.308 Boolit selection?

[PNW_Steve]

Honest, I tried the search function eight ways to Tuesday and got "no matching results" :-?

What is your favorite mold and load for .308?

I will mostly be shooting paper @ 100-200 yards and need a good boolit to start with.

[jaysouth]

I have molds from Accurate, NOE, Arsenal, lbt and Lee. My most accurate bullet in 308 is a lee 309 160 gr. RN. Powder coated, with gas check over 17 grs. 2400 or 6 grs. of Green Dot. Neither are hunting loads, but a lot of fun and very accurate.

[RickinTN]

The most accurate 308 bullet I have is one I had Tom at Accuratemolds make a mold for me. I did a pound cast of my Remington 700 308 throat and designed the bullet to fit and fill the throat of my rifle. It seats flush at the base of the neck with the bullet contacting the throat.
Good Luck,
Rick

[Winger Ed.]

I've had real good luck with a Lyman 170 RN GC sized to .309 that I originally got for my .30-30.

I like it a lot in my M1A.
The turtles in the stock tank----- not so much.

[Beaverhunter2]

For me it's the RCBS 30-180-FN ACWW PC sized to .311" gas checked 35.0gr H4895 CCI 200. 2280fps out of a 24" Rem. 700

[charlie b]

This site does not do searches of numbers very well. Don't know why. There are many threads on the .308 but they are hard to find in a search of the thread.

Lots of good bullets for the .308. Out to pretty good range the XCB is a great choice. NOE 310-165-FN-H3. It works best for me at 100yd.

For 200yd and longer I like the Accurate 31-210E, a copy of the Eagan design.

I also got decent results with the Lee C309-180, RCBS 165SIL and Lyman 311299 (RCBS and Lyman's I bought from Montana Bullet Works, just to try out).

It all depends on how well they fit your throat.

[Photog]

matching the boolit size to the bore and throat will be more important than the mold used, and then matching the hardness to the speed will matter too.
To load rifle boolits, pick a velocity you think you can live with like 1700fps (hint hint) and then design a load that gets close and is as accurate as possible. Using heavier than usual boolits for the cartridge, say 180gr or 200gr will give you more fore/aft adjustment for fitting the boolit into the throat. It also allows the cartridge to build pressure with slower powder better than a lighter boolit. A lighter boolit may work better in a slow twist rifle at higher speeds, so you will want to drive them faster to get them to stabilize. Lots of 308s have 1:10 which will stabilize a big range of .308 projectiles, if you have a 1:12 or 1:14, the longer heavier boolits may not work as well. Slug your barrel, and size the boolits .001 (at least) over the groove size. Play with seating depth, get the boolit to almost touch the rifling. use a powder that gets you to the desired velocity and call it a day!
I've used Lee 120gr RN, and 180gr (C309-180) in my 308 mauser and in 30-06, but it takes some experimentation to get them to work well.

[Leadmad]

Lyman 314299 sized to 309 over 23 grains ADI 2207 (4198) + Polyester filler .75 grains = 1800 fps, very useful projectile for a variety of other .30 calibres

[mehavey]

See https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?384215-Best-308win-cast-bullet-for-multiple-uses&p=4686013&viewfull=1#post4686013 for gas gun

311299 for bolt action https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?218995-3-4-quot-group-311299-in-30-06!&p=2466518&viewfull=1#post2466518

[Larry Gibson]

I'm a traditional luber and have tried numerous cast in numerous 308Ws over the last 50+ years. None have proven more accurate than the NOE 30 XCB, 310-164-FN.

[robg]

lee 160 or 180 work for me

[LenH]

i have settled on the NOE 310-167-FN-AK3 Gas checked and lubed with WL Carnauba blue pushed with 17.5 gr of 2400 alloy was #2. Shoots great at 100 yards. just a bit over MOA.

[popper]

31-165A or C from my AR10 is good to 200. 40gr 4895 or ARComp. Designed by others for 308W throat, but has a small FN so drop @ 200 is ~ 6".

[Mk42gunner]

The Lee 312-185 sized .311" in front of 16 grains of 2400 does what I want it to do, I haven't really looked for other molds. IIRC it gets a bit under 1600 fps from my 26" barrel.

I'm not saying it is the best, but pre-panic, it was one of the least expensive options.

Robert

[waksupi]

IMHO, a .30 bore starts performing best with a 180-220 gr. Loverin.

[Shopdog]

My "heavy" varmint load for a '16 stainless CDL,30-06;

Lee C309-150F,unsized... lube only small gap over GC with 3-1 BW-Vaseline... fueled by 39g Varget,and a med-hard jam. This is just under starting '06 JB book loads. I have some nice 308W's but they don't hold a candle to this load/rig. It's good for 5 rounds before the fluted "magnum" brrl is stinking hot. 1st,cold bore shots are no excuses,right in with the balance of shots. Hovers around 3/4 moa off a bench. But is deadly accurate under typical Ghog,field positions.

[PNW_Steve]

WOW!!

Thank you for all of the great input. I think I just got my associates degree in .308 cast bullets :Fire:

I am going to take your suggestions and hit EvilBay and see what I can find for molds. That will get me started, then I can look into casting the chamber and designing a mold to fit.

I did see a mold that caught my attention....Lee 90307 .309-230-5R claims a BC of .688 . I suspect it may not stabilize in 1:10. Has anyone played with one?

[PNW_Steve]

I am fine with steel, brass or aluminum molds. Unfortunately, I am finding today that most of the good ones are made from unobtanium......

Anyone want to part with an XCB mold?? :mrgreen:

[popper]

Lee 90307 .309-230-5R Not a good reputation in BO, no 1:10 won't work.

[toallmy]

I am fine with steel, brass or aluminum molds. Unfortunately, I am finding today that most of the good ones are made from unobtanium......

Anyone want to part with an XCB mold?? :mrgreen:

Someone may be willing to part with a sample of the boolits also .

[quilbilly]

I have two 308's and each likes something different even though they have the same twist but different barrel length. The 22" barrel Remington likes anything round nose at about 160 gr (either the Lee or an old Lyman Loverin style) run at about 1900 FPS with 2400 powder. That rifle will shoot those sub-MOA all day long. The 16-1/4" barrel Mossberg likes heavies (180 gr and up) run slower or even sub-sonic as long as the powder is fast burning. My favorite in the Mossberg is the old Loverin style mold that drop at 196 gr with my alloy.

[ShooterAZ]

The RCBS 30-165-Sil is another good boolit in 308W, as is the Lyman 311299.

[PNW_Steve]

Things are REALLY thin on the used market.

All I have found so far are Lee C309-200-R and C309-180-R.

Unless I find something superior shortly, I am going to order one of those to get started and order a custom mold based on my slugging results.

If anyone has one of the above discussed non-Lee molds that you want to part with give me a yell :p

[gwpercle]

My pet 308 Win. load :
Lee C309-170-F , cast 50/50 COWW / range scrap , air cooled , sized .309" w/ GC , Lithi-Bee bullet lube :

12.5 grs. Red Dot @ 1565 fps .
12.5 grs. Unique @ 1600 fps .
30.0 grs. imr - 4895 @ 1860 fps .
35.4 grs. imr - 3031 @ 2284 fps .

For what it's worth !
Gary

[PNW_Steve]

My pet 308 Win. load :
Lee C309-170-F , cast 50/50 COWW / range scrap , air cooled , sized .309" w/ GC , Lithi-Bee bullet lube :

12.5 grs. Red Dot @ 1565 fps .
12.5 grs. Unique @ 1600 fps .
30.0 grs. imr - 4895 @ 1860 fps .
35.4 grs. imr - 3031 @ 2284 fps .

For what it's worth !
Gary

I would not have thought of Red Dot or Unique for .308 ; Those are powders that I have used quite a bit loading pistol.

The lead that I am casting with is essentially "new" range scrap. It is the fall off from a bullet manufacturer. No wheel weights. Is there something in the WW that is needful? I have tin and antimony on hand but have not been adding it for my pistol boolits.

I have also read some about adding 2% copper to strengthen the bullets. They explained how the copper affects the grain of the metal making the bullet harder without making it brittle. Any thoughts on that practice? As I begin to cast rifle boolits it sounds good but I have a little healthy skepticism. What do you all think?

[charlie b]

Alloy. Range scrap can be quite soft and need some tin added. Antimony is useful to make the bullets a bit harder if you are using lube. You can look up the lead pencil test to see how soft it is. Adding copper is an advanced technique and not really needed for 'normal' cast velocities.

While the Lee molds you found are good designs, I'd never buy a used Lee mold without examining it in person (and maybe not even then). They are typically 'abused' a lot.

[Bigslug]

The NOE / Ranch Dog tumble luber gas check is specifically designed for the short neck of the .308W case and is profiled for the SAAMI-spec throat. I believe the last iteration was a 178 grainer (NOE's site not coming up for me at present). It's designed as a flat-pointed hunting bullet, so it may not be your best choice for distance, but it is REALLY GOOD at destroying things. It is my primary off-hand practice bullet for my hunting rifle - feedback from milk jugs and other water bottles is. . .considerable.:mrgreen: