New to the site, and new to the casting life! Trying to feed my Ross!

[TheFlynn01]

Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am new to the game of casting and reloading. Have been reloading for less than a year, and brand new to casting. Green behind the ears. I have a love for historical fire arms and have had the luck of finding some old ones and fixing them up. Yet it is hard to feed them with some of their less than popular rounds haha. What has got me into this is a Ross Mark IIIB. Really good condition rifle, and the bore looks good to me, in my limited experience, but she shoots wide. I was using PPU 174 grain and I have heard that those are a bit small, around .311, when some of these war time 303 guns need around .312-.314ish, if my research is correct. So any help or advice would be grand! I am excited to be here and to learn from you all! :D

Thanks much!

Mike

[farmbif]

welcome, yes, this is why Lyman makes the 314299 mould as well as the 311299

[sundog]

NOE makes superb molds in 312299, 314299, and 316299. In my experience, they cast more consistently and closer to spec than a newer Lyman. An older Lyman or Ideal would also be 'mo betta' if in good condition.

A bore slug would help determine best size.

[TheFlynn01]

Okay awesome so I have plenty of molds to choose from! How would I go about sluging the bore?

[metricmonkeywrench]

Welcome to the madness, nothing to add to the Ross issue. if you poke around a bit there's several threads to the new folks that give good references and links to some of the site's folks favorite resources. my two personal go-to are:

http://www.lasc.us/articlesfryxell.htm
http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohland/Cast_Bullet/Ideal-Lyman_Molds/Ideal-Lyman_Mold_Descriptions.html

[JoeJames]

I started back a couple or so years ago. The members on here helped me out a bunch. And the free PDF online book -
From Ingot to Target: A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners
http://www.lasc.us › fryxell_book_contents

Helped me a great deal also.

[TheFlynn01]

Awesome, I will look into those sites, I am happy to be here and eager to learn!

[pworley1]

Welcome to the site, You can learn a lot from reading the stickies.

[hoodat]

I slug the bore with swaged round balls, driving them into the muzzle with a brass or plastic hammer until the smashed excess easily separates by driving the slug down into the bore with a wooden dowels. (oil the barrel first) push the slug on through with a cleaning rod, and measure carefully. (they are soft)

You can do the same if you have some oversized molds to cast a few soft bullets in. jd

[TheFlynn01]

Awesome, I will give that a shot, thank you Hoodat.


So, once I get the proper size for my bore, I want it to be a little larger if I am reading these things proper? So if it is .312 in size, I should try to cast .313 or there abouts?

[Markopolo]

Awesome, I will give that a shot, thank you Hoodat.


So, once I get the proper size for my bore, I want it to be a little larger if I am reading these things proper? So if it is .312 in size, I should try to cast .313 or there abouts?

Welcome to the forum… and greetings from Alaska.

Yes! measure and go a couple thousands bigger and try it again… But I am not sure that is your problem… tell me what the groups look like.. what happens when you take say 3 shots at a clean target. Are they all in nearly the same place but wide left or right? Or are they in a row vertically? Or spread all over the target? Those are the clues that make reloading so much fun!

Also, keep an eyeball on that bolt if you take it apart. I would suggest you do some real homework about how the bolt assembly goes together, as they can be assembled wrong and look correct at first glance, allowing it to fire out of battery. Here is a great video about it…


https://youtu.be/EaSui_UqDX8

Welcome to the Fun.

MarkoPolo

[Smoke4320]

Welcome. You are in good hands here. members here will guide you along the long windy road

[TheFlynn01]

Welcome to the forum… and greetings from Alaska.

Yes! measure and go a couple thousands bigger and try it again… But I am not sure that is your problem… tell me what the groups look like.. what happens when you take say 3 shots at a clean target. Are they all in nearly the same place but wide left or right? Or are they in a row vertically? Or spread all over the target? Those are the clues that make reloading so much fun!

Also, keep an eyeball on that bolt if you take it apart. I would suggest you do some real homework about how the bolt assembly goes together, as they can be assembled wrong and look correct at first glance, allowing it to fire out of battery. Here is a great video about it…


https://youtu.be/EaSui_UqDX8

Welcome to the Fun.

MarkoPolo

I will be sure to be careful! I would not want to blow the thing up, that is for sure! So once I get the barrel slugged, and find the bore size, then get the mold to cast and fit it proper I can start working up some loads, any advice on that? The only powder I have is IMR 4198 and 4895 that I have for reloading my krag.

[BrassMagnet]

You have good powders. Check your PMs.

[skeettx]

Enjoy the adventure, BrassMagnet will steer you straight

Mike

[jeepyj]

You say your green but asking the right questions. Although I don't have much to add for your particular rifle I'd like welcome you aboard!

[john.k]

Everyone knows all about Ross MkIII bolts.......but apart from the obvious,there is a small flat washer with a tag on it ,that fits in a keyway inside the bolt......if this tag isnt carefully fitted to the keyway,the washer forces the firing pin over and scores it .

[TheFlynn01]

You say your green but asking the right questions. Although I don't have much to add for your particular rifle I'd like welcome you aboard!

Well thanks for saying so! It is all still Greek to me though, so what I got is simply from reading when I can find it!

[TheFlynn01]

Everyone knows all about Ross MkIII bolts.......but apart from the obvious,there is a small flat washer with a tag on it ,that fits in a keyway inside the bolt......if this tag isnt carefully fitted to the keyway,the washer forces the firing pin over and scores it .

Interesting to know. When I got the rifle I gave it a tear down and cleaned it top to bottom. The bolt was filled with mud and the washer was not screwed all the way in. So I am glad I didnt try to fire it before my first cleaning and tear down.

[brstevns]

Welcome, when slugging the barrel using wood dowels start with a short rod first then to a longer rod each time. Be sure to remove the short rod before going to the next longer rod. doing it this way you will not break the dowel off leaving it in the barrel.

[TheFlynn01]

Welcome, when slugging the barrel using wood dowels start with a short rod first then to a longer rod each time. Be sure to remove the short rod before going to the next longer rod. doing it this way you will not break the dowel off leaving it in the barrel.

Sounds like a plan. Saw a few videos on it too. The soft lead balls I ordered should be coming in soon. Which I am excited for to get it checked out.

[brstevns]

Those little egg shaped sinkers from Wally World also work well, just make sure to get the lead ones

[myg30]

Welcome Mr Flynn01 and hope you find all the wealth of knowledge here on CB and use it and carry on passing the info to others. Every aspect of firearms, shooting and of course Casting boolits is all here for the reading.
Guys and gals here are top notch in helping others out.

Be safe and enjoy that Ross 303.

Mike

[WRideout]

I passed up a Ross many years ago, and have regretted it ever since. I do love those quirky old rifles. I did get a Swiss K31, though; also straight pull. Have fun with your experimenting.

Wayne

[john.k]

I would not bother slugging the bore ...Ross barrels are near exact to dimension 303bore/312 groove....the stories of offsize 303s come from WW2 production in the UK......The only cast bullet Ive had problems with is the Lyman 314299......this bullet needs very hard alloy to avoid having the long sharp point slump on firing,and produce wide flyers .

[brstevns]

My 303 likes the 311291 and 311284. Lucked out as both of my molds cast. 314 bullets

[TheFlynn01]

I would not bother slugging the bore ...Ross barrels are near exact to dimension 303bore/312 groove....the stories of offsize 303s come from WW2 production in the UK......The only cast bullet Ive had problems with is the Lyman 314299......this bullet needs very hard alloy to avoid having the long sharp point slump on firing,and produce wide flyers .

Well the reason I was thinking of slugging the bore was because It did not eat PPU stuff well. It would load and run them fine. But I was getting a huge pattern at 50 yards, with keyholing. Now I am not the best shot in the world, but the keyholing is what made me think that the bullets are too small. The rifling pretty worn and such. So I am hoping with a larger projectile, I might get something we might call accuracy out of it. It will be fun to try at least!

[brstevns]

My Lee Enfield MKI III keyhole WW and Remington factory. I slugged the bore and find it had a .3135 diameter. The WW and Rem. bullets were .311 once I started using a cast size to .314 everything fell into place. It shoots the Lyman 311291 that falls from my mold at .314 better then I can hold. 1 inch groups at 100 yards has become the norm.

[TheFlynn01]

thats awesome. I cant wait!