Been thinking

[Frank46]

Both my lyman 311291 & 31141 have way undersized noses. Has anyone ever tried the lee 180 grain .312 bullet meant for tight bored moisins or 1891 argentine mausers in the 30-30?. Would get better fit on the lands as I see it. Frank

[6pt-sika]

Never tried the first bullet you ask about .

But for maybe the last 6 or 7 years I've been running all the 30 cal bullets I cast thru a .312" sizing die !

I started using the .312" because I was bumping the nose two much on a 311041 HP mold I have when sizing at .309 or .310 .

[dubber123]

How fat of a nose do you need on a 311291? I ask because one of LEE's "not quite right" GB's from a year or two ago was a 311291 that came in with a .303"+ nose. About 1/2 sent theirs back for a refund, but that left a bunch still out there. You might pick one up through Swapping and Selling. I kept mine, as it fits my loose Savage 219 in 30-30 perfectly. The accuracy difference in this gun over the .300 nosed Lyman mould was startling. The nose WILL NOT fit in a 80's vintage Winchester 94 though.

[Frank46]

Well I have 5 30-30 lever guns. but the one I want to try this boolit in is a canadian cenntenial with octagon 20" bbl. When I first started shooting it, there was like waves on the top of the lands. Now after a couple hundred rounds they have mostly disappeared. Tops of the lands are now smooth. Both lyman molds are single cavity.
I have one of the lee .312 molds on hand. Looks like I'll have to slug the bbl to get the internal dimensions. Thanks, Frank

[woody1]

Both my lyman 311291 & 31141 have way undersized noses. Has anyone ever tried the lee 180 grain .312 bullet meant for tight bored moisins or 1891 argentine mausers in the 30-30?. Would get better fit on the lands as I see it. Frank

Frank46, I have a 311291 that's a little undersized for my needs all the way 'round. I beagled it. I don't have the boolit in front of me now for measuring but as I recall I took the nose from .297 or .298 to .301". You might give it a try. Regards, Woody

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The saga of Lyman idiocy continues. They were told 30 years ago to stop cutting undersize noses and they are still persisting in doing it anyway. Both of those bullets are excellent designs. It is also possible as an alternative to Beagling, to lap out the noses to get to .301 or .302. The process is basically casting a nose portion around a nail or the cut off portion of an old dremel tool accessory and then after coating the nose section with some ultra fine valve grinding compound, rotating it in the mold with a hand drill until the nose part of the cavity opens up to the diameter that you want. There are a number of skilled people with the savvy on the forum who can advise you better on how to do it. LLS

[6.5 mike]

Frank, my lee 185 drops at .3005/.3115 as cast. Haven't tried it in 30-30 but use it in 2 krags, remmy m/91, 2 303 savages, 03a3,& will proably try it in my m-1. Some I patch up, others sized & lubed. I am going to try it in the 325b I got recently. It's been very useful for me & is only a half thou off as cast. Hope this helps.

[Frank46]

Found some of the 311291 & 31141's that had been cast out of lyman #2 alloy. Just checked the nose diameters and they measure out at .297. Stuck both into the muzzle of the canadian 94 and its hopeless. I bought these molds many years ago and outside of about a couple hundred boolits that was that. The reason I mentioned the lee .312 boolit is I thought that it should cast a fatter nose section. Will dig them out and give it a go. Still have to slug the bbl. I need to slug and record all rifles and handguns and write it down. Have CRS and according to some the brain cells ain't what they used to be. I like the idea of lapping out the nose section. Could maybe make up a lap tool out of phosphor bronze 3/8 brazing rod just slightly shorter than the length of the bore riding portion of the boolit. Stick in the drill press at low rpm's coat with lapping compound and slowly close the mold handles and see what happens. these are both single cavity molds. Frank