LYMAN 311679 rifle mould

[RobS]

Have been wondering about this bullet for the 30 caliber rifles. I have always shot jacketed bullets in rifles, but would like to venture out into the cast realm. I would like to know of people's experience using the Lyman 311679 bullet in the 308 winchester, 300 savage or even the 300 winchester mag. Likes, dislikes of the design along with its accuracy and potential at higher speeds (above 2,000 fps).

Thanks

[Ben]

I owned one for about a yr., it never lived up to my expectations.

It is all about throat fit, twist, speed , alloy, lube, etc.

Maybe for a yr. I just never landed on the right combination with that particular mold.

I've got 15 + .30 cal. molds, 70% of them shot better than the 311679 in my MANY 308 Win's. and 30 / 06's.

My SAECO 315, the 311466, 311467, 31141 HP , my Cramer 191 Spire Point , Lee 200 gr. RN and even the much maligned 210 gr. Lee HBC, will shoot circles around the 311679 in my rifles.

The 679' is a bench rest design bullet and the brain child of the bench rest shooter, John Ardito.This is the mould that John Ardito designed for Lyman. It is called the MXL. I've read some favorable reports of the bullet being shot in competition.

Maybe there was something that I wasn't doing correctly with respect to the 679', but it never shot very well for me.

My lone experiences with the bullet are statistically insignificant. Hopefully others who have practical experience with this bullet's performance will contribute here also.

Thanks,

Ben

[RobS]

Ben:
What is your best 200 grain bullet for 30 cal. higher velocity accuracy shooting?

[Ben]

I just replied to another post on " repeatability " when it comes to the " TEST " of an accurate load.

This load with the 190 gr. Lyman 311467 with a gas check ( which may or may not be the velocity that you're looking for ) is very repeatable and will shoot in this manner , 5 shot group after 5 shot group.

I never used a Loverin bullet design that didn't shoot well.
To quote Beagle, " I never met a Loverin that I didn't like."

It might also be worth mentioning, if you have a long throat in your .30 cal. rifle, this is a good bullet that will allow you to seat the bullet out and engage the rifling better than a lot of other .30 cal. bullet designs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/88.jpg

I recently took this double cavity 311467 mold and removed the gas check shank from one of the cavities. Rendering one cav. as a plain based bullet only ( to save a few dollars on the escalating cost of .30 cal. gas checks)

I left the other cav. " as is ", Since I never develop accuracy loads with cast rifle bullets from more than 1 cav., this didn't harm my practical use of this double cav. mold.

The plain based version shoots real well , if you keep your foot out of the accelerator & keep the velocities in the sub 1,400 fps range.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0008-6.jpg

Plain based 311467's sized, lubed and read to fire :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/767.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0010-3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0009-2.jpg

Below is a photo ( 0006 - 5 jpeg) showing the plain based 311467 and the gas checked version of the 311467 , both coming from the same mold :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0006-5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0003-16.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0001-21.jpg

[Larry Gibson]

Robs

In the short necked cartridges you mention I've found 311299 or 314299 to give the best accuracy above 2000 fps for 200 gr bullets. A tight fit of the nose to the rifling is paramount to accuracy. If your bore diameter is .300 or less then the 311299 is best. If your bore is .301+ then the 314299 may be needed.

Just remember this regarding higher velocity in 10" twist barrels; The longer the nose of a cast bullet you hang out into the bore the more chance for unwanted obturation. Unwanted obturation creates imbalances in the bullet which are not good for accuracy given higher velocity and the pressures needed for them.

Larry Gibson

[RobS]

Thanks for the info so far...............I was also looking into the 311299 and 314299 bullets as a potential choice. Was looking for some load data for these two and found some out there, but not any for the 300 WM in this bullet design.

I was also considering the 311644 and have found load data for the 300 WM. Anyone have data for the 311299/314299 bullets???

[45 2.1]

The 679' is a bench rest design bullet and the brain child of the bench rest shooter, John Ardito.This is the mould that John Ardito designed for Lyman. It is called the MXL. I've read some favorable reports of the bullet being shot in competition.

Maybe there was something that I wasn't doing correctly with respect to the 679', but it never shot very well for me.

Ben

John Ardito is a highly respected CBA record holder. He built his rifles and ones for others with matched throats for the boolits he shot...... a cone in cone arrangement. The boolit seated in the throat with basically full engaugement. The smaller cartridges in 30 caliber were used this way with heavier boolits at higher velocities. If your throat doesn't match, I doubt you'll get really good results.

Ben, I would like to know if the boolits nose is a straight taper from the GG or front band to the ogive or if it has two tapers. A straight edge on the boolit against the light will tell.

[Ben]

John Ardito is a highly respected CBA record holder. He built his rifles and ones for others with matched throats for the boolits he shot...... a cone in cone arrangement. The boolit seated in the throat with basically full engaugement. The smaller cartridges in 30 caliber were used this way with heavier boolits at higher velocities. If your throat doesn't match, I doubt you'll get really good results.

Ben, I would like to know if the boolits nose is a straight taper from the GG or front band to the ogive or if it has two tapers. A straight edge on the boolit against the light will tell.

45 2.1

I sold the 311679 mold some time ago. I'm sorry that I do not remember enough about the details of the nose profile to answer your questions.

Ben