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Thread: rcbs 308-165-SIL problems.....

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy elginrunner's Avatar
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    rcbs 308-165-SIL problems.....

    Man oh man... So I have been searching for weeks for this mold. I place a WTB ad and I get a response, and everything works out I get the mold. It looks great, it cast great, I'm so excited I cast for several hours solid... I probably cast 500 or so... I put some gas checks on and powder coated about 150... man these things look awesome.... time to sort by weight..... 180.2 gr... WTH?!? cant' be right, this scale has been acting wonky, get another..180.1gr... yep


    So, I have a excellent mold, that makes very nice bullets, but they aren't what the mold says they are... The mold is not in the current listing of molds offered by RCBS... has it been discontinued? Would they make it right? Their customer service is top notch, but if this is a discontinued mold I may be SOL.

    Anyone have any helpful suggestions.... ( by the way RCBS customer service hours are not what they show on the website... they are now 7am-1pm PST).

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    That's a great bullet have casted over 5,000. What the makeup of the lead your casting?

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy elginrunner's Avatar
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    50/50 WW/pure with a touch of tin.... could it possibly vary 15 grains??

  4. #4
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    Without looking it up I'm almost positive there was a 165 and 180 sil mold. I would just use it as is.

    What are you loading for

  5. #5
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    I use Lyman 2 and or just WW water dropped. Try just WW and water drop. I use that bullet in 300 magnum, 308 Winchester, 300 Blackout and even 32/20 TC. All of work out to 200 yards: I don't powder coat just lube and a gas check. Mind are 171 gas checked and lubed. RCBS still makes the mould 168 and the 190.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy elginrunner's Avatar
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    I'm loading for a autoloading .308....

  7. #7
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    GARD72977's Avatar
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    Do loaded rounds chamber in your rifle

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    Work a load up and shoot them anyways is what I'd do. If you cast them from Linotype they'd be closer to correct weight. The number on the side of the mould is just to help you identify it in a pile.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by elginrunner View Post
    Man oh man... So I have been searching for weeks for this mold. I place a WTB ad and I get a response, and everything works out I get the mold. It looks great, it cast great, I'm so excited I cast for several hours solid... I probably cast 500 or so... I put some gas checks on and powder coated about 150... man these things look awesome.... time to sort by weight..... 180.2 gr... WTH?!? cant' be right, this scale has been acting wonky, get another..180.1gr... yep


    So, I have a excellent mold, that makes very nice bullets, but they aren't what the mold says they are... The mold is not in the current listing of molds offered by RCBS... has it been discontinued? Would they make it right? Their customer service is top notch, but if this is a discontinued mold I may be SOL.

    Anyone have any helpful suggestions.... ( by the way RCBS customer service hours are not what they show on the website... they are now 7am-1pm PST).

    I have the rcbs 30-165 my weight 172g as cast with gc

  10. #10
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    MUSTANG's Avatar
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    There is an RCBS 165 Sil; and an RCBS 200 Sil (I have both of these). There is also an RCBS MOULD 30-180-SP 2-CAVITY (.309) and an RCBS MOULD 30-180 FN 2-CAVITY (.309) See pics of each style below.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	RCBS 308 Bullets  Mold Styles.jpg 
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ID:	277844

    Is your mold an actual RCBS 165 Sil that casts very heavy? Mine run about 173 to 175 grains using a 96% Lead, 3% Antimony, and 1% Tin alloy. Or; it actually one of the other Molds depicted in the picture above?
    Mustang

    "In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy elginrunner's Avatar
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  12. #12
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    garandsrus's Avatar
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    What diameter do your bullets cast at? As long as they are big enough, which the probably are, you are good to go.

    Your alloy is softer than the "standard" used when weighing bullets, which seems to be Lyman #2. Since yours is softer, it will be heavier. It's a great mold and one of my most used 30 Cal bullets.

    As always, start at the low end of the powder scale and work up.

    Have fun...

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy elginrunner's Avatar
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    What would give me the lightest bullet in this mold? Straight WW? I've cast thousand of pistol boolits but I never bothered much about the weight on them... This is my first foray into the rifle realm. Also I went with a softer alloy because I have a lot of soft lead, and wanted to conserve my hard lead... and I am powder coating them......

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
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    I bought the same mold years ago new, and YES with COWW mine will weigh just under 180 grs.

    Work up a load in your rifle and go for it.
    This same bullet in my 300 BO in a bolt action will shoot 1 MOA all day long

    J Wisner

  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    Every RCBS mold I own drops 5%-7% heavier than labeled when using my COWW/Range Scrap/Sn alloy as opposed to Lyman #2 or similar. Finished weight (w/GC and powdercoat) for my own 308-165SIL mold is 177-178 gr.

    Bill
    Last edited by Kraschenbirn; 02-17-2021 at 05:43 PM.
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by garandsrus View Post
    What diameter do your bullets cast at? As long as they are big enough, which the probably are, you are good to go.

    Your alloy is softer than the "standard" used when weighing bullets, which seems to be Lyman #2. Since yours is softer, it will be heavier. It's a great mold and one of my most used 30 Cal bullets.

    As always, start at the low end of the powder scale and work up.

    Have fun...
    Casting HOT with foundry alloy will get you the lightest/smallest -- but darned hard boolits (30+ BHN)

    I'm also a fan of the .308-165 SIL
    and the 30 XCB (310-165-FN)

  17. #17
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by elginrunner View Post

    That's it. The first mould I picked up about 30 years ago, but I just got another one haven't casted with it yet. There maybe a difference between old and new?

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    I would not get hung up on the weight- with a cast bullet I seriously doubt you will be trying to squeeze out the highest velocity possible. ive found that many 30 caliber cast loads get best accuracy and performance between 1900-2100 fps. but I have some wild hair ideas to try and get a 35 whelen up to about 2600 fps--but in all reality--now that I'm back down to earth with my feet on the ground even that gun is real good and accurate at right around 2000fps

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy elginrunner's Avatar
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    My initial intentions were to see how fast/best accuracy with a gas checked powder coated bullet I could get... Then my master chrony died.... I got a caldwell coming but with all this snow we have, who knows when it will get here....

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Since you have come this far with it and all the stars seemed to have aligned to put it in your hands , it might be fate ... run with it .
    I bought a 38 wadcutter mould advertised as 140 grains ... it was 160 grains , I kept it and after some testing ... it's the most accurate 38/357 boolit I own . Just about any powder will make one ragged hole groups .
    It was Kismet !
    Gary
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check