My first rifle boolits

[Friends call me Pac]

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/30170gr_zps5a6c58c9.jpg

Been casting for my 45 acp for close to 2 months now but just getting started on rifles. I had to tinker with my Lee mould but with the info I have found here my mould drops nicely & everything seems to be going smoothly so far. I picked up some 2400 powder as it seems to be popular for 30.06 & 30.30 and should work nicely with this 170 gr slug. I hope to test them out on Monday or tuesday.

[RobS]

Lee 309-170-F mold???

[Friends call me Pac]

yes that's the mold.

[RobS]

They look pretty good, let us know how they fly.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Been casting for my 45 acp for close to 2 months now but just getting started on rifles. I had to tinker with my Lee mould but with the info I have found here my mould drops nicely & everything seems to be going smoothly so far. I picked up some 2400 powder as it seems to be popular for 30.06 & 30.30 and should work nicely with this 170 gr slug. I hope to test them out on Monday or tuesday.

I recently cast up some 30 cal boolits for the first time with some unused Lee molds that I bought 2 or 3 years ago. I had lots of sticky cavities. was this your experience as well ?
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?189534-Lee-30-cal-2-cav-molds-not-necessarily-as-advertised&highlight=

[Friends call me Pac]

Got to test fire them at the range today. The paper says the load was 22.0 but it was my starting load and it actually weighed 20.0 I was shooting 5 shot groups at 50 yards. With these being my first rifle bullets I was hoping to see a bullet hole on the target with my first shot. I wasn't disapointed.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/startload_zps3d17b8e5.jpg

Started going up in load & got to this point.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/better_zpse0d74b78.jpg

My last 5 really made me smile. One ragged hole.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc157/pactac/best_zps2a36ce3c.jpg

If the weather ever gives me a break I will go again and really get dialed in. On a side note I am happy to report no leading in the barrel. Thanks to everyone that has helped me along the way.

[Friends call me Pac]

"I had lots of sticky cavities. was this your experience as well ?"

Yes it was. I found the lementing thread in the mould section and fixed the mould right away. I basically, spun a good slug coated with comet in the cavities and walah! I still have to tap on the hadle sometimes but I don't have to beat it to death like it was when I started.

[rmatchell]

Looks good to me. I am also just starting to play with rifle boolits hope my results look like yours. I am using the lyman 311291 that looks close to your lee. Did you have any problems with nose size? I am still trying to get it to fit well in my 30cals.

[Friends call me Pac]

I seated them just a hair under max col +/- 2.968 and had no problem closing the bolt. I did not check to see if the nose was actually touching the lands & grooves. To tell the truth I was more worried that something would go wrong and I would look like a cinder minus some fingers but it all worked out. It may be a problem with a lever action but in my rem 700 the nose did fine.

[dverna]

Rifle bullets are not as easy as pistol bullets. You have higher RPM's so imperfections are magnified. Plus you start pushing velocities - or at least most us do - LOL.

You have made a great start. Just bear in mind that 50 yards is pistol or shotgun range. Get to 100 yards and then longer if your range allows. Cast bullets seem much less "linear" in grouping ability than jacketed.

But relish your success. Many of us wind up with "patterns" even at 50 yards.

[Friends call me Pac]

I was "winchester" otherwise I would have moved the target back. Only brought groups of five in 20.0, 21.0 22.0 23.0. After the first target I wanted to move it back to 100 since I actually hit the paper but decided to keep it at 50 for comparrison. Now with a little confidence I will be heading back to the range and see just how far I can stretch the shot.