.311 sizing die

[savage99f]

I have a lyman mold 31114 and it is dropping boolits at .3135 to .314 ...they are not gas checked and are water quenched wheel weights .Is this a usable boolit in a 30-06 ...(1903a3) or do I have to use a GC boolit ..I am assuming 1500-1600 fps is max??If this boolit is usable what would be a good load to start at ...Is .313-.314 to large??I need to get some info on how to slug my gun to see the actual size...I have lots of questions ha ha ...I appreciate your patience Pat
PS: the only sizing die I have is .308.....what size sizing die would you suggest ..I have located one that is .311 (should I get that while the getting is good)?

My other mold is lee and it comes in at .3095 -.310 with out sizing ..that one is GC...I would probably need a .310 sizing die to set the GC
I appreciate any advice you can give me

Thanks Pat

[williamwaco]

I hear of people sizing .308 and .309.

I would not do it.

If you know your bore is .308 then .310 might work.

I recommend sizing 30 calibers to .311.

It has worked fine in every .30 caliber I have owned in 50 years.


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[savage99f]

I pushed a couple fish bullet weights through the bore of my 1903-a3 and it miked at .3073 and .299 ...seems pretty tight ..I will try the lee boolits at .309 gas checked and see how it works ...I had a lee .308 sizer and I wanted to widen it and I went to far ...it is now .312 ..I just ordered a new .309 ..I hate when I do that ha ha

[sundog]

Screw slugging the bore. It's a waste of time and effort. Load a dummy round, and see if it will chamber. If it does, the boolit WILL conform to barrel dimensions.

[wmitty]

savage99f

sundog is giving you good info; if you can insert the unsized boolet in the unsized neck of a case fired in that 03-A3, try it with whatever fast burning powder you have available (Bullseye, 700x, Red Dot, etc.) Three or four grains will prevent the boolit from lodging in the bore and you can go up from there with the charge to see where best accuracy lies.

[savage99f]

I will try that this weekend and let you know ...thanks for your help ...you guys are very helpful Pat

[Char-Gar]

As Sundog said, there is no need to fiddle with slugging your barrel. The 03A3 is a known quanity. The Cast Bullet Association has registered military rifle matches all over the country and the 03A3 is a favorite and often the winner. The results and load specifications are published in their magazine "The Fouling Shot". If you peruse the information, you will find out that the winners most often size their bullets .310 with .311 also in the running. You will not find cast bullet happiness in your 03A3 until you buy some gas checks. I own and shoot 2 03A3s. with cast bullets. Best of luck!

[savage99f]

I have a .308 sizer comming and will widen it to .310...seems that lee does not make a .310...every where I check there is .308 .309 .311 even on the Lee site...any way it is easy enough to widen them ...had my other .308 out to .312 in no time ha ha just using sandpaper rolls ...any one want to swap a .312 for a .310 ha ha

[savage99f]

oh by the way (char gar ) I have 250 boolits with gas checks that are .309 ...I have loaded a few and will try them ...I also have another 1000 checks comming ..probably will need to get a new mold for gas checked .310 ..thanks for all the info

[savage99f]

the lyman mold I have 31114 is probably for a 32-40 as it is close to .313 or a bit bigger ...a bit large to size down for 30 cal as there would be hardly any grooves left ...the lee molds are .309 and I will enlarge the .308 sizer to .309 when I get it so I can seat the checks

[savage99f]

I have sized to .3095 with a gas check and tried 30 shots in the 03a3 with no leading ..34 gr 4198 with a 180 gr boolit GC....I shot offhand at 50 yards and the group was 2 " ...I dont have a chronograph so I dont know how fast ..I will shoot the next batch from a rest and see how it groups ...thanks for the help guys I appreciate it Pat...next I need to work a load with this boolit to shoot out of a 742 30-06 and see if it cycles ...I will try 4-5 of these rounds and see if it cycles ...again thanks Pat

[savage99f]

oh and I used liquid ALOX lube

[.22-10-45]

Hello, Savage. That 31114 sounds like a winner for the .303 British.

[savage99f]

Yes it would ..I would like to trade it for a .310 gas check as I dont have any 32 cal

[savage99f]

It pours a nice boolit of 150 gr plain base