Question about lyman 311316 mold.

[rmatchell]

Ok so I have been given lots of good information about this mold now I have yet another question. I want to load for a few different guns with this mold do I crimp the gas check then size to what I want or size them crimp the gas check? I have never messed with gas checks so any help would be great. I want to use this boolit for 32s&w 30 carbine and 30-30 to start.

[TCFAN]

I have that mold in a single cavity hollow point. I use it in the 30 Carbine 30-30 and the 32-20 T/C Contender.
All my 30 cal. boolits are lubed, gas checked and sized the same way. I lube and gas check in a Lyman 450 with a .314 die.Then size with a Lee size die in a small Lee single stage press in the size I need for the firearm that the boolit is going to be used in..........Terry

[rmatchell]

thanks for the reply. Ill have to buy some gas checks now.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Crimping sizing and lubing is usually done in one step. If you tumble lube or pan lube it would be done in two steps. Some also use a gas check seater to be sure that the GC is square to the base of the boolit. I have a GC seater and have hardly ever used it. I find that when the GC is applied at the time of running it through a GHandI die in a luberisizer it crimps on square during that operation. Just do some trial runs and you will figure it out.

[Larry Gibson]

Ok so I have been given lots of good information about this mold now I have yet another question. I want to load for a few different guns with this mold do I crimp the gas check then size to what I want or size them crimp the gas check? I have never messed with gas checks so any help would be great. I want to use this boolit for 32s&w 30 carbine and 30-30 to start.

Excellent cast bullet. I have it and use it in my .32s (.32S&WL, .32 H&R) my 30 Carbine (M1) and my 30-30s (M94s & Contender). You may not need the GC for the .32 S& if cast of soft lead. The Hornady or Lyman GCs will crimp on when sizing. I size at .309 for the .30 Carbine and .311 for the 30-30. You will have to tweak the seating depth and may have to polish the feed ramp in the M1 for 100% feeding. Don't hesitate to try different mags too. Once "tweakd" it is an excellent cast bullet in the M1 Carbine and I push mine at 1850 fps with excellent accuracy with H110.

Larry Gibson

[rmatchell]

Thanks for the reply, I wasn't sure if the gas check would be effected by sizing them down. My plan was to cast a thousand crimp gas checks and then size as I loaded, but that might be the wrong way to go about it.

[Bret4207]

You size and apply the GC at the same time. Most people lube then too if using a lubrisizer. You lube after with a Lee system.

[rmatchell]

Thanks, I wasn't sure how far I could size down and not effect the gas check.

[Bret4207]

My 316 drops about .313 from my alloy. I use .308 GC's, as the boolit was designed for. We use .308 GC's on everything from .307 in a K-31 Swiss at one extreme to .316+ in 303's at the other. So I wouldn't worry too much about the GC.

For the 32 S+W I size to .311 or .313 depending on the gun and sometimes used the 316 sans GC. For the 30-30 I use them at .311. I'd do the same for the 30 Carbine. IME it's pretty hard to beat .311 for most American 30 cals. You get the occasional odd ball, but with a short FN design like the 316 it's rare to have to go much skinnier.

[rmatchell]

Just cast up a lil over 500 of the 311316 and I think im starting to get better at this. Worked at the alloy and bit then the temp. Also tried preheating with a hot plate which worked great. All in all it was a good morning cast a lil over 500 with only ten or so bad boolits. Just wish I had some gas checks.