Advice on what moulds to buy please.

[pete.s]

Hi all.
in the past with black powder I have used Lee mould blocks. I have a Lee press for rifle and no real problems . But going to start casting for 308 and 6.5x55 and wondering what the real difference is between die makers. as prices here in the UK are vastly different from the States.

Will also need to lube/size them as well so again recommendations please

Thanks People

Pete

[Viper225]

I presume you do not own a Lube-Sizer. You can probably live with a Lee Push Through sizer die to size and seat the gas check. You will need to tumble lube before running through the push through sizer with Alox. Then pan lube with something like Ben's Red.
I would probably get my feet wet with the 308 first and try a Lee C309-200R bullet mold.
So far I do not cast for rifles. You will probably get some better advice shortly.

Bob R

[dudel]

If you're starting out, it's hard to go wrong with Lee moulds.

I started with them, and haven't found a need to move up to the pricier moulds. I'm sure they are nicer; just not sure they are 2x-4x nicer. I use the tumble lube moulds when I can, but generally tumble lube everything. Mixing the ALOX Lee provides 50/50 with mineral spirits, makes it easier to apply and faster to dry.

I size with the Lee push through sizers. Note that Lee does not make a standard sizer that I needed for .308; but a fellow on this board (Buckshot) makes custom Lee style push through dies. His work was excellent, as were his prices and delivery times.

[ukrifleman]

I get good results with the Lee 160gn bullet, mould No.90361 in my 7.62x51 Enfield conversions. The mould casts at .312 so it gives a bit of leeway with bullet diameters to suit bore dimensions. I use Lee push through sizers and find they work well.

I tumble lube with Lee liquid Alox (2 coats) and get minimal leading.

I have tried various cast bullets for my M96 Swedish Mauser including the Lee `Cruise Missile' in original 170gn and cut down to 150gn, neither worked well for me.

My best 6.5x55 cast load is with the RCBS 140gn Silhouette bullet.

A lot depends on the bore diameter of your particular rifles and I recommend that you slug the bores to determine what will be the optimum bullet diameter.

ukrifleman.

[pete.s]

Seems the way is with Lee dies then. and push through size tool for the moment Thanks people.

Pete

[Brithunter]

Welcome Pete. Which part of the UK are you located?

I am out on the East Coast near Boston and am just getting to grips with gathering the stuff to start casting bullets. Luckily I thought about it many years back and acquired a Lyman 450 sizer even though it never got used. Have an old electric lead pot that I need to check it if it works or not my plan is to cast for the .308 and 303. Brownells UK carry the Lee moulds BTW in case you were not aware of this.

As I lived in a flat (Apartment) there was no where to cast/melt lead hence it never got started.

[Wayne Smith]

Lee molds are good and useful. They are of soft aluminum and thus take light and easy handling. I do not know the other makers issues on sending overseas, but Miha Previc is in Slovenia and makes excellent molds. As a fellow member of the EU you ought to get his molds easily and probably at a reasonable cost. He does group buys and has some in stock. It often takes a year for him to get to a group buy, he is that busy, and that popular. I have several of his molds, some from when he just got started using equipment in the business for which he worked. He now has his own equipment in his own shop. He uses brass or a much harder and more sturdy aluminium. I can recommend his work without reservation.

[Motard]

I too think that starting with Lee moulds would be exellent for cost saving ans acquiring the right skills. I have seen some complain recently on the two cavity moulds but the ones I have all casts right. For both the calibers you have mentioned you will need gas check unless you develope yourself extremely light loads that, for us in europe, is harder cause of lack of data on the easier availlable powders: ie Viht, Norma and so on. So the process (on wich i am fairly new too) is- For the bulletts side: slugg the barrell, indentifiy a suitable mold for the kind of shooting you are planning, order it in bundle with the sizer the start fiddling with alloys for dropping the correct diameter boolits. Make or buy yor's lube size and check boolits. Lee sizer works fine and cost near nothing and can be easily lap to the right bose also without specific tools (an electric drill or a steel bar, sandpaper and elbow oil is all you need) but mind Lee offer it in 308 and 309 and 311 if I remember well. Cause from each others the real bore may vary You better slug the barrell before ordering the one that can offer you at least two thou larger sizing than your's slug. On the load side probably Youll' need some advise from experienced shooters: in my experience while stright wall cartridges as 45-70 are easier to tune, 308 and WAY MORE, 6,5x55, may be an hassle coal, seating, crimping the steps that I was use to perform routinary with FMJ on CB require a special care. A shooting chrony is about mandatory to check what you are doing nat the range
Ps in case you missed here a great reading
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?158805-Just-a-few-tips-for-new-rifle-casters

[Brithunter]

Oh forgot to mention as I had actually forgotten myself but when looking out the Lyman Spar-T press and the Lyman 450 found that I also have a Lyman .31 Long (303B) M expander die and a Lee universal expander die and a Lee Universal decapper die that I bought some years back. So am better equipped already than I thought!

The bore of the 303 is mirror bright as it's new and the bore diameter is right on 0.301 it's the groove dia we need to suss out. Now the 308 is another amtter as am not sure what rifle that will be as yet.

[Mk42gunner]

I use the Lee 312-185, meant for the .303 British, for most of my .30 and .31 caliber rifles. It drops about 0.3125", I size it to 0.311" with a Lee push through sizer die.

It works well enough through the Parker-Hale take off barrel on my Mauser that I really haven't tried anything else. Wish I had bought a few more of those barrels when they were going for $60.00 on ebay...

Robert

[robg]

i use lee molds for my 308 and just tumble lube ,use lee push through sizer .like the light weight ali molds cast iron get heavy really quick.glad im not the only boolit caster in the uk.