NEI Mould for .303 British?

[35 Whelen]

I'm really wanting to get a mould for my No. 4 Mk.1. I don't think I have the patience to wait for the Fat 30 to come to fruition, so I'm looking at ready made moulds. My Savage Enfield has a .315" groove diameter, so I'm looking for a larger bullet. NEI states that their bullets will cast .002-.003" "over" diameter, so I'm looking at their .313", .316" and possibly .318" moulds. The specific designs I'm interested in are the 83A. 85A & 86.

My only concern is that some of the bullet designs I'm interested in only have one lube groove. Is this enough? Anyone have experience with NEI moulds? Are they good quality?
Thanks for the advise,
35W

[Buckshot]

...........Hey there! How's dad and Suger? 8) NEI moulds were excellent while Walt was cutting them, and I understand his son in law is doing just as fine a job. None of the NEI's I've seen have been the latest editions, but the older ones were not grossly (.002-3") oversized from the stated OD. I think that was just slush room Walt had in there for people using all different alloys and casting temps.

What size you get needs to be determined by what the rifle wants. Means ya gotta slug it. I'd go at least .002" over groove diameter, and depending on the throat, maybe a thou UNDER the throat diameter is the throat is a lot larger then the groove.

Any of those slugs would work pretty well. I think all the SMLE had either 5 groove or 2 groove barrels. Both provide excellent support for the slug's nose. The #80A and 85A are aimed more at the 2 groove barrels as I think they're like 60% or more bore. They have skinny grooves. The 5 groove barrels are equidistant lands and grooves for 50% lands. Still plenty of nose support.

For me, my first 2 choices would be the 180 or 200 gr slugs. I normally like the heavier ones myself. The single LG shouldn't be a problem. Several of the Saeco designs are single LG's and they work just fine. Possibly if you were shooting a lot on a hot day a lube issue might appear, but they have some pretty fancy stuff these days that holds up well.

..................Buckshot

[oksmle]

35 Whelen .... I have both the #83A & #85A in 4 cavity molds. They were both purchased in hopes that the bullets cast would fit my #4 Mk1 Savage. The groove diameter in the Savage is .313", the throat measures .318" & the bore is .305". Both bullets cast as advertised as far as the bodies were concerned, but the noses only measured .303". Fortunatly both my Krags like the #83A so I kept it for them. I finally sent the #85A back to NEI & had Walt Melander put a ring around the nose portion of each cavity which measured a heavy .305". This worked very well in my Savage. But the best "all around" SMLE mold I have at present is the Fat 30. It's getting more work now than all my other molds put together. Because of the design it will fit a wide variety of "fat 30" rifles. I even reamed the last cavity out so it now casts a plain base bullet. This means that one in every six bullets cast is a PB. I reamed it to cast a heavy .317" on the base band & it fits several SMLEs & both of my 91/30s using fired & unsized cases. Both of my NEI molds were purchased when Walt was still alive. They might have made changes in their mold diminsions that I am unaware of. You might check with NEI before you order. The molds are of a good quality, but no better than several other custom makers. The main reason I went with NEI was to get four cavities.

oksmle

[35 Whelen]

Both the Maltby and Savage are 2 groove with .314" & .315" groove diamater respectively. Here are the results of chambercasts. Oh, and they're doing great Buckshot!

[NVcurmudgeon]

.35 Whelen, I have a couple of NEI moulds, 9mm TC and .358 220 RN and they both have one grease groove and make excellent boolits. I wouldn't worry too much about "one lube groove." usually, when a mould has only one groove, it's pretty good size and carries enough lube. I use the obselete .358 220 RN in my Whelen at up to 2000 fps with Javelina Alox trouble-free. For a great .303 boolit you might try Lyman 314299, 200 gr. It is excellent in my No. 4 when sized .314", and also in my .30/06 Springfield and .30/40 Krag when sized .310".

[35 Whelen]

O.K...I called NEI and talked to "Jo-el". He was a very nice fella and answered all my questions. I asked him how much over advertised diameter the bullets would cast and he said it varied from .001"-.003". He then measured an 83A that he had just finished cutting and it measured .316"-.317". He said that for an additional $15 I can get two different bullets in one double cavity mould.

My thinking is that since the #85A is so similar to Lymans 314299, why not get a Lyman and then get something unique from NEI. Maybe a two cavity #83A or #86 to use for hunting since they're both flatnoses.

Any opinions on the #83A and the #86? I really like the 86 as it has a nice large flat nose.

Thanks fellas!
35W

[oksmle]

35 Whelen .... I use the 85A for both target & hunting. To make a hunting bullet simply lightly chuck the bullet in your 3 jawed drill & touch the point with a "Bastard Cut" file. You can make as large of metplate as you desire & it works real well on game. That way you don't have to have two different cuts in your mold.
oksmle

[45 2.1]

O.K...I called NEI and talked to "Jo-el". He was a very nice fella and answered all my questions. I asked him how much over advertised diameter the bullets would cast and he said it varied from .001"-.003". He then measured an 83A that he had just finished cutting and it measured .316"-.317". He said that for an additional $15 I can get two different bullets in one double cavity mould.

My thinking is that since the #85A is so similar to Lymans 314299, why not get a Lyman and then get something unique from NEI. Maybe a two cavity #83A or #86 to use for hunting since they're both flatnoses.

Any opinions on the #83A and the #86? I really like the 86 as it has a nice large flat nose.

Thanks fellas!
35W

I designed the 83A a long time ago, the original cut throws a 0.314" boolit with a 0.304" nose. It really needs to be 3 thousandths more on both dimensions to be really good in the large throat 303s. That nose was meant to be more like a RCBS 308-165-SIL, but Walt didn't understand nose radius dimensions.

[Catshooter]

35,

I've been trying to hook up with NEI for some time now without sucess.

Can you help me with either a phone # or better yet web address/link?

Thanks.


Cat

[BruceB]

Try:

www.neihandtools.com


...it works for me.

[35 Whelen]

35,

I've been trying to hook up with NEI for some time now without sucess.

Can you help me with either a phone # or better yet web address/link?

Thanks.


Cat

Here ya go Cat:

NEI Handtools, Inc.
(Custom molds)
PO Box 370356
El Paso, TX 79937-0356
915-772-0259 Telephone
208-279-9066 Fax
http://www.neihandtools.com

[Bullshop]

There is a link to NEI at my site and a link to my site at the bottom of this post and this page.
BIC/BS

[Catshooter]

Thank you very much gentlemen, that hooks me up nicely.


Cat

[PGBsuperior]

I had them make me a 4 cavity for that bullet, 180 gr. and it's working just dandy.

Amy