How to determine which mold?

[Ohiopatriot]

As the title suggest, how does one choose a mold? I bought a Ruger No.1 in .308 yesterday. Shot a few J words just to see, then switched to my Lee 180gr LRN PC handloads that work well in my other rifles. Surprise, they don't chamber. With an OAL of 2.692 they engaged rifling. After a few measurements I found i would have to have a 2.522 OAL to just touch the lands. That would set the base of the bullets .180 below the neck of the case.

I also tried the cast bullett I use for 30/30, a 150gr LFP. It would be seated .126 below the neck.

Both loaded to chamber are below min. oal length.

Do I need to find a spire point mold like NOE 311-152-SP-L1 or http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=30_328&products_id=4609&osCsid=5hkkcokui0kbokm13qsth5ub84 How can I determine before dropping $100 it'll chamber?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[John McCorkle]

As a thought, I heard another user here took a washer and reamed out the inner diameter to right at .300 or a thou under, polished the inside, chamfered the edges nice and open and smooth... He then used this to size just the bore riding section of bullet on the pcd bullets like you tried.

Haven't tried it myself yet but for 15¢ it can't be that bad of an idea...a little time spent on it and you may have a solution? Paper patch could also work for you in lieu of powder coating.

Good luck to you and great choice on rifle!!

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

[country gent]

Several ways to determine what you have and what you need.
1) a cerosafe chamber cast tells a lot as to throat length and dia. It will also show the lead angle and length. giving dimensions to work from.
2) buy or beg a few test bullets on swapping and selling or friends to test. this gives you hands on testing and results.

The .308 has a short neck and that's also part of the issue. A tight throat might restrict some bullets also. ( but you stated you are getting rifling marks so not a issue I would think there).
Going to a fitted bore riding nose would allow the bullet to seat forward in to the bore.
Last is if you have a bullet you want to shoot is to have it throated for he bullet in question to seat where you want it. Not a big deal to have done or do. Depending on existing throat it may not take or add a lot either.

[Ohiopatriot]

Ok, now i feel kind of stupid. I'm relatively new to casting for rifles and very new to PC. It didn't dawn on me the PC was obviously adding to the diameter and that is causing my problem. I just ran out to the shop and tried the same boolit that is lubed instead of PC and it chambers. So, that problem solved, kind of. I'm really liking the PC, my bores stay amazingly clean shooting them. So i still need to try the washer idea or find a mold that will allow for powder coating. I'll venture over to swapping and selling as i only know reloaders but no casters.

[Blammer]

powder coat then nose size only> :)

[Wayne Smith]

NOE makes nose sizers in multiple sizes.

[waco]

Order an Accurate mold and tell Tom the dimensions you want the bullet to be with an alloy of your choosing.
A chamber cast of the rifle would be a real good place to start.

[Rcmaveric]

Just seat deeper and shoot em.

[Yodogsandman]

You can also cover the noses when you spray PC. Here I've covered the noses with 30 cal.

[Ohiopatriot]

So, I've ordered up a pound of cerrosafe today. That will give me my rifles dimensions, then maybe i can figure out by mold diagrams what would fit.

I like the covered noses when PCing, but i don't spray.

I don't like the idea of seating them deeper with the gas check below the neck. Although I'm thinking that it's ok, after all the GC doesn't come off when fired into the barrel, but it seems like it may not get an even "push" when fired.