348 Winchester advice

[keydet15]

I have a couple of question with casting the 348 winchester for my Browning model 71. I picked up a Lyman 350447 mold but I have heard mix reviews on using this bullet in the 348. Does anyone have any experience with this mold or would I be better off getting the 35-220b from Accurate Molds? Also what should I size the bullet too, the bore measures 0.350"?

Thanks

[Beau Cassidy]

It is a good .348 bullet. I believe my size die is .351 or .352. Can't remember as it has been a year or more since I loaded for it. I am using Varget, though.

[cuzinbruce]

I am curious about what problem there would be with that mold? It has been a standard for 348 for as long as I can remember. I size at .351. That for a Winchester M71. Powders, try 4064, 3031. I use the RCBS bullet for 348. I don't have the 350447. I do have the other Lyman, about a 250 grain roundnose GC. Lyman 350482. Since you have the 350447, I would start with that before buying the Accurate. I use the Lyman data for 350447 with the RCBS. Lyman data for the 350447 and 350482 is pretty similar. From one of their Cast Bullet Handbooks. There is also a Lyman 350457 mold listed, a flat nose 250 grain GC, but I have never seen one of those.

[rintinglen]

I have had much better results with the RCBS and Accurate Offerings than with the Lyman 350-477. HOwever, you already have the mold. Cast some up and give them a ride.
An interesting and fun plinker is the 358-429 sized .351 loaded over 13.0 grains of Red Dot.

[Rick B]

I have the RCBS 200 gr gas checked mold. My rifles have .348 grooves, I size .349. Have tried a number of medium burning powders. 4198 worked well with cast, but the starting load of 4831 gives the best results. Runs about 1850 fps shoots well under 2" @ 100 for a three shot group with iron sights

[keydet15]

Thank guys, i'll the mold a try and see how it works. For sizing dies in that range of 0.349" to 0.352" the only place that I have found that carries them is buffalo arms custom dies for the rcbs sizer. Are these the only ones available or is there another place that carries them?

[Freischütz]

"Buckshot" is a member here. He makes excellent dies in non-standard diameters.

[ammohead]

+1 on Buckshots dies. One fine human. Excellent dies, all made one at a time in his garage/shop. Real craftsmanship, and reasonable prices.

[cuzinbruce]

Memory failed me in the post above. I size at .350, not .351. Bore slugged at .3487 in an original Winchester M71. The sizing die is an RCBS. I don't remember where I bought it but it wasn't special ordered or anything out of the ordinary.

[Bob Busetti]

I use 54.0 H4831 with the RCBS 200 gr gas check. Gives honest 2000 fps.

[rintinglen]

Order a .339 sizer from LEE with a .356 pusher.

An electric drill, some sand paper and a piece of 5/16 dowel will get you a .349, or a .350, or a .351 sizer in about 30 minutes.

Split the end of the dowel insert a piece of 220-320 grit sand paper so that the loose end will be away from the direction of rotation after you wrap it up.. Stick it in the die and start the drill, pumping the sand paper in and out to evenly sand the hole larger. Every few minutes drive a boolit through your die and measure to make sure you don't over do it.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

That is quite a big enlargement to do that way. It would be easy to get it out of line, and therefore oval at top and bottom, round (if you were lucky) in the middle.

I'd be inclined, if I had to use this method, to make up something like a wooden cotton-reel the same diameter as the die. Tape them tightly into a piece of angle-iron about a foot apart, and you have a guide to keep the dowel aligned with the die. I think it would cut better if you used a layer of rubber tubing or similar on the dowel to give some pressure as the paper wears, and just wrapped the paper around with a little glue or double sided tape. You would need to use a series of grits, starting coarse enough not to be impossibly slow, and ending up fine enough to leave a smooth finish.