Light Plain-Base Cast Boolit for 30-06?

[Buck Shot]

Hey, all,

I'm looking for a light, non-gas checked boolit mold for casting bullets somewhere around 100 gr for my 30-06 (FN M98 from the Colombian military -- Model 1950 -- originally chambered in 30-06) for plinking, maybe shooting squirrels. If I could get something accurate enough to shoot squirrels out to 40 yds, I'd be satisfied. These would be very light loads, almost squibs, so I'm thinking a plain-base boolit should be sufficient.

Not sure of throat/bore diameter of this rifle, but I may get some Cerrosafe and make a casting.

I was thinking about the Lee #90300 which makes a 93-grain plain-base bullet with diameter .311"

Something like this:

https://www.leeprecision.com/mold-dc-311-93-1r

Question: If a .311" diameter bullet is too big for my rifle and I need to go down to .309" -- is that a reasonable amount to be able to swage .311" bullets down in a bullet-sizing die? (I'm fairly new to making and shooting cast boolits.)

I already have Lyman 311332 which makes a 180-gr boolit for 30 cal, but 180 gr of lead just to pop a squirrel seems like a waste...

Thanks for any advice, and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

P.S. Why is it that whenever you're hunting deer, the squirrels are crawling all over you, but when you're hunting squirrels with a .22 -- the deer are pushing each other out of the way to sniff your boots? :-P

[Maven]

B S, Not plain base, but you can shoot these without a gas check: https://www.leeprecision.com/mold-dc-309-113-f Also, sizing down by .002" isn't a problem as long a s you do so concentrically.

[Larry Gibson]

I shoot a lot [thousands probably] of Lee's TL314-90-SWCs through most all of my 30/31 cal rifles including my '06s. I cast them relatively soft, lube them inn a .314 H&I die or TL them and size in a .314 Lee sizer. Lubing first keeps the grooves from wiping away on subsequent sizing. For all my .30 cals I then simply push size the bullets through a Lee .311 sizer.

I use fire formed cases with the flash holes drilled out with a #29 bit. That stops the case headspace from shortening during repeated firings. A bushing NS die or a Lee collet die will allow sizing the necks to just give .002 neck tension on the bullets. I load them over 3.4 gr of Bullseye in the 30-06. That gives 850 fps +/- with excellent accuracy to 100 yards.

[Winger Ed.]

Any of the gas check designs will probably do a good job for ya.
Just don't put the gas check on, and powder coat them.
That should get ya at least up into the mid-teens for speed.

[405grain]

Another option would be to make reduced velocity loads with the 180 grain bullet that you already have. Load the bullets without a gas check and use a small charge of fast burning pistol powder. Unique or red dot come to mind because they are easy to ignite even in smaller charges, and don't seem to be position sensitive. What you'd be looking for are subsonic cast 30-06 loads.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Is 140gr light enough?

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?7786-150-Grain-Plain-Base-30-cal-TL-with-one-large-lube-groove

[Buck Shot]

These are all helpful replies, folks -- thank you very much for your advice. I really appreciate it.

[Dusty Bannister]

JonB, does that bullet even exist? That link goes back to a group buy with the last post 7/07.
It was part of a group buy and those have not been done for quite some time now.

[Thumbcocker]

B S, Not plain base, but you can shoot these without a gas check: https://www.leeprecision.com/mold-dc-309-113-f Also, sizing down by .002" isn't a problem as long a s you do so concentrically.

This. Liquid lube or powder coat as you prefer. Size .311 and be happy.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

JonB, does that bullet even exist? That link goes back to a group buy with the last post 7/07.
It was part of a group buy and those have not been done for quite some time now.
Good Question.
Much like a wild Bull Moose in Southern Minnesota, it do exist ;)

[Joe K]

I use the mp the 311-410 pb mold in the attached link for said purpose. Not as economical as the Lee molds mentioned but I wanted the hp option. Usually pushed with 3.5 to 4.5 grains of bullseye or red dot. Fairly quiet and accurate. Follow Larry’s advice for the brass prep and they last much longer. Hope this helps.
https://www.mp-molds.com/product/mp-311-410-hollow-point-mold-multi-choice/?attribute_pa_number-of-cavities=4-cavities&attribute_pa_pb-bb-gc=plain-base
They look funny in a 30-06 case. I’ll add a photo later.
320211

[Rusty Goose]

While not the 06 case, I tried "cat's sneeze" rounds in a Stevens 30-30 break action single shot years ago. I used a 00 buck pellet and few grains of Unique. I don't remember the exact recipe off the top of my head. It had great accuracy at 50 yds, sounded like a .22lr report.

I can't remember why I got rid of the rifle now, it was fun.

[quack1]

I had good luck using Lyman 311227 in my 30-06, 300 Savage and 30-30 with unique. They weighed 93 grains with wheelweights. Velocity was around 1200fps. Really mild and accurate enough for squirrels, but several inches of drop between 50yds and 100yds. Only punched paper and cans, can't use centerfires for squirrels in Pa.

[Bigslug]

Just taking a stab at the concept here. . .

I'd probably be looking at M1 Carbine-appropriate bullets. . .

Currently out of stock, but the NOE 311-122-FN-J4 is listed in a PB, HP version. The nose of that looks long enough to feed OK in your rifle that was assuredly engineered around 150gr. U.S. M2 ball FMJ.

[Doughty]

Buck Shot, that is the very bullet I use in all my .30 rifles for "grouse" loads. Only I got it in the 6 cavity mold. Just about any alloy, powder coat, size to fit and load over some fast pistol powder.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Found a lot of loads in the books using bullets for the .30 Carbine. I have a bit of fun shooting them out of my -06.