Tom at Accurate Molds. Need a mold for my m1a/m14

[Colorado4wheel]

I posted before with no good response. So I ordered a Lee 180 gr (by mistake, meant to get a 200gr) mold from Midway. The mold is sized small. I was expecting it to cast large just like ever other Lee Mold I have ever had. I hate molds that cast just at or a little under size. So instead of going the cheap route I may just order a mold from Tom at Accurate Molds. From all I know I need a non-bore riding mold in the 200 gr range. I have ZERO idea what to order. Even after reading that long thread by Bruce. So any suggestions as to what to do would be greatly appreciated. I don't even know how to measure my existing rifle. But I know I want it to cast to .311 just so I have some wiggle room for future .308 guns.

Link to his page of bullet molds for the .308

http://www.accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=2

Help Please.

[Pooch]

I think that Tom can steer you in the right direction. I too have ordered molds . . . From LEE that most of the time have given me a fair amount of room to size, but then, once in a while there was no room to size. No, I'm not Leementing nor Lee bashing, it's just that that seems to be the order of things when ordering a production mold. When ordering a custom mold I always order a couple of thousands over the actual groove diameter . . . Coupled with their margin of error I always come out OK. Mountain Molds will always give you plenty of room to size, even when stating your as cast diameter. With Accurate it pays to be specific.
Yes, production molds as from LEE are cheaper and . . . Most of the time a very good value . . . but every once in a while "duty calls" & one must step outside the box.
So call or email Tom as to your preferences and I'm sure that you will get what you want.

[Colorado4wheel]

I already E-Mailed Tom. I figure I could get some good feedback from you guys.

[madsenshooter]

NOE shows some 314299 molds in stock, with its .303 nose it would be a non-borerider in your barrel. I often get better results in my Krag rifles with big nosed bullets.

[popper]

I am using his 31-165A in my LR-308 (AR10), works great. I believe he has a mould that is 180 or so, could make a 200 like it. Non-bore riding but with a stepped nose, small meplat & extended body past crimp groove. Lots of meat up front to take the chambering, GC of course. When I get a bot over-ride, the CB just gets pushed back into the case with no nose damage, Causes a jam, but won't chamber with that much setback so I consider it safe. IIRC I requested it to drop 0.312 with #2 alloy, drops 0.310 with my low Sb(1-2%) alloy.

[Colorado4wheel]

I just looked at my title. Very misleading title. I just wanted feedback on molds "from Tom" that would work. I thought if I just said "Accurate" that would be taken as a verb not a noun.

Anyway.



I am using his 31-165A in my LR-308 (AR10), works great. I believe he has a mould that is 180 or so, could make a 200 like it. Non-bore riding but with a stepped nose, small meplat & extended body past crimp groove. Lots of meat up front to take the chambering, GC of course. When I get a bot over-ride, the CB just gets pushed back into the case with no nose damage, Causes a jam, but won't chamber with that much setback so I consider it safe. IIRC I requested it to drop 0.312 with #2 alloy, drops 0.310 with my low Sb(1-2%) alloy.

Thanks. How big is the bore ride section.

Below is a picture of my test round loaded as long as would freely drop in barrel. The driving band is .308 and you can see even the crimp grove is out of the case. Gas check would just be inside the neck but not by much but I need to measure it better. The long part in front of the driving band is .300 and does not touch the rifling at all. I am going to try and cast some using this mold progressively bigger till they hit the lands. I think I am using the right term. Then I know what would be a bore ride in my rifle.

BTW, Tom via e-mail suggested not getting a non-bore ride. His suggestion was to get a bore ride that just barely engages the rifling. It will be more accurate.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r215/98sr20ve/002_zps1a493f42.jpg (http://s145.photobucket.com/user/98sr20ve/media/002_zps1a493f42.jpg.html)

[Jupiter7]

Ordering a bore rider for one gun doesn't leave very much wiggle room for your other 30cal guns.
I have a mold from Tom for my 300blk AR's, which have generous chambers. The same load will not load in my bolt gun without a shorter OAL. Just offering some other points to look at before ordering a "do all" mold for just one gun. The bore ride section of the nose is a little fat for my other .308's. In retrospect, I'd have taken it down .002.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

YUP , I have several different molds that I
mate to particular rifles...for the reasons you have visited....thanks, Jim

[tomme boy]

You really need to slug your barrel so you know what to order the bore rider at. Most are going to be 0.300"-0.301".

Ask Tom about 31-200N to see what has been said about it, and have him remove the centering band on the nose.

[Colorado4wheel]

You really need to slug your barrel so you know what to order the bore rider at. Most are going to be 0.300"-0.301".

Ask Tom about 31-200N to see what has been said about it, and have him remove the centering band on the nose.

Couldn't I just cast a bullet at .300 at the nose, one at .301 and then .302. See what drops in the chamber and have a mold made slightly under. You can't cast that precisely so you have to have some wiggle room. Tom explained the wiggle room requirement to me in a e-mail.

[hicard]

His 31-200M looks like it would fill your needs Colorado.

[popper]

0.150" in front of the crimp groove. IIRC dimensions are in his cat. but you can make it whatever you want. I wouldn't call mine a bore-rider, just filling the throat. I don't want a bore-rider in an AR10. Powder coated it is just of the lands. I chose this as it's close to the same profile as a 168 Amax, which both my uppers love. Accuracy is about the same, but fps is obviously a little less.

[Colorado4wheel]

His 31-200M looks like it would fill your needs Colorado.

Interesting. I looked at it vs the 31-200N

31-200N is a .310 Sized bullet with a .300 nose and a .303 driving band.
31-200M is a .313 Sized bullet wtih a .303 nose and no driving band.

I need to figure out how to slug my bore I think.

[pdawg_shooter]

My M1A prefers the 311466, sized .302 and patched back up...come to think of it so does my marlin 30.30.

[Colorado4wheel]

My M1A prefers the 311466, sized .302 and patched back up...come to think of it so does my marlin 30.30.

I think you mean sized to .312?

[pdawg_shooter]

No...i mean .302. I then patch them up with 16# paper and load them like jacketed.