How to pick a bullet design

[faraim]

With a bewildering selection of rifle bullet mould designs, how do you pick one? I'm thinking about paper punching at 100 yards with a .308 at low to medium velocity. Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks.

[samari46]

Slug your barrel first to get the numbers that will tell you the size of your bullet. Usually .002 over the groove diameter. Then find out what the twist of the rifling. Not all 308's have the same rifling twist. Seating depth will be governed by the throat in your barrel. And the length of the magazine on your rifle. Work throats will allow you to seat out a cast bullet further than one that has had few rounds down the tube. But the limiting factor is still the length of the magazine.
Depending on the groove and land diameters in most cases .310-.311 for the body of the bullet and at least .300 to .302 for the bore riding or nose section. All depends on your barrels interior dimensions. The above numbers are not engraved in stone. Again your barrel will tell you what will work. And there will be most likely more members responding as well. Frank

[Rcmaveric]

Find the dimensions of the gun. Then search for those diameters. From there pick a style for the purpose. For paper targets out to 100 yards any nose design will work.

For hunting the preferred bullet style is a round nose with flat point. Wad cutters and SWC perform well also.. If all you can find is a round nose it can work but may be unpredictable performance. It will most certainly kill though

Round nose profiles ensure reliable feeding in semi autos.

Wad cutters and SWC are actually designed for paper punch. They make nice clean holes in paper that are easy to see. That cookie cutter affect and flat nose also makes them great for game. An old time favorite for sub velocities and small game. Hence old school small game loads.

Now for target work and long range we get into the fancy pointed bullets. But in reality most bullets are pretty accurate out farther than you think. I dont shoot past 200 yards so I havent felt a need to chase fancy spire points or truncated cones.

Also depending on caliber you may see more choices than a Baskin Robin's (think .357 bullets) or you may only have one or two choices (6.5mm or .278 bullets). If you only got two choices you get what you can and make it work.

As for the weight of bullets. Depends on purpose. But typical I look for the biggest bullet suitable for the caliber. Just because the way I think, I can't push my cast bullets to super duper magnum velocities for energy with reliable accuracy. I can how ever drive a heavy bullet to a respectable velocities with good accuracy. That heavy projectile will carry the energy longer than a lighter bullet and will have more energy on impact vs a lighter one.



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[Bazoo]

Well, I'm not super experienced with rifle loads, and none with 308, but how I pick a bullet is to research some about it and find what works for others. For example, with the 30-30 I found that many people used the Lyman 311291, 31141 and the RCBS 30-180-FN, as well as the Lee 30-150-F. I ended up getting the lee first. Then I got the RCBS and found it wouldn't chamber in my gun. Sold that, though I should have had the gun throated and now am looking for another. Then I got samples of the 311291 and found it wouldn't chamber either. So I found a 31141. 3 31141 moulds later I got one that wasn't terribly out of round, or damaged. It shoots in my gun less than 2" at 70 yards. I still have the Lee, and am wanting to give the other Lee offerings a try as well.

So how I pick is basically research and then a whole bunch of trial and error.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

After doing a pound cast on my 30-30 I selected a Ranch Dog design. Shoots extremely well and has that rounded flat point. Bolt guns can be tricky in terms of feeding the cartridge and that can push you towards a round point. I use a Lee 180 grain in my 1/10 twist Ruger American with good results.

[ABJ]

In 308, I have found that the Saeco #315 or a clone from NOE or Accurate molds, works real well in most 308's.
It is a truncated cone, tapered body boolit. Works in other 30's also, but its the first boolit I go to for 308.
Tony

[charlie b]

Many parts to the selection process and a ton to choose from. I've been through it with my .308 a few times now when trying to select a new mold.

The good part is that all the ones I have tried shot well (~MOA) in my rifle. I don't think very many are bad, just what fits your rifle and your shooting. Since this is for paper at short range just about any shape will work.

I have tried the RCBS 165SIL, Lyman 311299, NOE 310-165 (XCB), Accurate 31-210E (Eagan) and the Lee C309-180. All but the XCB are "bore riders", the forward nose section fits in the rifling. Yes, this is addicting :)

For simplicity the XCB is a great bullet to work with and is one of the easiest to cast well. If I were to only shoot at 100-200yd it would be my pick.

If you want a cheap mold to try out then get one of the Lee's. The C309-160 would be a good place to start.

One other point. Look at Montana Bullet Works web site. They have bullets made from commercial molds. A bit expensive, but, you can 'try out' some different designs before spending the money on the molds. I did that with the RCBS and Lyman designs.

[charlie b]

PS then you get to pick a powder and load :) Have fun!!!!

PPS if you go with lubed bullets instead of PC then I highly suggest investing in a sizer/lubricator.

[MT Chambers]

I concur with ABJ, Saeco 315 or it's clone from NOE is a winner for me and CBA benchrest shooters, works good in the 30/30 as well because of it's nose shape. I believe that it was originally a copy of an Eagan design, Eagan was famous for his benchrest accurate molds, many of which were nose pour designs, although I'm not sure of his 315 (not what he called it), never saw one in the flesh so don't know about nose pour feature on that mold. Just checked, Eagan's mold was a brass nose pour design.

[charlie b]

Yep, if you want to see what the match shooters use you can go here and look. Tons of different choices.

https://castbulletassoc.org/match-results

Here are the Eagan designs

https://castbulletassoc.org/download/Eagan%20Catalog.pdf

[gwpercle]

Spend 50 years buying different boolit moulds and trying them out .

Discovering this site and asking questions .

Good luck in your search ,
Gary

[Mr Peabody]

You might ask the mold maker what they think. Most of them shoot.

[Mk42gunner]

People laugh, but I have had decent results with the Lee 312-185 sized to .311" with a Hornady gas check and 16 grains of 2400 in the .308.

Robert

[charlie b]

No one should laugh. There are more than one who have competed with Lee designs and not done poorly. If the bullet fits your bore then it will be just as good or better than many others.

[Bazoo]

I guess the very first place I start is by looking through my manuals. Seeing what the Lyman manual suggests can be helpful.

[John Boy]

Pick the bullet caliber and read the purpose for each bullet for that caliber ... http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/Cast_Bullet/Ideal-Lyman_Molds/Ideal-Lyman_Mold_Descriptions.html

[samari46]

Saeco's #315 and their copy of the old RG-4 bullet should do well. On rifles with some rounds through the throat some use either Lyman's 311299 or even the 314299 which casts with a .303-.304 bore riding nose. I have an old Walt Melander original 180 DD mold. Has what Walt called a wedding band at the junction of the body and where the nose starts to form. Just found one of the bullets I cast many years ago. Frank