Lee/other mold specs

[DeadWood]

Was looking at purchasing a

Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C309-170-F 30 Caliber (309 Diameter) 170 Grain Flat Nose Gas Check, and was wondering what casters do if anything (besides buy from another mold maker) to cast a bigger boolit, say .310-.312 dia..

Was thinking of purchasing the Lee and using it as my first mold to cast with, so if i make a mistake not to destroy a more expensive mold. I have read alot of negative posts about Lee molds and read the sticky for Leemelten(?) that fixes some of the problems.

Am i going over board and thinking to much?

Knowing my 30-30 slugged out at .309 how much leading, acuuracy etc. will i loose if i cast with above mold?

[pdawg_shooter]

Cast a few and see how they shoot. If you need bigger you can lap out the mould or "beagle it".

[Maven]

DW, Unfortunately, the problem with too many bullet molds, regardless of manufacturer (custom molds are the exception), is they are undersized or cast undersized bullets. This may be due to changing bbl. dimensions, no agreed upon standard alloy by the manufacturers, and worn cherries, combined with poor quality control. As I'm looking to replace a Lee Precision C309-180-1R and don't wish to get an undersized mold, I'm looking at the Lee C312-185-1R. It's designed for the .303 British, but I'll bet it can easily be sized to .310" or .311". May I suggest you take a look at it as well?

[Doc Highwall]

DeadWood, I think most people here would agree that with a rifle You want the boolit to be .001"-.002" larger then the groove size. Also you do not want to size a bullet down too far either as it could bend or distort the boolit. With your gun slugging at .309" I would not shoot a boolit smaller then .3095" and would prefer it to be .310"-.311" out of your gun. Your gun will tell you what size it needs by the targets. Ideally if your gun slugs .309" and it liked boolits .3105" best a mould that dropped boolits .3105" - .3115" would put the least strain when sizing and lubing. Here is a target shot at 100 yards of five shots with my Remington model 40x 308Win. that slugged .3082" where the boolits dropped out of the mould at .3105" - .3110" and are sized .3100".

[DLCTEX]

I have a discontinued Lee 311-170FP that shoots well in my marlin 30-30. The bore rider portion engraves in the rifling and sometimes takes a firm squeeze to close the bolt, but it shoots well. I also have acquired a 309-170FP that I have yet to try. You could beagle the 309 mould to enlarge it enough to work IMHO.

[cheese1566]

Maven, is your Lee Precision C309-180-1R up for sale?

I am looking for one to experiment in paper patching.

[leadman]

The Lee molds are real easy to enlarge the cavities on. Cast bullets in the cavities, Use the sprue plate hole to help center a small drill for a starter hole. Open sprue plate drill with a drill to allow a drywall screw to be turned part way in.
Make a paste out of scouring powder and water, coat the bullet, put it back in the cavity, close slowly while turning with a cordless screwdriver , check size often.
Takes about as long to write it as to do it. Works very well and cavities are usually very round.

[6.5 mike]

DeadWood, my lee 170-f drops at .3005 on the nose & .3095 on the bands. This would be to small for you bbl. It does work very well in a .307ish bore.
Maven, my lee 185-1r drops at .3005 nose & .3115 on the bands if this helps.