SAECO 315 Plain Base

[Ben]

I contacted Buckshot a few days ago and asked if I could send my SAECO 315 , 2 Cav. mold to him for removal of the g/c shank in the rear cav. The front cav. is hp'd by Buckshot also and continues to have it's g/c shank. We agreed on the " specs " for the job and he said " Send it out here to me ". The mold arrived today !

I requested a rear base dia. of .312 or .3125 ". I got .3125 " with my ACWW alloy today. YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT for precision work on Buckshot's behalf.

I am super pleased with the work done on my mold !

Very windy here today or I'd be out shooting these.

Photos below :

Ben
______________________________________

These were my " as cast " dimensions prior to sending the mold out to Buckshot :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0001-19.jpg

Here is what the bullets look like now :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/011.jpg

I loaded a test round for my Ruger # 1, 30 - 06. The rear band ( all of it ) remains in the case neck and the front drive band is imprinting lightly into the rifling of the barrel when the breech is closed :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/018.jpg

Let the games begin ! !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/022.jpg

I've also sized some 3115" and tumble lubed them with Lee Liquid Alox:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/001.jpg

[excess650]

Ben,
You just HAD to do that, didn't you?:confused: I guess now I'll have to send one out. The boolits look great.:drinks:

My #315s w/GC need only 2 lube grooves filled for 1600-1700fps from a 24" barrel, so keep that in mind.

[Doc Highwall]

Ben it looks like you are starting trouble here posting those pictures. Makes me want to have one. Are they for your Ruger No 1?

[Ben]

excess650:

Yes, my 1st 5 or 10 that I sized and lubed got 4 rings filled, then I cut back to 3. I may find ( like you have ) that 2 rings is all I'll be needing.

I'm hoping that the weather will provide me an opportunity to get to the range and test some of these in the next few days.

Ben
________________________

Doc:

Right now, I'm testing them in my Ruger # 1, 30-06, but then again.....I've got
8 more .30 cal. rifles to test them in also.

Looks like I'm going to be busy for some time to come.

This is a pretty versatile mold, the front cav. is a HP and still has the gas check shank on it. This is what is coming out of the front cav. :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20315%20HP/PICT0009.jpg

In the g/c version, I've got nothing but good results from the # 315. Here it is being shot from my 308 Win. , Ruger # 1, stainless.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/IMG_0654.jpg

This photo below was taken prior to me sending the mold to Buckshot for the g/c shank removal, it gives you a good idea of the cavity in the nose of the HP.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20315%20HP/PICT0001.jpg

Ben

[94Doug]

I just can't keep up, Ben. This is too cool.


Doug

[Ben]

Amazing what a demented & twisted , bullet casting mind can come up with isn't it Doug ? ? ?

[Ben]

I'm giving some thought to sizing the rear band to .3115 " and tumble lubing with Lee Liq. Alox.

For velocities from 1,200 - 1,300 fps this may be all this is needed. What do you think ?

[CWME]

Nice looking boolits! I have some lubed with Lee Alox, no GC(still have the shank on them though), unsized, loaded over 10 gr of 700X in 30-06 waiting on a good day to shoot.

I think you have the idea, quick, cheap, super ACCURATE plinker load!

I love seeing your groups... Gives a guy something to shoot for, pun intended.

[CWME]

As a side note, have you shot game with that HP version? Expansion tests? I have a 311041 that I HP'ed and it has a similar HP cav. Just wondering what one might expect...

[Ben]

CWME

I'll try and get you some photos tomorrow .

Ben

[BCall]

Man you're killing me Ben. I've just started tinkering with 30 cal plain base boolits and those look nice. Look forward to hearing how they shoot.

[Ben]

BILLY

I should have a report in a few days . I'll post it here.

Ben

[6.5 mike]

As always Ben, great pic's & info. And Buckshot DOES great work, Thinking bout having him do some g/c work for me. I'll keep an eye on this thread for sure.

[Ben]

As a side note, have you shot game with that HP version? Expansion tests? I have a 311041 that I HP'ed and it has a similar HP cav. Just wondering what one might expect...

CWME :

You requested information about the use of HP's on deer. As I promised you, here are some photos:

I have not shot a deer with the SAECO # 315 HP. However, I have with my Lyman 31141Hp in my Ruger # 1, 308 WIn. Here are the photos :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=44927

After seeing the bullet's performance, I decided that I had " too much of a good thing " and scaled things back a little bit.............see link below :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=109636

[Doby45]

Ben I have seen you post a lot of good lookin boolits, but that 315 literally takes the cake. The photo that has a gaggle of em sitting in the wooden box is the best ever. Good job and yet another great job by Buckshot.

[Ben]

Many thanks Doby,

Isn't this a FUN hobby !

I hope this is helpful to some of you.

Best,

Ben

[Ben]

Several of you said you'd like to see the range testing results with the SAECO # 315 Plain base bullet.
I had shot my plain based 308241 earlier in my 2 groove 30 - 06 with 7.8 grs. of International Clays and it shot pretty well , so I used the same powder charge for the Plain base SAECO # 315. The bullets were coated with Lee Liquid Alox and allowed to dry. Then the 2 bottom lube rings of the bullet got conventional lube ( Ben's Lube ). Bullets were sized .3115 ". The OAL of the loaded rounds allowed the front drive band of the #315 ( mine is .3022 " ) to lightly engrave when the action is closed.

It is a little bit early to draw a lot of conclusions about the bullet, there are still MANY load combinations to try and many " variables " to adjust to fine tune things. Here are todays results fired at 50 yards ( 2 different groups fired ) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/019-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/018-1.jpg

[CWME]

That looks real good for just starting your load development!

Thanks for the links to your HP results, interesting stuff!

[Ben]

CWME

Yea, with thousands of possible combinations, I at least consider this a good start. This is the
only load that I tried today. It isn't likely that I'll be shooting this load much past 50 yards anyway.

I have a grandson that is coming up, these types of loads will be good training loads for Trevor when he transitions up from a .22 LR soon. Minimal noise, little to no recoil, cheap to load ( 7.8 grs. of powder & no g/c ) , just the ticket for training the boy.

I'd been thinking about this project for about 6 months and for whatever the reason...I just never followed through on it. Glad I did now.

Thanks,

Ben

[excess650]

Ben,
The groups look good to start! Do yourself a favor and either use the LLA or don't use it at all. At the velocity level you're shooting, LLA is probably more than adequate. Your own lube by itself in 2 or 3 grooves will definitely get it done without the extra step of LLA.

IIRC, Gary is using LLA on GC boolits from a 7.62x39 singleshot in excess of 2100fps with ONLY LLA.

Eric

[Ben]

OK Eric.............you're right , no need making this any more difficult than is absolutely necessary.

Thanks,

Ben

[CWME]

Wish my buddy would understand the beauty of light cast boolit loads for kids. He has been down loading a 7mm-08 with expensive jacketed bullets for training rounds. Tried to tell him I could load some boolits for him but he hates cast.

Good for you on getting the kid out to the range!

[Ben]

CWME :

What a waste of copper. Seems to be a lot of misconceptions still hanging around about the use of cast bullets in rifles. What a shame.

Ben

[BCall]

Looks like they are working out pretty well Ben. I might have to get me another 315 mold to plain base myself. Thanks, Billy

[Ben]

Billy,

I really do like mine. Of course, you can't " hot - rod " it, but with plain based loads in the 1,200 - 1,300 fps range, it is shooting great for me.

Thanks,

Ben

If you take out the " 2 O'clock round " from the group below( and that round is most likely me..not the rifle ) ....it is basically shooting in 1 hole at 50 yards.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/SAECO%20%20315%20Plain%20Base/021.jpg

[Doby45]

That is a VERY nice grouping. I will start working on some rounds for my 30-06 soon. I was planning on trying 2400 and Unique, did not know BE would work so well.

[Ben]

Doby45

As you know, B'eye is similar in burn rate to Red Dot, Red Dot is used in the " Classic -The Load" of 13.5 grs. in the 30-06 with a cast bullet of 160 - 190 grs.

I've yet to use R Dot with my .30 cal. plain based bullets , but I plan to.

Of course, it won't be 13.5 grs., it will be more like 8.0 - 8.8 grs. with my plain based # 315.

Thanks,

Ben

[6.5 mike]

Ya I can see Buckshot getting some more money after these pic's (mine).

[Ben]

These loads are just flat out FUN ! !