Cast 8mm .325 Boolit molds

[Keyman]

My hunting partner gifted my wife a Browning A Bolt in .325 WSM with 1 in 10 twist. I would like to find a boolit mold 200 grain or more with gas check, as the Factory ammo he used was 200 grain. This load would be for moose and bear with a maximum distance of 200 yards. This is the link to that mold. [URL="https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/000068mmkar/8mm-karabiner-215-grain-double-cavity-reproduction-mold"] Most of the molds I have found are 190 grain or less. This is one mold I found, but not sure about the use of a gas check.

Maybe for under 200 yards a lighter cast boolit may be a better choice, as uses less powder, and less recoil. I found in the Lyman Reloading Manual for 325 WSM a 165 grain gas check boolit #323470. I slugged barrel and it was .323, so i want to cast and size to 324 correct? I have W Weights, soft lead, range lead, lead shot, and pewter. Thanks for your help. Keyman

I could not figure out how to make the web address blue so you could just click on it. Any ideas of how to do it?

[405grain]

You are correct in wanting a cast bullet that's sized .001" over groove diameter. I like the Saeco #081, which lists as a 190 grain bullet, but casts at 200 grains with my alloy. I also like NOE molds (though I do not have a mold from them in 8mm [yet]). If you want a heavy 8mm bullet you should have a look a NOE's 323-255-RN. Unfortunately the hollow-point version of this bullet is currently sold out. There are several other mold makers that produce quality molds, but I have no personal knowledge of those brands in 8mm size so I'll let others contribute their thoughts.

[LAGS]

I have one of the NOE 325-216 gr spire point molds.
It works great in my 8mm Mausers and a 8 mm06 that I built.
Very good for long distances.

[Shiloh]

I have the LEE .325 185 gr RN. Run two molds at a time.
I'm pleased with it. The Mid South moulds are VERY fat and heavy. No where close to listed weight. The shoot well. They also have a more stout recoil and hit the gong with a WHACK!!!

Shiloh

[kungfustyle]

Got one of these for my mauser https://www.mp-molds.com/product/8mm-hunter-gas-check-solid-4-cavity-mold/ https://www.mp-molds.com/product/8mm-hunter-gas-check-solid-2-cavity-mold/
Already has the flat point and good accurate boolit.

[bruce drake]

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/000068mmkar/8mm-karabiner-215-grain-double-cavity-reproduction-mold
I recommend this mold. My alloy has it drop at about 220gr but it should be perfect for a hunting load with its flat nose.

[Keyman]

In reply to 405grain

I like the looks of the Saeco 081 mold. What alloy do you use to get it up to 200 grains, what size are they when dropped from mold, what are you lubing with, and how fast do you push them, and what powder do you use.

Keyman

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[Keyman]

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/000068mmkar/8mm-karabiner-215-grain-double-cavity-reproduction-mold
I recommend this mold. My alloy has it drop at about 220gr but it should be perfect for a hunting load with its flat nose.

Bruce, Do you use a gas check, and what do you lube with, and how fast do you load them?

Keyman

[mpkunz607]

Thanx for posting the link. I went right to the link and bought one. :o)

[TurnipEaterDown]

I like the Saeco #081, which lists as a 190 grain bullet, ...
I will second that. It was teh second 8 mm mold I bought, and then I stopped buying 8 mm molds. Literally, I've shot thousands of cast bullets through a 24-47 Yugo 8x57, and liked it so much that I had a 8x57 barrel made for a Rem 700.
Started w/ the LEE 175 gr I think it was, and after 2000 - 3000 bullets the mold went poop, so I got the Saeco. Probably have made another 2000-3000 of these and I only have 400 or so sitting in my box of ready bullets. Easy to get this bullet to shoot well, and I've used Bullseye, 700X, 2400, SR4759, 4895, 2495, 3031, N201, and a Surplus Russian Flake (FSP749) under it.
I shoot it 1400-1800 fps usually based on my spreadsheet, and it just works.
Lyman pushes it a lot faster, though I haven't used it faster myself.

[beemer]

My Lyman 323470 pours .324, probably out of wheel weights. The Lee is close to .325. I have one of the Mid South molds, would have to dig it out to tell you which one. They do pour fat, mine is .326-7. The Mid South would not feed out of one side of the mag of my M48 Mauser. I turned it into a RN, feeds better. For my use I wouldn't turn my head for the difference as all shoot well.

I lube with 50/50 and use a GC. I use 20-22 grs. of IMR 4198.

[KMac]

Got one of these for my mauser https://www.mp-molds.com/product/8mm-hunter-gas-check-solid-4-cavity-mold/ https://www.mp-molds.com/product/8mm-hunter-gas-check-solid-2-cavity-mold/
Already has the flat point and good accurate boolit.

I got that same mold. I haven’t cast with it yet though. Done any load development for yours yet? I would sure be interested in what what you have come up with.

[Keyman]

Thanks for the places to look for molds. I was not seeing the different heavy molds. Can I use jacketed boolit weights to load cast boolits? Or are they going to be to hot and lead the barrel?

Thanks Keyman

[TurnipEaterDown]

For Maximum permissible loadings, jacketed data of equivalent weight bullet can often be used for cast bullets.

For more suitably reduced loadings (325 WSM able to drive past 2200 fps w/ 200 gr ish weights, generally past this is too high for getting accuracy easily w/ GC lead) a person can check Lyman manuals.
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook #4 has data for 325 WSM. In this instance Lyman used 4895, N133, RX7, 4198, 5744, SR4759 to achieve 2200 fps w/ Saeco 081.

[wmitty]

It might be worthwhile to look for the 8 mm maximum mould which midsouth sold at one time. I have a mould of this design and it drops roughly 250 grain boolits at .324” and it’s slightly longer than the Karabiner design and shoots quite well in my Zastava 7.92 x 57. The higher sectional density would improve penetration on large animals. I also have the Lyman 323470 and RCBS 32 - 180 - FN designs; and the RCBS is the most used of the three. I should add that the alloy you use should be soft enough to prevent the brittleness of a high antimony alloy; i. e. 50/50 lead/ wheel weights. This should allow the higher sectional density designs to penetrate without breaking up…

[405grain]

Keyman: The alloy that I use is 93% lead, 4.25% antimony, 2.5% tin, 0.25% arsenic, (for the tin content I use lead free solder which adds a trace amounts of copper). This is supposed to produce an alloy with a BHN around 13.5 air cooled, but my bullets with this alloy are pencil testing at 22 BHN. When water quenched they ring when struck, so must be muy hard. I generally cut this alloy 50/50 with pure lead for pistol bullets. If you use an alloy that's similar to Lyman #2 it should work for any hunting application.

If I remember right, the mold casts just over .324". I size to .324" and the driving bands come out nice and shiny, so it must be just barely over .324" I'm half-way crazy so I don't lube in the conventional way. On my cast rifle bullets I powder coat just the driving bands, and leave the bullet nose uncoated. I run the bullets through a push through sizer both before and after powder coating. Then I swirl lube the bullets in 45-45-10.

For most of my cast loads I've been using Shooter's World Buffalo Rifle. This is very similar to AA5744, but burns a little cleaner. Bullets that are designed to use gas checks almost always preform better with checks installed. I've used both copper and aluminum gas checks, and both types preform well. As a general rule, cast rifle bullets often work best at velocities between 1400 to 1900 fps. Once you start going above 2000 fps it often requires lots of extra effort to get good accuracy. For hunting applications you probably wouldn't want to go above 2000 fps anyway. Jacketed bullets are much harder to expand than cast bullets, and require a higher velocity for best terminal performance. Cast bullets do not have a tough copper jacket to overcome, so they expand well at lower velocities. For hunting applications you want a good combination of penetration and expansion. If you try using cast bullets at jacketed velocities you may get way too much expansion (fragmentation) at the expense of penetration. A load between 1850 to 2000 fps may work best in hunting situations.

With any hunting loads, cast or otherwise, being able to hit game in the vital areas is more important than almost any other factor. Because of this it's more important to work up the most accurate load rather than the one that's fastest or most powerful. As a minimum requirement I would choose a bullet/load combination that's capable of breaking the shoulder and penetrating to the boiler room on the game that I'm hunting. In my humble experience, if a bullet will shoot through two pieces of 3/4" plywood, then bury itself inside a foot thick stack of wet phone books, it can take down any non-dangerous game on this side of the planet. That means that the main limiting factor will be the skill of the shooter.

Lastly, if you haven't already done so, I suggest that you get yourself a copy of the 4th edition of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. It's a gold mine of casting information.

[Keyman]

405grain. What a great response with so much info. I do want to load lighter fps as this should help with recoil. I need to go thru my boxes of books and find the cast bullet books. How should I come up with the correct amount of powder to use to start load development? Thanks for the great help.

Keyman

[bruce drake]

Bruce, Do you use a gas check, and what do you lube with, and how fast do you load them?

Keyman

Hornady Gas check for .32 caliber bullets, poly coat and I keep them at around 1700fps for my 8x57 and 8mm-06 rifles.

edit. I've also shot the same bullet to 1700fps with Lee ALOX tumble lube and White Label BAC lube with no issues.

[kungfustyle]

I got that same mold. I haven’t cast with it yet though. Done any load development for yours yet? I would sure be interested in what what you have come up with.

H4895 tried 38,39 and 40 for about 2" groups and then tried the other end: 32, 33, 34 33 had less than 1" all of the other low end powder charges were just a touch bigger. I may drop down to 31 with dacron with 30, 32 and 33 in the test. col was about 2.75 with transformed brass (30-06)

[Whole Bunches]

kungfustye & MKac,

Would one of you please measure the width of the flat point on your 8mm MP mold? I have the Lee 8mm Max, and its flat point is ~.2". While it's nicely accurate, it hangs up on the tip as it's leaving the magazine of my Danish Krag, so I can only shoot the Krag as a single shot and don't get the benefit of playing with Krag's magazine mechanism. It appears your boolit has a smaller flat tip and might feed OK in the Krag.

The Lee Max does feed perfectly in my Swedish rolling block. :lol:

[KMac]

Whole Bunches,
I apologize on getting back to you so late. Been out of town for work and just catching up. The meplat on the MP 8mm 180 gr Hunter is approx .150

[KMac]

H4895 tried 38,39 and 40 for about 2" groups and then tried the other end: 32, 33, 34 33 had less than 1" all of the other low end powder charges were just a touch bigger. I may drop down to 31 with dacron with 30, 32 and 33 in the test. col was about 2.75 with transformed brass (30-06)

Kungfustyle,
Thank you so much for that info.
That gives me a good starting point. I am also using 30-06 brass and I have a couple of bottles of H4895. Hopefully get to it sometime this Spring.