with base fillout.
I would 'break' the edge of the top of the mold faces, creating a vent line at the seam.

[Mark Daiute]

improving the venting helps with base fillout.
I would 'break' the edge of the top of the mold faces, creating a vent line at the seam.

have a photo of how you do it? How much of a break line? This is on the top of the mold right where the halves meet, right? Just lightly relive the joint with a little sand paper?

Thanks for the input!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

SNIP...

This is on the top of the mold right where the halves meet, right? Just lightly relive the joint with a little sand paper?

Yep and yep,
maybe .005 at the most...or the same size as the other vent lines on the mold face.

[Mark Daiute]

Yep and yep,
maybe .005 at the most...or the same size as the other vent lines on the mold face.

one last question: do I break the line where the halves meet? the line that would define the rebate for the gascheck?

Let me be a little more specific: should the relief run up to and stop at the cavity or do I go right through the cavity?

Albeit very lightly...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

NOT the round cavity edge...just the straight edge/seam of the blocks.
It just needs to vent from the edge of the cavity, to the outside edge where the sprue plate covers.

[Mark Daiute]

I ran a line from where the mold blocks meet outward from the cavity, one line running outward from each of the 2 cavities. I did not run the line through the rebate in the cavity for the gascheck just up to the rebate.

Thanks,

Mark

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

you should be good to go...let us know if it hopes

[Mark Daiute]

you should be good to go...let us know if it hopes

I hopes that it helps!

Nice mold overall but the lack of fill-out at the base of the bullet takes some of the joy out of the experience.

Thanks again,

Mark

[Mark Daiute]

you should be good to go...let us know if it hopes

Jon B, joy is found, only rarely do the bases fail to fill out.

Many many thanks, I will enjoy my 26 -dollar mold so much more now.

Mark

[9.3X62AL]

Mark--

Late to the party, sorry about that. I have one of the Lee C309-200 2-cavity moulds, and mine is a total delight to use for casting--and loses no love when the castings are assembled into 30-06 cases for my commercial Mauser 98 so chambered. Its metal is 92/6/2 alloy, cast at 675*-700*. Drive bands drop at about .3105", bore rider portion is about .3005"--bore will admit a .300" pin gauge, .301" is a no-go. I size in a Lyman .309" H&I die (throat and grooves are .3085"), and the sized bullets are a couple tenths over .309". I seat Hornady 30 caliber gas checks and lube with Carnauba Red.

The bullet is a good fit in the Mauser's barrel. Eye-balled bullets will shoot into 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" five-shots @ 100 yards groups pretty reliably. For comparison, the rifle will shoot 168 grain Matchkings into .600" to .800" five-shot groups with WW-760 and IMR-4320 to 2700 FPS. The castings remain accurate from 1500-2000+ FPS; 60.0 grains of WC-860 (full case in W-W brass) gives a satisfying cannon-BOOM report, not quite 2100 FPS over the time-clock, and grouping remains in the 1.5"-class. Accordingly, I cast up some Bruce B Softpoints using Lyman #257420 as donor slugs for the point; I loaded 20 of these for hunting purposes, and though no deer have volunteered as test media when i had the 30-06 afield I will be giving the Mauser (and a few other rifles) their Last Tango In Paris in Zone D-14 this year. 2018 is the last year of lead bullets for hunting in this area of California.

[Mark Daiute]

9.3X62AL;

Now this sounds like fun:

60.0 grains of WC-860 (full case in W-W brass) gives a satisfying cannon-BOOM report, not quite 2100 FPS over the time-clock, and grouping remains in the 1.5"-class.

I don't have WC860 but I have 5010 and WC872 so I am definitely going down that path just for fun! Thanks.

All the best,

Mark

[9.3X62AL]

WC-860 has been a strangely useful propellant for me. 100%-density loads in commercial 6.5 x 55 brass (55.0 grains) gives 1896-level ballistics in my Ruger 77R of that caliber with 140 grain jacketed bullets--2450 FPS and SUPERB accuracy. I have "duplexed" the slow-burner with IMR 4198 in 45/70 and gotten 1873-level ballistics with 400-425 grain cast bullets, 1300 FPS or so and again stellar accuracy. The "boomy" report seems to be a trait of these slow-for-application powders--and a fun one it surely is.

[Mark Daiute]

WC-860 has been a strangely useful propellant for me. 100%-density loads in commercial 6.5 x 55 brass (55.0 grains) gives 1896-level ballistics in my Ruger 77R of that caliber with 140 grain jacketed bullets--2450 FPS and SUPERB accuracy. I have "duplexed" the slow-burner with IMR 4198 in 45/70 and gotten 1873-level ballistics with 400-425 grain cast bullets, 1300 FPS or so and again stellar accuracy. The "boomy" report seems to be a trait of these slow-for-application powders--and a fun one it surely is.

I've used it's twins the 870's in Krag, 45-70 and 50-70 have yet to try it in 30-06 or 6.5 Swede but that's on the horizon