cast bullets for mauser 98 fabrique nationale herstal

[BigGun]

Hello guys, I am new to this forum,looking for good bullet for this rifle, presently
using lyman 311291 cast with 2parts linotype &1part wheelweights. the bullet is
too long and extends past neck shoulder junction which am told is not good for
accuracy, any suggestions?
thanks Ted Kelley

[grumpy one]

Hi Ted, and welcome. Assuming your rifle is 30-06, I have one the same as yours, and have put about 600-800 cast bullets through it so far - three quarters of them being 311291.

I seat the bullet so the front of the case aligns with the front edge of the front lube groove - the crimp groove is outside the case neck. That puts the bullet base almost exactly at the bottom of the neck. If you need to crimp - which you won't unless the bullet nose engraves in the rifling - you just crimp into the lube groove.

If you have problems with accuracy - and I still do - I don't think they will be due to bullet seating depth. Getting the right sizing diameter is the most crucial variable, but there are plenty of others as well. If you have not done so you need to slug your barrel, preferably both at breech and muzzle, making sure that it isn't leaded at the time (which would give you erroneous readings). You will probably find that the rifling is quite deep - mine has bore of 0.299" and groove of 0.3096 at the breech and 0.3102 at the muzzle, which is tapering the wrong way for good cast bullet accuracy. I size 0.311, but dabble occasionally with 0.312 - I haven't formed any conclusions yet about whether it works better. I had to lap my 311291 mould to get it to cast bullets large enough to be of any use.

Your alloy is fairly hard - perhaps about 16 BHN if it's air cooled - which is probably a safe place to start, though you might want either softer or harder when you settle down to a particular style of loading (either low velocity high accuracy, or higher velocity with accuracy being attainable but not without difficulty).

FWIW, my 311291s group into 0.6" at 50 meters when everything goes right, and up to 1.5" when any of a multitude of things goes wrong, using target-style loading (around 20 grains of 4227 or SR4759). You might find it worthwhile starting with a target load until you get that to shoot, then moving on to more complicated propositions if you feel like it, with most of the key variables already sorted out.

With regard to other bullets, I have used 311255 (119 grain plan base round nose) for plinking and Lee 309-170-F as an alternative to the 311291. So far the plinkers don't show much promise in that cartridge case (I've never had a 50 meter group below 1.8"), and the Lee probably does about as well as the 311291 - I haven't experimented enough to form a conclusion. I run the Lee with a bore riding nose fit (nose is 0.307 in the 0.300 bore), whereas the 311291 nose is 0.300. Neither bullet is long enough for nose fit to be of critical importance.

I suggest you stay with the 311291 until you have sorted out just about everything else - it has an excellent reputation, especially in 30-06, for short to medium range work. However like any cast bullet it has to fit the barrel. That is especially true with your fairly hard alloy.

[BigGun]

grumpy one

Hello and thanks for reply, My rifle is .308 cal. and I have not slugged the barrel yet,
but intend to. the rifle has a 17.5"barrell, I believe it is unaltered except for having
the bolt handle turned down.I have tried 10 grns of unique and reddot. have not
tried 4227 yet. Just started testing it. Have had ice and snow on the groung since
mid Dec. and very cold so have not had chance lately to try other powders or
charges. I also shoot some cast in my .243 (lyman 245496) and have good luck in that cal. with that bullet.Most of my cast bullet shooting is with handguns in cal.'s
357, 44, 45acp & 45 colt. Yes I should have slugged barrel first. as that is first thing
to do when prepairing for handgun casting.
thanks again
Ted kelley

[enfieldphile]

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/mormauser/index.asp

This article is about the FN mauser carbine and cast bulets.

[Newtire]

Hello guys, I am new to this forum,looking for good bullet for this rifle, presently
using lyman 311291 cast with 2parts linotype &1part wheelweights. the bullet is
too long and extends past neck shoulder junction which am told is not good for
accuracy, any suggestions?
thanks Ted Kelley

Hi Ted,

I have one of those in .30-06 and the RCBS 165 gr. seats out there as it is a bore rider. It is one of the most accurate boolits in my '06. Thinking that your .308 might have a 1-12" twist instead of the 1-10" twist like my '06, I'll bet that boolit would be about ideal if it will fit.

If you are going to seat the boolits below the neck, just make sure the checks you are using are good and crimped on and either the Hornady or the Group buy checks from here are crimp on. The group buy ones are definitely best. I have seated below the neck and really didn't see any ill effects in the one rifle I have to do that in so don't worry about it anymore.

[versifier]

Personally, I don't think seating a bit below the neck makes a damned bit of difference. I also load for the short-necked .300Sav and short throated 7.5Swiss with many of the same long, heavy boolits I use for the .308 & .30-06 and find comparable levels of accuracy. I would try leaving out the lino, running just wheel weights, and water drop them out of the mould (WDWW). Your powders suggest low velocity loads, so you wouldn't necessarily need the harder alloy unless you wanted to up the pressure/velocity to shoot targets at longer distances. You don't say how you are sizing them, what lube, and to what diameter - after slugging, you will be able to figure what will work best size-wise. With my .308, I am more concerned with a good hunting load, so I am working with FN 150-180gr GC boolits, rifle powders for higher velocities, dipped LLA & push-through sizers, and using air cooled wheel weights (ACWW) to get the maximum expansion possible. I am not getting any leading problems with the softer alloy. Your 311291 is an excellent 170+/-gr boolit, but don't overlook the little 113gr Lee soupcans, either, for plinking loads and small game, they are an excellent choice.

[Char-Gar]

Ted.. You are on the right path. 311291 is a good bullet for your purposes. Your alloy is just fine. Size those bullets .310, and seat them over 16 grains of 2400 with the gas check about even with the bottom of the case neck.

Make certain your barrel is clean from jacket bullet metal fouling. If you rifle won't shoot with this above load, it isn't going to shoot with any other. It may take 20 to 30 rounds for the barrel to season before it starts doing it's best work.

After you have used the 16/2400 for a while, you can up it in one grain imcrements to about 20 grains. Stop along the way, if the accuracy goes south or if you have all the "oomphf" you want.