K-98 Bullet Suggestions

[philthephlier]

I am a relative newbie to center-fire bullet casting. I have a K-98 with a frosty bore with groove diameter of.325. It shoots jacketed bullets surprisingly well. Is a frosty bore automatically a no go for cast bullets and if not what is a good bullet to cast for it? Will any of the Lee Molds cast at .325" or for that matter any factory mold? Or will I have to go the custom route?

[Maven]

ptp, since you aren't experiencing any problems with jacketed bullets in the frosted bore, it won't pose a problem for CB's. However, you'll need to remove every trace of Cu fouling before using CB's. As for the Lee 8mm Mau. mold (very inexpensive relative to a custom mold), it MAY cast as large as .325", but that isn't the main problem. To wit, it is a bore-riding design, but the nose on mine is too small to be engraved and guided by the rifling. If you purchase one, take a few of its droppings and insert them nose first into your muzzle. If they fall in up to the driving bands with little/no resistance or engraving by the rifling, they are too small and accuracy won't be top notch. Since your bore is .325", you'll probably need to size to .326". As it is likely that the Lee mold won't cast that large, you'll have to "beagle" it. I.e., you'll need to add small strips of heat-resistant air conditioning Al duct tape to one or both sides of the mold in order to increase the "as cast" diameter. Search the site's archives for more information about beagling a mold. If that doesn't work, you'll have to look for a custom mold.

Hope this helps!

[Larry Gibson]

Maven's advice is good and one which I would follow. You might look at Lyman's 323470. It is a Lovern design that does well in the 8mm. It generally casts out around .325 and fit s the long throat of milsurp 8x57s quite well.

Larry Gibson

[EDG]

Considering the cost of many new molds you might consider having Mountain Moulds make you a new mold to fit your application.

[hydraulic]

I agree with Larry Gibson on the Lyman 323470. I run them through a .325 sizer, but just to seat the gas check and lube them. They come out of the mould somewhat larger. I shoot an old Turk Mauser and get good results from 13 grs. of Unique.

[Maven]

All, Larry's recommendation re #323470 is excellent, but the one I had (ca. 1980) cast only to .323". #323471, which I later acquired, wasn't much better, casting almost to, but not quite .324". In short, it's sometimes a gamble as to what size CB's a commercial mold will drop. (Notice that the prefix on the 2 aforementioned molds is "323".) If something as wide as .325" or more is needed, beagling may be the more cost effective route. (It didn't work on my Lee 8mm mold at all.) If not, a custom mold may be the only, and sadly, more costly option.

[medicstimpy]

I've been using the Lee C324-175-1R with Lars Red Carnuba lube and get pleasant results out of a M48 Yugo Mauser. :)