Lyman molds, your opinions

[Lonestar22]

I acquired two Lyman molds at a “can’t pass up” price. Both are .30 caliber. One is a 311332 and the other a 311413. I’m thinking about trying them out in two .30-06 rifles, a rechambered Columbian Mauser, a 1903A3 and a 7.5x55 K31. I don’t recall reading about either mold on this forum, so I’m wondering if anyone has experience with these molds, and what were the results. Thanks for your time.
Regards,
Tim

[thebigmac]

311413 works great in my 03-A3 using 17.3 Gr. 2400.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Hi, Lets start with the 413. It is an old design made for the 30 cal, and is supposed to be a copy of the old "squibb" bullet. It has not had a glorious history in the cast bullet world. Altho the aerodynamic shape is very good it performs/performed poorly when driven too fast, and that is exactly what a lot of early users made the mistake of doing. It tends to slump in the bore and goes downrange in that posture, resulting in inaccurate shooting. This fact was pointed out by Col. Harrison in his classic investigation of 30 cal bullets and published in the NRA Handloading Book. When loaded with properly adjusted charges to give lower velocities...usually somewhere between 1400 and (maybe) 1600 fps it can do well and may users once having found this out, have reported saisfactory performance. As for the 332, this design is a close replacement for the old Lyman 311334 (out of production for many years now). The design is almost identical. It is classified as a "bore-rider" and does extremely well in 03-A3 two groove barrels where the lands make up most of the circumference of the bore. This also applies to 5 groove barrels found in the Lee-Enfields and 1917 again where the lands take up 5/8's of the bore's circumference. Lyman still produces the 332, but in recent times, purchasers of this mold have reported it to be undersize and the resulting accuracy is not so hot to punk. The bullet body has to be .309-.310 to fit in the grooves properly and the nose or bore-riding front section has to measure .301-.302 fit the lands correctly. As such it will shoot excellently. You need to slug the bore and then measure what sizes the bullet body and nose are and if necessary get the mold lapped to deliver the right dimensioned cast bullet. Otherwise it will be an exercise in futility. I have never owned or worked with the 413, but know a few folks who have and the story is already described above I have experience with the 311334 and have used it successfully in 2 O3-A3's and three 1917 rifles. With the right charges all the rifles shoot very well at 100-200 yards. I would suggest reading Harrison's work in the NRA book as it is a wealth of info on 30cal and a lot of other things. It will save you time and cussing and prove to be a shortcut to success. Both bullets can work well for you if you follow the development done by the forerunners, as they pretty well checked it all out quite some time ago. Enjoy casting and Good shooting. LLS

[Bret4207]

LLS pretty much covered the bases. The Squibb can do well in lower velocity loadings. When Mr. Squibb ( that's where the name comes from) designed it I believe it was intended to be shot at reduced ranges at reduced velocity. A lot of the old Guard units didn't have 600 yard ranges, so they shot at reduced range, with reduced loads trying to duplicate the sight settings at long range. As with any spire point bore rider nose size is vitally important.

[beagle]

I've shot both in the 06 and both are "keepers"./beagle

[Lonestar22]

I sure appreciate the feedback. I'll work on some loads, keeping the velocity low. If I come across anything worth bragging about, I'll report back.
Thanks again.
Tim

[autofix4u]

I am very glad I read this thread. I cast 500 311413 last week to use in my m-n m44. now I have some idea what to load them to. thank you all for a wonderful resource.

[Jack Stanley]

In buying any Lyman mold knowing what it's diameters is a big plus so if you are buying it used and you know thw owner I'd bet you would be ahead of the game .
I used to have pretty good confidence in Lyman to get it right the first time around . Of the last five Lyman molds I bought new , four of them had to be returned to Lyman for repair . The fifth one should have been sent back because it was more the three thousanths under what it should have been . I kept it because oddly enough it was round and it had the diameter to make a nice thirty caliber bullet .

Jack