311284 in 308 Winchester

[Mark Daiute]

I've just been given 308 dies and want to shoot a friend's Israeli Mauser in 308. Do you think the 311284 is too big for the 308 cartridge? A good portion of the boolit will be below the neck. Is this of concern?

[lotech]

I still have such a mould but haven't used it in a long time. I tried the bullet with several powders in a Ruger 77V that is an accurate cast bullet rifle. My notes indicate an OAL of 2.70" with this bullet in the Ruger, so I will assume the bullet base was well below the case neck. I have not found a bullet seated below the case neck to cause any sort of problem as long as the gas check is crimped on.

Their is no notation of good accuracy in my records, but I've never seen #311284 shoot as well as #314299 in any .30 caliber rifle. However, since you have the mould available, cast some bullets and give it a try. May do well in the Mauser.

[Mark Daiute]

I still have such a mould but haven't used it in a long time. I tried the bullet with several powders in a Ruger 77V that is an accurate cast bullet rifle. My notes indicate an OAL of 2.70" with this bullet in the Ruger, so I will assume the bullet base was well below the case neck. I have not found a bullet seated below the case neck to cause any sort of problem as long as the gas check is crimped on.

Their is no notation of good accuracy in my records, but I've never seen #311284 shoot as well as #314299 in any .30 caliber rifle. However, since you have the mould available, cast some bullets and give it a try. May do well in the Mauser.

I have 311299, 311284 and 314299 as well as 311291 all cast and waiting to be loaded. Thank you for the response.

[lotech]

I've also used #311291 in .308, but it's been some years ago. That's another one certainly worth trying since you already have some made up.

[beltfed]

311299...

[MT Chambers]

My results are dif., the 311284 is one of the most accurate .30 cal. Boolit that I use, much more so than the 311299, don't worry about seating a gc boolit deeper than the case neck, when the boolit base gets hit by 40,000 or so PSI the check won't stay in the case.

[Mark Daiute]

MT have you used 311284 in 308?

So far my 308 Spauser shows promise of being the most accurate boolit shooter that i own Despite the crude sights. Thanks for the responses.

[madsenshooter]

I have 311299, 311284 and 314299 as well as 311291 all cast and waiting to be loaded. Thank you for the response.

You have 299 and 284 available, and you're not loading some of both for some shooting evaluation?

[Char-Gar]

Mark, I like the 308 Win. round very much, but the short case neck is indeed a concern. When you seat a cast bullet into the case, far enough to chamber a longer bullet, you can expect accuracy to be degraded. Destroyed no, but degraded yes.

I have several 308 rifles and use RCBS 165 SIL in them with great satisfaction. I use this because of your initial concern .

[curator]

Mark,

#311284 was originally designed for the .30 US Krag rifle with a 1 in 10 inch rifling twist. If your .308 is also made with this twist rather than the usual 1 in 12" twist, it will be accurate with this long, bore riding boolit. From my experience #311284 is not adequately stabilized at cast-boolit velocities (under 1800 fps) with 1 in 12" twist as it is too long. Try a shorter boolit like #311291.

[Char-Gar]

Seems to me that lots of folks are not familiar with the 308 Win round and it's case neck. Bullets that work in the 30-06, the 30-40 and the 30-30 are two long to seat in the 308 short neck without having their feet in the fire.

It has nothing to do with the gas check falling off, it is about the fire attacking the sides of the bullet below the neck. There is also the real chance depending on the powder and charge for the bullet base to start to expand before it hits the bottom of the neck, it must then be squeezed back down by the case neck. Long story short is the two above reason is why the aformentioned bullet is not proper for the 308, as are most of the other bullets mentioned.

[Mark Daiute]

thank you, Charles.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have two Garands and the 311284 is one of my favorite and most accurate cast boolits for those two rifles. Gas checks and some H4895 produced decent groups. However a paper patched boolit with out a GC gave me the best results and 1875 FPS and ejected the empties just about 5 feet to my right and behind a mite. The recoil was there but not bad at all.

[Good Cheer]

That Israeli 308, some have .310 diameter and 10" twist.

[Good Cheer]

Seems to me that lots of folks are not familiar with the 308 Win round and it's case neck. Bullets that work in the 30-06, the 30-40 and the 30-30 are two long to seat in the 308 short neck without having their feet in the fire.

It has nothing to do with the gas check falling off, it is about the fire attacking the sides of the bullet below the neck. There is also the real chance depending on the powder and charge for the bullet base to start to expand before it hits the bottom of the neck, it must then be squeezed back down by the case neck. Long story short is the two above reason is why the aformentioned bullet is not proper for the 308, as are most of the other bullets mentioned.

The round needs to have the chamber neck extended and the brass formed from .270's, 06's or whatever is laying around the range at the end of the day.

[Larry Gibson]

I've just been given 308 dies and want to shoot a friend's Israeli Mauser in 308. Do you think the 311284 is too big for the 308 cartridge? A good portion of the boolit will be below the neck. Is this of concern?

It can be. This is a 311284 comparison between seated in the neck (left) and below the neck (right). Note the severe gas cutting damage on the right one. Accuracy may not be too adversely affected at shorter ranges so many report no problems seating the GC below the neck. Also leading may become problematic. The full explanation is in the NRA Cast bullet Bulletin. I use the 311299 or the 314299 in milsurp .308/7.62s.

Attachment 247393

[madsenshooter]

Mark's 311284 is one from the original NOE group buy I believe. It's not likely to seat long, unless the throat of his .308 is quite worn, but who knows. Mine drops a .303 nose.

[curiousgeorge]

Larry Gibson nailed. If I knew how to post a picture, I have a couple of recovered 284 boolits from around 40 years ago that show the same metal degradation that I fired from a .308.

[Markopolo]

yep, while the boolit could be made to work in a pinch, there are just better choices out there. the boolit is just too long for the 308...

[trapper9260]

Larry what other molds of boolits would work in the 308 Win? for you show what happened to long base in the case.