Lyman bullet mold #314 299

[krallstar]

Was all excited to start casting bigger .30 cal boolits. Bought this mold for $60.00. Cast nice but small. Boolits measure .312 on the bands and .301 just infront. Bought this for my Enfield and Mosin. Enfield measures at .3125 and Mosin at .314. Not happy. I beagled it and can get .315 on 1 side then half turn .312. Might work ok for my Enfield but not my Mosin. I already had a custom lee .312041 from a group buy. I get the same results by beagling that mold. I see another guy here was trying to find someone to open his drive bands and seems that's a no-go. So i guess i just have to find a new mold and get rid of this one. Sorry for the rant it's just that when the mold says .314 i expect that it should drop at that. !!!!!!!!! Well i got into the NOE 20% off sale and bought a .316299 mold. Funny the night before the sale they had 1 only 2 cavity $79.00 that i was trying to convince my self to buy. As usual i procrastinated and saw the sale, then had to figure out how to get the discount. By the time i got that all straight and went to buy the $79.00 2 cavity, someone beat me to it. Then i did some math and found that i could purchase the 4 cavity for the same price as the 2 cavity. So $79.00 delivered and i got the 4 banger. Received it yesterday. Cleanded and heated as per instructions. Now with the same alloy i used for the lyman this NOE mold was casting at .316 to .317 Nice fillout. Weight of the boolets were 213gr Very nice. Sized to .3145, I tried a dummy round in my Enfield and it measured 3.064 And fit nice gas check sits right as the neck. Now the same boolet in my 91/30 the front driving band gets all the way into the case. I believe the check is just past the neck. So will wait a week and see how these do. Oh yah these NOE molds are very nicely done.

[Hardcast416taylor]

A few years back I bought a new #314299 Lyman mold. I found that the cavaties on both blocks were oval in shape and not round. I called Lyman, they wanted 5 sample bullets cast from this mold and the mold sent back - I had to foot the shipping. About 6 weeks later I got my original mold back. You could plainly see it had been re-bored and polished somewhat. They sent 3 sample bullets that they said were cast with it. All measured .3145" and were very round, all the bullets were same weight (HMMMMM?). If you suspect your mold is a tad on the goofy side of being correct, call Lyman and tell them about it. Good luck with it.Robert

[leadhead]

I had the same problem with that mold. Sent it back, and got the same thing.
Bought a NOE 316299 and have been a happy camper ever since. It will work
in any over bored .30 cal. I have and is one sweet mold to use. I'm pretty
much done with Lyman except the old ones I find on e-bay.
Denny

[texassako]

I will ask since no one else has. What alloy are you casting with?

[krallstar]

I am using indoor pistol only range scrap. Also the mold is a 200gr mold. With my alloy i get 208 to 209gr

[Shooter6br]

Accure mold clone A true .314 . Cost more but is as adverised..I use it for 1917 American Enfield sized to .313

[texassako]

I am using indoor pistol only range scrap. Also the mold is a 200gr mold. With my alloy i get 208 to 209gr

Lyman cuts their molds for #2 alloy. Lyman molds will usually drop a little small with WW or scrap like yours.

[Larry Gibson]

I am using indoor pistol only range scrap. Also the mold is a 200gr mold. With my alloy i get 208 to 209gr

As texassako mentions; "Lyman cuts their molds for #2 alloy. Lyman molds will usually drop a little small with WW or scrap like yours."

You are using the wrong alloy. Don't send it back because it is okay. Simply change your alloy. Suggest you add 2% tin to your alloy to begin with. If the alloy has mostly commercial hard cast bullets then you might want to add lead at 3 parts scrap to 1 part lead and then add the 2% tin. I suggest you also WQ the bullets for use in rifles.

Best would be to use COWWs + 2% tin or mix up some Lyman #2 alloy. I have a standing offer on so called "undersized" Lyman moulds if you are interested. It could be a win - win for you. Either do a search for it or PM me for details.

Larry Gibson

[krallstar]

I am somewhat a new caster so mainly been casting .45 and 9mm Been planning on moving up to rifle. I bought the first mold thinking it could work. Casted a few and saw they where right around ,312. Would work for my 30-30 so not a big deal. Reading here i learned about beagling. That did poduce bigger but not quit round bullets. So again reading here alot of guys said the Lyman 314299 would do the trick. Got it yesterday cleaned it and went to casting. Ran the mold from around 700 thru 750 and no difference. I did add some tin made the boolits look nice but still not big enough. I do have a limited supply of wheel weights around 30 lbs. Was planning on using that once i got good at casting. So maybe i need that .316 mold from noe. If using the same range scrap. i get it for free, That might drop them around .314 hopefully

[Boolseye]

I've been going through the same thing with my Mosin M38, which has a .314 bore.
I now have a brand new NOE 316299, which I'm hoping will do the trick. The 314299 and the Lee C312-185 were all too small for that gun. I even opened up a sizer die so I can size them at .3155".

[longbow]

As already stated, Accurate Molds will cut to the size you want using alloys other than Lyman #2. Also, NOE had a run of "fat" .30 boolit moulds and made a clone of the Lyman 314299 in "oversize" dimensions. I ordered a 316299 and using ACWW or range scrap it casts at 0.315"+ so perfect for my Lee Enfields. I size to 0.315" when I install gas checks.

Check the NOE site to see what they have in stock. They are excellent moulds and often available to suit over size bores. Alternately take a look at the Accurate Mold site. Tom will cut what you want for the alloy you want and the mould will cast to stated size or over.

My Lyman 314299 cast 0.312"/0.313" using ACWW or range scrap. It may have cast to 0.314" using #2 alloy but I just went with the NOE as I use a lot of range scrap so it is more convenient. I do have to say that my Lyman 314299 was very well made and cast nice round boolits... just a couple thou small for my use. I tend to like Lyman iron moulds and have several. I just wish they would also offer a range of cavity sizes but if they did we might not have mould makers like Mihec, NOE and Accurate. It's all good.

Longbow

[krallstar]

My lead will mostly be from range scrap. Lately at each trip to the range i have been collecting just the cast boolets from the indoor range. We shoot thru some kind of rubber mat and the back drop is steel plates with collection pans at the bottom. Real easy to pick them up, no real work. I almost have a 5gal bucket filled. Can't wait to smelt that all down. I expect a good lead batch from that.

[Adk Mike]

I have one. Sent it back bullets were out of round. They fixed it . My most used 30 cal bullet. They cast .313 . The 1917 really shoots them sided at .312

[krallstar]

Seems NOE has a 20% off sale going on now. Was able to order a 4 cavity 316299 for $79.00 shipped Can't wait.

[milrifle]

My Lyman 314299 drops small too. I have to Beagle to get .312-.313 out of it using WW. I tried lapping it, but I'm afraid I've got it egg shaped now. Bullets are measuring .312 x .314. I've not tried sizing them yet, so I don't know if they will round out or not. Good news is that I suppose I could still Beagle and maybe they will really be .314 x .314 and size to a real .313 instead of the .313 sizer just touching the sides. I considered getting a 316299 NOE mould but with my luck, it would indeed drop .316. Maybe I should get an NOE 314299 if it will drop .314 in WW.

[texassako]

I was reminded while looking on NOE's site today that they use WW lead for their measurements.

[Jack Stanley]

I think I have the twin to your mould , since it was to small for my British rifles I tried it in the 1903A3 and it worked great when sized at .311" or so .

Jack

[krallstar]

The only other .30cal i have is a 30-30 I hear 200 + grains are alittle heavy for these.

[longbow]

milrfile:

To avoid the egg shape when lapping, make sure you lap a little then clean the mould block faces off then lap some more otherwise there is a tendency to enlarge more that the seam and less at 90 degrees to the seam due to lapping compound holding the mould open a thou or so.

I cast a few lapping slugs, use one to start in the smallest cavity (if there is a noticeably smaller cavity) and work along until it spins easily in all cavities... wiping the mould faces each time a cavity is changes and sometimes more often. Then use another lapping slug and repeat making sure the mould faces are cleaned frequently. If necessary, clean the mould and cast new lapping slugs (also to check casting size) then repeat lapping as required. I have enlarged by up to 0.003" in some moulds which is work but 0.001" to 0.002" isn't too bad.

Nowadays, much easier to order an NOE, Mihec or Accurate mould to suit the diameter I want.

Longbow

[krallstar]

Update in post 1

[Boolseye]

Congrats...NOE rocks.

[krallstar]

Been casting today with my new NOE 316299. This mold is so nice. Boolits drop out at .316-317. With lube and check come out at 220gr. Sizing to .314 Can someone tell me if 220gr is to heavy for my Enfield #4 and my 91/30. Won't be getting to the range till the weekend. And at this weight what fps should i be looking for.

[dromia]

Heavy is good.

As a rule of thumb when looking for a cast boolit design I always go for a heavier design than the "standard" jacketed weight for the calibre. Amongst other things it helps with the start pressure as it is lower with cast than condoms.

[Boolseye]

220gr. is fine for the M/N 91/30. I think your best accuracy will be achieved in the 14-1600 fps range.
2400 is a fine powder for this, start at 16 gr.