.309 or .311 sizing die?

[snaketail]

I have a "new" Winchester Commemorative rifle (Unfired until I got it). I'm casing Lee Soup Can boolits and want to size and add a gas check. Should I get the .309 or .311 sizing die?

Thanks,
M

[imashooter2]

What does slugging the bore and a pound slug of the chamber throat tell you?

Absent that, it is my experience that too large causes far fewer problems than too small, as long as the loaded cartridge chambers easily.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

What is the cast bullet diameter from your mold? If your cast bullet diameter is less than .311, you may need to go .309 or .310. What size bullet will your rifle chamber? Most .30's will handle .311 but best to know. What lube method are you using? Tumble, pan, or lubri-sizer may help determine sizing. I mostly size .30's to .310 for .30-30, .300 Savage, .303 Savage and .308 Winchester. The 'largest' you rifle will easily chamber is probably going to be the best. Usually less sizing is better. There are no hard rules, just educated guesses. Again you must first know the bullet diameter you are casting.

[Scharfschuetze]

I've had good luck with both .309 and .310 diameters in my Model 94 (circa 1956). That may not work for yours but at a guess, without slugging your barrel, perhaps a .310 would be a good compromise between the .309 and the .311 diameters; if, as noted above, your mold will throw that or larger using whatever alloy you've got in your pot.

[soless]

My soup can mold drops slightly oval ranging .3095 - .310. I beagle and size at .311 with the Lee push through. I just plink with it out to 50 yards using coww and 50/50 allox/ bees wax and Win 231 and it works for me with no leading using gas checks.

[pls1911]

I use .312 for every bullet I shoot, mostly to seat and crimp the gas check.
Sized little or none, I've never seen any improvement by sizing smaller for "too many" Marlins, nearly every year from '93 through '55, with a couple of Winnie's thrown in.
RD165, RCBS 180, SAECO #315, or Lyman 311041.... All shoot well.

[sthwestvictoria]

I have the Lee .309 and .311 push through sizer. I only use the .311 now. I am also using the Lee .309 cast molds in 150 and 170FP. As a result the .311 die does no actual sizing, just serves to crimp the GC - I want that bullet as large as I can.

[snaketail]

I drove a Lee 115gr GC "Soup Can" down the bore and measured it...3089. So I used a .309 sizing die and tried a couple of test shots today. Accurate at 50 yards, opened up to a ragged 4" croup at 100 yards- I'm pushing them with 6gr of Unique - I think 7gr might be better.

Also tried some .309" 135g cast Missouri Whitetail boolits (over 7gr of unique) at 50 & 100 yards - not enough difference in the point of impact to alter the sights.

While I understand why you want a larger boolit I find that .309 is working for me (this week anyway).

I'll use the 135g boolits for the 50 & 100 yard targets in Lever Action Silhouette and change to 170g for Turkeys and Rams.

M

[TXGunNut]

Can't recall why I ordered a .309 sizer, always use the .311. May find a use for it someday.

[Scharfschuetze]

TXgunNut,

Now you have a reason to buy a tight bored Swiss K-31!

[6pt-sika]

I use .312 for every bullet I shoot, mostly to seat and crimp the gas check.
Sized little or none, I've never seen any improvement by sizing smaller for "too many" Marlins, nearly every year from '93 through '55, with a couple of Winnie's thrown in.
RD165, RCBS 180, SAECO #315, or Lyman 311041.... All shoot well.

I concur 100% when I had about a dozen or so Marlin's in 30-30 I started at .309" and go decent results , later stepped up to .310" and got slightly better results . It wan't until I got a Lyman 311041HP mold that I needed to try the .312" seems with WW alloy the .310" die was bumping the nose just enough to make them difficult to chamber , so since I had a .312" die on hand for the 32-20 I tried running the 311041HP bullets thru that die and it worked they chambered great . Then on paper the groups tightened a bit so I tried it on several other 30 cal 30-30 bullets and all gave better results . From that point on I sized all 30 cal bullets in a .312" die and never looked back . Granted some bullets didn't size at all in the die but I wasn't removing any metal either .

I was big on the RD 311-165GC , Lyman 311041 , Lyman 311041HP , Saeco 150 FNGC , RCBS 30-150GC RCBS 30-180GC , Lee 309-170GC , Lee 309-150GC and a couple other bullets people derived on here and had group buys for .

[TXGunNut]

TXgunNut,

Now you have a reason to buy a tight bored Swiss K-31!


Thanks, needed a laugh. Must admit I've used weaker reasoning to buy a rifle, somehow suspect you have too. I've read a few threads on the K-31, I'm trying to avoid mil rifles but right after I get a Garand I'll be "needing" a K-31.

[snaketail]

I have an image of the conversation around a campfire - a couple of guys and their wives. And, the puzzled look on the wives faces. We certainly speak a strange language, don't we?

M

PS: ordered a .311 sizer too

[Scharfschuetze]

Yep, jargon is the term.

Seems like every career field and hobby has its own vocabulary and if you're not privy to it... well, the old saying "It's all Greek to me" applies.