Bullet nose dia vs bore size?

[rayg]

I just got a Lyman 314299 mould and cast some bullets. Water dropped and #2 hardness. When I miked them they only miked out at .313-.314 with the long nose dia. at .302-.303.
The bore of the Enfield I will be shooting them in is .303 land and .312 groove. Is that nose dia. too small as it would be barely touching the lands and should I beagle the mould to bring it up a few thousands so it rides better in the bore? Ray

[Calamity Jake]

Check and lube some in a .314 sizer, load and shoot to find out, it just may work, let the gun tell ya.
If it doesn't like that then beagle just the nose portion and try that.

Experamentation, aint it fun.

↑ And my spelling sucks!!!!

[jonk]

A bullet doesn't necissarily have to be a bore rider to shoot well. With the driving portion of the bullet 1 to 2 thousandths over bore size and the nose not horribly undersized, I'd think it is actually a very good starting place.

[montana_charlie]

If it doesn't like that then beagle just the nose portion and try that.
Never have beagled a mould, but I have read about it. If I understand the principle, you use a spacer to keep the mould from closing fully. That produces a slightly larger bullet.

How would one beagle a mould so that only the nose portion would come out bigger?
CM

[Wayne Smith]

Nose fit to the barrel is important with soft boolits that may slump, or the nose move to meet the bottom of the barrel, upon firing. If your alloy is hard enough to prevent this go ahead and shoot them.

[Mike Venturino]

Ray: bullets that size from my #314299 shoot great from a Winchester made Pattern 1914
.303.

[Calamity Jake]

Never have beagled a mould, but I have read about it. If I understand the principle, you use a spacer to keep the mould from closing fully. That produces a slightly larger bullet.

How would one beagle a mould so that only the nose portion would come out bigger?
CM

Place a short piece of the Alum. AC duct tape on eather side of the cavity at the nose only, it will make the nose bigger while leaving the body the same size. I do it all the time on an
RCBS 30-150FN that has a .299 nose dia and I need a .301 and a 311041 that needs a bigger nose dia.

[rayg]

Ok folks, I was mistaken on the size of my Enfield bore, (lands). It's not .303 but .305. Bad memory :roll:. I had tried one of the bullets I made that nose miked to .303 in the bore and it dropped in all the way to the .314 main size so I re-miked the bore and it's .305 not .303.
So I beagled the mould, both sides, and made some bullets and the nose came up to .306 which should work better.
The dia of the bullet got bigger obviously but I will size it back down to .314. Which should be good as the groove dia of the Enfield is .312. Ray

[docone31]

Ray, I was gonna ask if you slugged your bore.
I went the same route.
If it were me, as I had done,
I would cast as dropped, size to .308, and paper patch.
I could not get my Smelly to hit the berm at 100yds! Once I paper patched, it outperforms jacketed, even the .312 sized ones.
I can outshoot my Smelly with paper vs off a rest with jacketeds, and offhand with paper. It is so simple it is ridiculous!
How about full tilt cast loads doing 1" at 100yds?
Go paper with that bad boy. It made all the difference for me. Looks cool at the range also. People stop and stare. Only the Sillywet folks know what it is.
I also did the three point bedding.
BIG difference.
Paper sizes real well to .314.
I started an entire thread on it over in Paper Patching.

[rayg]

Doclone 31, I did read your thread on paper patching awhile ago and found it very interesting and if this doesn't work out I will try that.

There may be another benefit I will be getting with the beagled bullets I just made. I have several Japanese 7.7 mm rifles and have not been able to get any accuracy out of them with my other cast bullets because the bores/lands mike out to approx. .303-4 with some of the grooves going to .317. The beagled bullets I just made mike out to .317 on high end and again to.306 on the nose. These just might be the solution to having those Japanese rifles shooting well also.
I will shoot them unsized with the GC's seated in my .311 Lyman sizing die just enough to seat the GC, Ray

[docone31]

Ray, even if what you do does work, try the Smelly with patching.
I mean, my rifle turned into a tack driver with paper. I have already done 8 reloads on my original cases! They are known for case head seperation after 5. Go figuire.
I do not know, however, why my milsurp loads do print well vs commercial jacketeds. Even with the larger size, .312.
I do love the rifle though, the looks, the feel, even the two stage trigger. My wife has an Ishy, I am patching for that one also. Good deep rifleing to begin with, just like the Smelly.
I did load some undersized paper patched loads with fine lapping compound on them.
Removed the hammer marks, and shined up the lands. Made them sharp also.
A great rifle, and it loves paper.