Coote
11-21-2011, 06:12 AM
I know that in the end that nothing counts as much as practical results. But meanwhile I'd love to hear ideas on boolit dimensions. Like I've said before, I am fairly new to casting and hand loading.
I have two calibers I am casting boolits for, and I have been using three different moulds.
The two calibers are .308 Win and .303 British. For the purposes of this discussion let's assume that my particular barrels are close to 'standard'.
The dimensions given below may not be exactly right, but they are close and using them should simplify what I'm trying to say.
The 150 grain mould for my .308 casts a boolit with a .299" nose diameter and a band diameter of .309"
The 170 grain mould for my .308 casts boolits with a nose diameter of .302" and a band diameter of .312"
The 180 grain mould for my .303 British casts boolits with a nose diameter of .302" and a band diameter of .312" (interesting coincidence).
I don't yet have a sizing die. I had hoped to use boolits as cast from the mould. But I may need to get a .310" die for loading my .308" cartridges with the oversized 170 grain boolits.
I have already shot a group with the 150 grain boolits, and I think they are going to be OK but there is more testing to do.
QUESTION ONE: It looks like the 170 grain boolits designed for .30 caliber are going to get engraved on the nose, and there will be quite a bit of lead to get displaced seeing that the band diameter is about .004" over rifling diameter. I am intending to keep the speed of these to under 1100 fps. Is there a chance that these will shoot OK as they are? Is there any point to resizing the bands to .310" seeing that the nose is .002" over land diameter?
QUESTION TWO: The noses of the 180 grain boolits are .001" under land diameter for my .303. Is there a hope for decent hunting accuracy at lower velocities using these?
QUESTION THREE: I understand that the ideal dimensions of a boolit are about .001" larger in diameter on the nose compared to the barrel land diameter.... and .001" to .002" bigger at the bands than the true rifling diameter. Is this a good guideline?
I know that I can lap or 'Beagle' the mould to get bigger diameters, and I know that my questions may be answered when I shoot these boolits. But meanwhile I'd like to hear what really matters to experienced shooters.
I am very grateful for friendly atmosphere and the free sharing of knowledge here. I'm sorry about all the questions I've been posting, but I hope to be contributing more interesting stuff in the future. Thanks in advance.... Coote.
I have two calibers I am casting boolits for, and I have been using three different moulds.
The two calibers are .308 Win and .303 British. For the purposes of this discussion let's assume that my particular barrels are close to 'standard'.
The dimensions given below may not be exactly right, but they are close and using them should simplify what I'm trying to say.
The 150 grain mould for my .308 casts a boolit with a .299" nose diameter and a band diameter of .309"
The 170 grain mould for my .308 casts boolits with a nose diameter of .302" and a band diameter of .312"
The 180 grain mould for my .303 British casts boolits with a nose diameter of .302" and a band diameter of .312" (interesting coincidence).
I don't yet have a sizing die. I had hoped to use boolits as cast from the mould. But I may need to get a .310" die for loading my .308" cartridges with the oversized 170 grain boolits.
I have already shot a group with the 150 grain boolits, and I think they are going to be OK but there is more testing to do.
QUESTION ONE: It looks like the 170 grain boolits designed for .30 caliber are going to get engraved on the nose, and there will be quite a bit of lead to get displaced seeing that the band diameter is about .004" over rifling diameter. I am intending to keep the speed of these to under 1100 fps. Is there a chance that these will shoot OK as they are? Is there any point to resizing the bands to .310" seeing that the nose is .002" over land diameter?
QUESTION TWO: The noses of the 180 grain boolits are .001" under land diameter for my .303. Is there a hope for decent hunting accuracy at lower velocities using these?
QUESTION THREE: I understand that the ideal dimensions of a boolit are about .001" larger in diameter on the nose compared to the barrel land diameter.... and .001" to .002" bigger at the bands than the true rifling diameter. Is this a good guideline?
I know that I can lap or 'Beagle' the mould to get bigger diameters, and I know that my questions may be answered when I shoot these boolits. But meanwhile I'd like to hear what really matters to experienced shooters.
I am very grateful for friendly atmosphere and the free sharing of knowledge here. I'm sorry about all the questions I've been posting, but I hope to be contributing more interesting stuff in the future. Thanks in advance.... Coote.