308403/311403

[TimB]

Is any mould makers duplicating this mould now?

[Le Loup Solitaire]

This was originally produced by Lyman (and perhaps by Ideal before that) and was called the "Pope" bullet, named after H. Pope-a handloading pioneer legend in his own time. Lyman managed to make a mess out of it by creating oversize molds that dropped bullets that were up around .314", or more making them so large that they over expanded case necks to the point where a bullet would not enter the chamber. Col. Harrison writing for the NRA book on handloading pointed this problem out in no uncertain terms. The design of the bullet is a good one and if you locate a source for it, try and get some idea from that source of the size that is being produced. Heavily sizing a bullet to get it to work, damages the bullet and multiple sizings in descending stages is extra labor...not fun! If you're shooting it in .30 cal, you would want a diameter of .308-.309 to .311 to start with and not something up in the 8mm range. Since it has a substantial meplat on the front it may be available from Hoch as a "nose pour" type. Good shooting. LLS

[Ben]

Here is a " cousin " to it , mine cast large also at .314 :

[dk17hmr]

This was originally produced by Lyman (and perhaps by Ideal before that) and was called the "Pope" bullet, named after H. Pope-a handloading pioneer legend in his own time.

Ideal did make it, my copy is an Ideal. It is my understanding that it is a breech seater. I shot some out of my 1903 Springfield in fireformed cases with 10gr of Unique, pretty accurate.

Having any luck with that mold Ben, when it was mine I made some up and shot them out of our 32-20.

[Ben]

Doug:

Yes, by keeping the velocities in the " sub 1,100 fps range ", they shoot REAL well.

Ben

[45 2.1]

It is not meant to be seated in the neck or breech seated. It was meant to be used with fireformed cases and just the rear taper was supposed to go in the neck about 0.04". The base band has a reverse taper on it. The size is about correct as is.

[Bob S]

From the Lyman Handbook of Cast Bullets, 1957:


"311403: Designed by Harry Pope for extreme accuracy with the 30-06. Should be shot as cast. Bullet seated with fingers so mouth of the case extends only half way up the base band."

It works very well if the prepared cartridge can be carefully inserted directly into the chamber. Not especially good for the Springfield service rifle, but worked extremely well with the Martini International Match rifles that were prepared at Springfield. Mine is used with .30-40 Ruger single shot.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Bret4207]

I always thought that nice big base would be a great asset to steering the boolit. Wish I had one to play with.

TimB- If you go to Moutain Moulds website you might be able to design one like it. Also check NEI. They may have one similar.

[Slowpoke]

Is any mould makers duplicating this mould now?

joeb33050 had a source for this Mould , you might send a PM his way for info.

[Slowpoke]

It is not meant to be seated in the neck or breech seated. It was meant to be used with fireformed cases and just the rear taper was supposed to go in the neck about 0.04". The base band has a reverse taper on it. The size is about correct as is.

Yep, the original was .315 at the top of the base band.

The reverse taper was there not only for a seating aid but also to stop any fin's made by the lands from hanging off the rear of the boolit on it's trip down range.

good luck