Lyman 311041

[HWooldridge]

I bought a 2 cavity in this Lyman pattern from a forum member to try out in our various 30-30 rifles. The mold was obviously used but in like-new condition. I cast some boolits on Sunday from 12-13 BHN lead and tried to size them to .308 without much success. I then got out my trusty digital micrometer and found the lower bands near the gas check are running .311 to .312 as-cast, while the nose bands are running .309 to .310. I pin gaged some sized brass and the neck ID's are running .308-.309.

All of our 30-30's measure .307 to .308, so I figured .308 to .309 with a gas check might be about right - but I can't size these without excessive force and the noses are deforming from the pressure (using my old SAECO lubrisizer).

I could add some pure lead to the mix to soften the alloy and increase the shrinkage rate but I'm concerned about getting too soft to perform at typical pressures. I could also buy a larger ID push-through die from Lee but the neck expander on the sizing die may also need to increase, and I don't want to blindly try a bunch of changes if the finished rounds won't chamber.

Any creative suggestions are appreciated.

[sigep1764]

My 30/30 Boolits are sized .313ish, they chamber easily. I use an expander from NOE. I think you’ll be fin sizing to 310 or 311

[Thumbcocker]

. 311 is the size of all .30-30 boolits at the Thumbcocker compound. Sounds to me like you have a great mold that tapers in all the right places.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I just use .310 for all my .30's, .300 Savage, .308 Win, .303 Savage and .30-30. I have a single cavity, 311041, my first mold, throws .309 bullets, never did work in my 1964 Marlin 336 .30-30. I went to .311 back then, a 311407, but then got a .310 sizer and that worked too. If commercial cast, I stay away from .309's and get good results with .310 and .311.

[pastorcurtis]

I agree with the others: I powder coat my 311041 and then size to 310. Powder coated boolits go through the sizing dies easier. You can clamp on the gas check before or after powder coating, but I prefer to do so before hand. In that case, use a Lee .314 push through die to put on the gas check, then powder coat, then size to 310, 309 or whatever.

[rintinglen]

I must join the chorus and urge you to go .310-.311. You will almost certainly get smaller groups than with smaller boolits. Back in the "oughts" I was loading 400-500 rounds of 30-30 a month for use by myself and my daughter in lever action silhouette matches and found this to be true for all 6 of our 30-30's. This is particularly true of some of the Marlin micro groove barrels.

[HWooldridge]

I can apply the gas checks and lube these without sizing - but I will definitely need a larger expander plug for the case necks. Maybe I'll just turn something separate on the lathe, rather than change out the existing plug.

What does everyone think about 12-13 BHN to approach factory load velocities? Does it sound too soft or about right?

[Larry Gibson]

When using .310 - 314 sized GC'd cast bullets In various 30 & 31 caliber rifles I use a Lyman 31 M-die. Never had a problem seating softer cast bullets such as mentioned including many 311041's.

[higgins]

I too size all .30s using 311041 to .310 and use a 31 M-die. I load to 1200-1400 fps in 30/30, .308, and .30/06 using wheel weight metal and 50/50 grease lube and have no leading problems as verified with a borescope. I single load everything at the range so don't have to deal with insufficient neck tension in the .30/30. The .308 and .30/06 are used in bolt actions.

[Wilderness]

As Larry Gibson suggests, use a Lyman 31M or equivalent expander and you won't need to size the bullets at all - seat gas checks and lube in .311" or .312" die.

In .30-30, which has a pretty poor excuse for a throat, I believe you get some advantage from using the case neck as bullet guidance, i.e. fill it up. I use .3125" bullets, originally because that was what came out of a Lee .311 die. These shoot better than .310" in my Savage 99. Nearly all cases will chamber with these large bullets, though I found a few Winchesters that came up tight. I now ONT everything, just scraping off the high spot to achieve .010" max neck thickness. That way I'm sure they are OK. Alternately, I just check for chambering and cull accordingly. With this combination of bullets and cases the neck OD of the loaded round is the same as the neck OD of a fired case. Neck clearance is whatever the case springback was after firing.

[HWooldridge]

I ordered the Lyman M die. Unfortunately, it’s backordered so I may have to make something in the interim…

[slughammer]

You could lube your raw boolits before sizing them. Just a swirl in LLA or even JPW will help lessen the amount of force it takes to size in your size die.

I was sizing some 311316 today and could really feel the amount of force it was taking to do so. I put a couple drops of alox into a dish then swirled 50 boolits around to get a thin coating on them. Dried them in front of a fan and then sized them with no issue.

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