Double duty cast bullet

[wild bill wildbill59]

I have a rcbs bullet mold 321297 that I shoot sized to .321 in my win 94.I was wondering if same bullet can be shot out of my Mauser k98 unsized?

[NSP64]

If it fits, shoot it.

[Artful]

What's it drop unsized and what's the Mauser k98 bore and throat dimensions? - that's the part that will determine if it will work.

Or you could just load a few hand lubed and try 'em.

[wild bill wildbill59]

It drops .324 unsized

[Kraschenbirn]

...what's the Mauser k98 bore and throat dimensions? - that's the part that will determine if it will work.

+1 on Artful's comment but, most likely, .324 is gonna be a bit undersized. All the 8x57s currently in my safe...a wartime VZ24, an Turk M38, and an early M48 Yugo...like a fairly hard .325 for anything over 1600-1700 fps.

Bill

[Ben]

+1 on Artful's comment but, most likely, .324 is gonna be a bit undersized. All the 8x57s currently in my safe...a wartime VZ24, an Turk M38, and an early M48 Yugo...like a fairly hard .325 for anything over 1600-1700 fps.

Bill


Yes, most all 8 X 57 mm rifles I own or have loaded for shot well with a .325 " cast bullet.

[leadman]

I would shoot some unsized and see what happens. Worst case you might have to clean some lead out of the barrel. I have had good results using poly-fil when shooting undersized boolits. I read Super grex shotgun buffer does the same.

[Artful]

or just corn meal or cream of wheat on top of the powder - remember to add it to the projectile weight
- and I might look into faster burning powders to see if it will upset the boolit to seal the bore better.

Heck the Harris Red Dot load (13 grains) would be a good first starting point with unsized just to see what happens.

[Wolfer]

I don't know what my 8mm Turks slug at. My boolits drop at .324 and I size to that. 17 gr of 2400 is very accurate in all three that I have shot.
Being lazy I tend to shoot first and slug if there's a problem. Woody

Ps. 17 gr gets me 1700 fps with 1 WW-2 lead. Pretty soft

Edit, you can always beagle that mold when your casting for the 8mm. Works like a charm.

[wild bill wildbill59]

What is beagling ?

[Artful]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?117331-Mould-Enlargement-%93beagling%94

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/MoldMods/BDE.pdf


This undersize 427098HP double cavity mould started it all.
A .003” brass shim between the cavities takes it from .428” to .433”

I suppose every caster is plagued with a mould that cast bullets undersized for the intended application at least
once in his lifetime. This fault, as I call it, occurs primarily with Lyman or Ideal moulds but moulds meeting RCBS
specifications are sometimes smaller than we need. I have searched carefully for a specific mould design many times,
only to find that it casts small bullets when I finally obtain it. It’s down right frustrating.

Many designs suffer from this problem but it seems that certain moulds or designs are worse than others.
Among these are the 457191, the 357446, the 429360, the 41032, the 427098 and the 429434. Then there are the true
old classics you obtain that were just cut small to begin with. I have a 358429 that drops bullets at .358 X .355 and
that was just a manufacturer’s problem but it is too old now for Lyman to do anything about it.

Some moulds were designed with small noses to fit in black powder rifles. Some of the older moulds were
designed with small driving bands so that they would fit in specific designer’s guns. We seem to run into these
problems often in casting bullets.

All of these small-casting moulds sat in my mould cabinet for years. Occasionally I’d learn something and try them
again, all to no avail. The bullets produced were still too small. After retirement, I had more time to mess some with
these moulds and attempt to improve them.

Three Failures, Then Success...

[35 shooter]

Have you added tin to the mix? If not that might fill the mould out a bit more for a bit bigger dia. May be worth a try anyway.

[L Ross]

I have found the 321297 to be a wonderful bullet. I have it in a single and a 4 cavity. I use it in 32-40, 32 Win. Spl., and 8x57.
My Uncle, who was a wounded Veteran of the Battle of the Bulge and avid bullet caster, showed me bullet casting 53 years ago. The single cavity was his mould. I slipped a 321297 into his casket at his funeral.

Duke

[Cord]

The 321297 is a great boolit, and everyone has given you great advice here.
Beagle-ing would probably get you where you want to be.

On the other hand, if you want to try another mold, or a hollowpoint,
NOE is running the .323 Ranch Dog 180 grain soon,
and a poster asked Swede Nelson if he would cut one at .325 for use in Mausers.
Swede is going to make some .325s when he runs them.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?221752-NOE-323-180Gr-RF-%28RD%29&p=2522349#post2522349

[HiVelocity]

Why not paperpatching it first? I would think 2 wraps of cigarette paper would probably work. Anyone have thoughts on this, pro or con?

HV

[Artful]

And you could also try Dry Tumble powder coating it to get it to fatten up a bit.

[JeffinNZ]

Would it be worth sizing to .320 and paper patching up to .326?

[Larry Gibson]

I believe the 321297 is a Lyman mould (OP referred to it as an "rcbs" mould?) and is the equivalent cast bullet to the 32 Win SPL as the 311041 is to the 30-30. Thus it is an excellent cast bullet.

While I normally size all my 8x57 cast bullets at .325 I have shot a lot of commercial cast sized .323 and .324. I'd say try the 321297s unsized at .324 GC'd and lubed before trying to "fix" a mould that may not be broke.

Larry Gibson

[UBER7MM]

Wild Bill
.
Follow Larry's good advise. Load up and test a dozen or so. It's a cheap experiment to see what you have at face value. If your 32 Special boolit groups poorly, then you can slug the 98 barrel to ascertain groove diameter.

[wild bill wildbill59]

Already cast some applied gas checks without sizing 324 have not shot them yet

[JWFilips]

Cast Soft... Than Obturation may take effect & you may be surprised! It is Possible!

[retread]

I have a 356-124 TC that drops at 357.5 on an average. Normally use it in my 9mm. When I use it in my 38 spl I ES powder coat to bump it up a bit for the larger bore on the 38.
Works well for me.

[FredBuddy]

Powdercoating is a good way to up the diameter slightly if needed. My 8x57 works fine with .324.

[A pause for the COZ]

I have been using the LEE C324-175-1R in Both my 8mm Mauser and 32 win special.
I was very surprised how well they shot out of my 32 win. I have some cast that are just for the 32's and the LEE out shot them by a wide margin.

Its a 1941 Marlin Model 1936 with Ballard rifling. The bottom one in this image.
Brush gun central around here.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_9617_zps41babccd.jpg