314299

[dogman]

I've got a mosin that I'm having trouble getting a good barrel slug reading off of. The rifling is pretty worn. What do you think of trying a 314299 to cast some boolits with and see how it shoots? I'm very new to casting as a matter of fact I haven't done any yet. But I'd like to see if I can get some kind of grouping with the mosin. Thanks for the input.

[dualsport]

Read up here thru the search feature on chamber casts. You'll want a boolit sized to fit the throat, not the grooves. The 314299 is likely a good choice but to know for sure do a chamber cast. If the 314299 turns out to be too small it won't shoot well. These days getting brass for your gun can be a problem.

[shredder]

That seems like a good place to start. Couple of questions for you.....
What alloy do you plan on using? That will have a small effect on your cast size from any mould. When I started I had a supply of wheel weight metal and some pure lead. I used half and half for a long time in my rifles ( 8x57, 30 -06 , 7.62x39, etc.) with perfect satisfaction. Easy to cast with and easy to get shooting with 16 grains of 2400 or 13 grains of red dot. Of course as time went on I began to experiment with alloy but at first you will likely be like I was: trying to have some fun with accurate cast boolits. Keep it simple. Whacha got?

What powder(s) do you have on hand? I mentioned 2400 and red dot because I learned that they are a couple of old standby powders that always seem to work with cast boolits in the military cartridges of a century ago. So you know what I like. Whacha got?

At first when you start casting keep it really simiple. Something like this:

a mold, a sprue whackin stick, a melting pot, dipper or spoon for stirring, some sawdust for flux.
Then of course you need some alloy to cast with and for sure a big pair of leather welder's gloves. I also have a leather apron but you can get that sort of thing later just be sure to wear leather or cotton when casting. Nylon, polyester and all the synthetics fabrics will melt and cause you much more severe burns if anything happens. So wear leather boots, jeans and the like.
I know a guy who was wearing moccasins while casting and dropped a 30 cal 200 grain round nose at 750 F out of the mould and into his moc. The dance he did would not bring rain and the way he tells it you never, ever, want it happen to you. Stay safe and have a lot of fun. I do.

[dogman]

Lol, well I have some wheel weigh lead on hand I believe. Bought it from some people here on Castboolits. Just ordered the Lee 20 Pro melter. Powder well I have some imr 4895 and some 5744. Recon I'll have to look for some red dot.Thanks for the tips on what gear to accumulate. I pick up some 7.62x54r brass a little while back.

[Mark Daiute]

don't wear shorts. I have a scare on the inside of my leg that tells me so, and I knew better!

The 2400 is a great idea. A lot of folks like the 5744 that you have.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Mark

[slim1836]

I did not have success with 5477 with and without Dacron filler and had moderate success with unique, however, still working on it though. You may need a 316299 die if the barrel is that worn, only slugging the barrel will tell.
Each weapon is different, keep us informed with your results.

Slim

[madsenshooter]

I'd suggest the 316299, if the rifling is obviously worn it's going to need a big nosed bullet, and as someone below mentioned, they are now in stock at NOE. Hurry, they're going fast and who knows how long it'll be till they run another group buy.

[dogman]

Okay I agree it's great that the large molds are in stock at noe. However my concern is buying a mold I can't use if I get it wrong. I'm going to try to do a chamber cast today. How far down can the 316299 be resized? Thanks for all the advice.

[shredder]

I would not worry too much about excess size, rather I would be concerned if the boolit of choice does not fill the grooves completely. That is when things get squirrly at the target and leading can pay a visit to your barrell. Chances are that your russian rifle has some... er.., generous dimensional tolereances... much like my lee enfield. Bigger is better (within reason) as long as you can still chamber a cartridge with the boolit seated. The neck can get too big and that will be your limitation so pay close attention to your chamber cast's neck diameter and stay a thou or 2 below that for finished cartridgers. I would and do shoot boolits that measure 1-3thousandths over groove measurements. As long as you do not have an undersized boolit you should do good. I have had exactly zero luck expecting a boolit to "bump up" to take the rifling. Probably because I shoot gas check boolits, but I know for sure that is not the way to go for me and my rifles. I have ordered a couple of custom sizers from lee and use them with perfect satisfaction. You may consider the same strategy, it does not take too long to get a .314 sizer made up.

[dogman]

Okay so I made a chamber slug and getting measurements between .315 and .308 so I ordered the 316299. Will .30 gas checks work with the bullets cast from this mold? Can I shoot the bullets without gas checks?

[JSH]

311466 is what I had excellent results with in my39. It drops at .313+.
Jeff

[madsenshooter]

Okay I agree it's great that the large molds are in stock at noe. However my concern is buying a mold I can't use if I get it wrong. I'm going to try to do a chamber cast today. How far down can the 316299 be resized? Thanks for all the advice.

By all means cast it, but the .305 nose won't be too big, and the bands can be sized down as needed.

[madsenshooter]

Okay so I made a chamber slug and getting measurements between .315 and .308 so I ordered the 316299. Will .30 gas checks work with the bullets cast from this mold? Can I shoot the bullets without gas checks?

Yes 30 cal checks will work. You can shoot em without checks, but it'll be a low speed, and generally low accuracy proposition.

[dogman]

Any suggestions on what to use to install the gas checks? I am looking at the RCBS lube sizer but I was going to hold off buy that
for a while if I could. Would a lee sizer do the trick and if so what size or sizes should I get?

[Mark Daiute]

Get the first good used lubrisizer you can get your hands on for under 100 bucks and start right in. I did not have good luck with the Lee Sizing dies as regards seating gaschecks. That's my .02.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing how things go.

[dogman]

Used lube sizers are a hard to come by commodity these days. The rcbs lube a matic is on backorder and I think I'll get in line for one of them. Until then looks like I'll be pan lubing and using a Lee sizer to seat the gas checks. All I could find was a .314 sizer so I'll give that a go for a spell. Lee's website says that until things slow down no custom work is being done.

[HiVelocity]

If the bore is worn, why not try paper patching first? You may find PP the key to your chambering problem, "and" reading posts here note that the wood pulp in the paper composition polishes the bore. C'mon PP'ers; time to chime in!

HV

[truckjohn]

I think you made a very good choice with the 316299....

I have slugged HUNDREDS of mosin barrels... Your garden variety 91/30 with pretty good looking rifling is going to shake out right at 0.313" Snipers, ex-snipers and the odd infantry rifle with PRISTINE barrels tend to run 0.312".. but these are FEW and far between... "Worn" barrels end up 0.314+...

Here's what I do... Use 2 cheap egg sinkers. Check the Muzzle and the Throat. Knock it in about 1/2" and then knock it back out with a cleaning rod and measure... You want to see the Muzzle read the same or a hair smaller than the throat and it will shoot great with properly sized bullets....

M39's are a different beast altogether... Bores are much tighter and more consistent from rifle to rifle...

Thanks

[madsenshooter]

One could buy a .314 Lee push through die, and run a size "O" drill bit available at most hardware stores, through it to make it .316. I made a .243 die into a .245 with no problem. I used a drill press and it took little effort, the part that does the final sizing seems to be a small area.

[dogman]

Sounds like good advice madsenshooter. I was wondering about something like that. Hats off to NOE I have my new mold already. And my Lee Pro 20Lb melter showed up the same day. Just need a few odds and ends and I'll be off casting away! I have also given some serious thought to paper patching until I get my hands on a lubesizer.