Recommend me a mold

[hylander]

I need suggestions.
I have been shooting boolits for my 30-30's from The Cast Bullet Shop.
They are Lyman 311041, my guns love them.
But I would like to cast my own. I like two cavity molds.
What make do you all suggest?

[Targa]

I have this 170 grain Lee mold that my Winchester likes.

[P Flados]

The Lee 170 is well respected and you are really not going to do much better for bullet design.

Some folks (me included) are Ok will Lee molds, others not so much.

All rifle molds are usually something of a dice roll as far as having a specific gun like them.

[hylander]

The Lee 170 says it cast at .309
I need to be able to size to .311

[Targa]

You would be rolling the dice a little bit. My Winchester’s bore slugged at .309 and I was fortunate enough that the Lee cast at .311 with my alloy which allowed me to size to .310.

[Bazoo]

Why not find a nice used Lyman 31141 or 311041? NOE makes a close copy https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/bullet-moulds/308-311/311-184-fn-j5/311-184-fn-j5-2-cavity-gc-311041/

The RCBS 30-180-FN is very similar, and RCBS moulds are usually very nice to work with. I had one, and it was just a touch long for my rifle, jamming the nose into the rifling.

[Fitz]

The Lee 170 says it cast at .309
I need to be able to size to .311
With a mould that cast .309 and your goal size of .311 when you powder coat a .309 bullet it will be .311 or there about, with all that being said I have seen few lee mould that drop a cast bullet as advertised you will just have to but one of their moulds and roll the dice. then buy a push through sizing die then you are golden

[Bigslug]

Accurate Molds 31-170EN. Order in to drop in whatever diameter you like, out of whatever alloy you like.

[MUSTANG]

I find my NOE version of the 311041 excellent:

https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/bullet-moulds/308-311/311-184-fn-j5/311-184-fn-j5-2-cavity-gc-311041/

There was a short thread on this site for the 311041/311041 molds:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?242926-noe-311041

[405grain]

All of the above are good suggestions. If you like the Lyman #311041, why not get that mold?

[flatnose]

Dont waste your time, money and frustration. Go to Accurate molds put in the style, alloy, and diameter needed. No need to gamble on what dia you will end up with. It will last a lifetime also.

[longbow]

I would suggest the Lyman 31141 as it shoots very well in my .308 and in a friend's gun but it also casts about 0.310" so small for you if you want to size to 0.311".

Even worse, I bought a Lyman 314299 and it cast at 0.312"/0.313" using wheel weights. Yes, I know, if I used Lyman #2 alloy I might see 0.001" larger but even that is small in my mond. I think when the mould maker says it will cast at 0.314" it should cast no less than 0.314" and preferably a thou or so larger so it can be sized to that number.

Point being that the 31141 is a great bullet but a Lyman mould may well cast too small for your needs.

I would go with MUSTANG's suggestion of an Accurate mould. He does excellent work and you can order the cavity size to suit the alloy you want to use and get your 0.311"+ bullet that can then be sized to 0.311".

I don't trust Lyman anymore. Just my experience and opinion.

Longbow

[Bazoo]

I went through a couple before I found a Lyman 31141 that suited me. That said..., I don't have the best of luck and I wanted a "real" one. If I had it to do over I'd probably went with an accurate nor NOE. If I doubly had it to do over, I'd had my 30-30 throated a bit to accept the RCBS 30-180-FN. Like all RCBS moulds I've ever used, it cast beautifully.

[Bazoo]

I find my NOE version of the 311041 excellent:

https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/bullet-moulds/308-311/311-184-fn-j5/311-184-fn-j5-2-cavity-gc-311041/

There was a short thread on this site for the 311041/311041 molds:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?242926-noe-311041

Thanks for the link to that thread, it was interesting.

[hylander]

Thanks for all the input

[dale2242]

311291 was designed for the 30-30.
It has performed well in any 30-caliber gun that I have used it in.

[Rapier]

I have a few 30 moulds. Hard to beat the RCBS 150 Flat Nose and the 165 FP or 180 FP. These are gas checked so I have gone to the plain base version for powder coating. The 150 has a large for diameter meplat. The 165 and 180 have a smaller flat point and are very accurate for 200 meter use.

[Soundguy]

I need suggestions.
I have been shooting boolits for my 30-30's from The Cast Bullet Shop.
They are Lyman 311041, my guns love them.
But I would like to cast my own. I like two cavity molds.
What make do you all suggest?

I use 3 lee molds.. for light 110 to 113 gr.. the lee C 309 113 F gas check
for 150 C309 150 F gas checked
and for 170 C 309 170 F gas checked

All are flat nosed and gas check and run great.

[justindad]

Dont waste your time, money and frustration. Go to Accurate molds put in the style, alloy, and diameter needed. No need to gamble on what dia you will end up with. It will last a lifetime also.

I’ve had four new Lyman molds and only one had concentric cavities - two were so far off that severe leading would occur in 10 shots. I strongly recommend getting a copy from Accurate or NOE.

[Bazoo]

The 311291 is just a bit too long fit in my 1970 made model 94 Winchester’s throat. So not all 30-30s take them without balking.

[hylander]

Thanks for the input 👍
I ordered the NOE version of the 311041
311-184-FN-J5 2 Cavity GC

[RickinTN]

I have a few 30 moulds. Hard to beat the RCBS 150 Flat Nose and the 165 FP or 180 FP. These are gas checked so I have gone to the plain base version for powder coating. The 150 has a large for diameter meplat. The 165 and 180 have a smaller flat point and are very accurate for 200 meter use.

The 165 and 180 are not 30-30 bullets. They are 308 and 30-06 and such bullets. Won't work in a lever action 30-30.
Rick