A universal bullet for .31 cal rifles

[am44mag]

I'm wanting to settle on a single mold that I can use in basically any .31 caliber rifle such as the Enfield, Mosin, or the Arisaka. My plan was to order one from Arsenal that has a large enough diameter to accommodate any over sized bore within reason. My Arisaka mics at 0.3165", so I was going to settle on 0.317 or 0.318 and just size down as needed for the other rifles.

The mold I was looking at was the 311-170 which is a 170gr Ranch Dog design. My only concern is that the nose might be too blunt to reliably feed in some rifles.

http://arsenalmolds.com/products?product_id=84&limit=100

http://arsenalmolds.com/image/cache/catalog/311170-500x500.JPG

Alternatively, the 30 HVTH1 might work too. It's a 170gr boolit with a smaller meplat.

http://arsenalmolds.com/products?product_id=86&limit=100

http://arsenalmolds.com/image/cache/catalog/310%20SLIVER-%20drawing-500x500.JPG

I will probably powdercoat whatever I get.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

[ak_milsurp]

Lee CTL 312-160-2R. LEE 312-155-2R. NOE. Makes similar as well

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[ak_milsurp]

the NOE Version can be had in .312, .314, or .316 if you require. I have them all


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[Ramson222]

http://arsenalmolds.com/image/cache/catalog/310%20SLIVER-%20drawing-500x500.JPG


I had arsenal molds resize the 30hvt to .308 at the nose and .314 at the base. So far I have only tested it with my mosin at about 1200fps. Results were about 3.5 inches for a 30rnd group at 60yrds. This was with open sights. So far this bullet chambers in my blackout, 7.62x39 and my two mosins. Unfortunately it wont fit my k31. I guess 3 out of 4 is not to bad.

[lar45]

Many years ago when group buys were actually happening... With the help of some of the guys here I drew up the Fat 30 for use in 31 call rifles. Some milsurps were larger than others, so the drawing was widened to make the Fatter 30.
I sent the original drawing to Accurate to have a new mold cut. He has it listed as the 31-194F on page 3. Mine drops around 191 grains. It has a tapered nose from .304 to .308" to help it fit a wider range of cartridges.

262133

[am44mag]

AK, I have the LEE 155gr and I also have a 145gr "Elvis" mold from Arsenal. They will work for most of my .31s, but not the Arisaka, and I wouldn't mind a heavier bullet. I had originally gotten them for my 7.62x39 AR, but neither one would work. I have yet to find a cast boolit that gun will reliably chamber. I'm tempted to have the throat reamed out a bit. Lar, that fat 30 looks pretty interesting. How does it feed in all those old military actions?

Ramson, it's good to hear that those boolits were pretty accurate in your gun. That's the one I'm sort of leaning towards at the moment. I'm not too surprised that it didn't fit the K31. Those have a .308 bore IIRC, and the Swiss tended to keep tight tolerances. I imagine it was just a tad too fat.

[lar45]

I have shot the Fat30 quite a bit in a 30-06 Mauser without any feeding problems.
I have some loaded up to shoot tomorrow in a AR Pistol in 7.62x39. I'll post the results tomorrow as long as life doesn't happen...

[am44mag]

I ended up going with the 30 HVTH1 and had Arsenal bump it up to about 0.318". With my alloy, it drops at 0.319". I'll have to weight them next time I'm out in the shop. I'm sure it's a bit heavier than 170gr now. It should be a pretty good universal bullet for all of my large 30s. My Mosin needs a 0.314, my Arisaka needs a 0.317", and I'm not sure what my Enfield needs, but it's probably in the .312"-.316" range. I'm not set up to reload 7.62x54R yet, but I'll probably test the boolit out in my Arisaka and Enfield next week when I have the time. I've got a pile of them casted that's ready to PC and size.

[Bookworm]

Many years ago when group buys were actually happening... With the help of some of the guys here I drew up the Fat 30 for use in 31 call rifles. Some milsurps were larger than others, so the drawing was widened to make the Fatter 30.
I sent the original drawing to Accurate to have a new mold cut. He has it listed as the 31-194F on page 3. Mine drops around 191 grains. It has a tapered nose from .304 to .308" to help it fit a wider range of cartridges.

262133

I think this will be my very first Accurate mould. Thanks for the info.

If Tom would make some short notes on his pages and pages of moulds, things would be easier for us out here.