Want info on Lee C309-170-F in 308 Win

[dougwilliams]

I'm a 2 decade handgun reloader with a Dillon 650 and a 550B who is just now wanting to get into cast bullets in my 308. I have only one mold now the Lee listed above and cast a few with 50% Linotype and 50% wheel weight alloy. Seems pretty hard. I have more linotype, wheel weights and some monotype and can cast other alloys if needed. I'm shooting a Rem 700 and just punching paper right now but the coyotes are getting plentiful and bothersome so some lead may be in their future.

I'd like some suggestions for loads in this rifle with the above mentioned bullet. I have beeswax/alox lube and I have Lee liquid alox. I can size to .309 and intend to neck size only as long as I can get away with it, I do have a full lenght sizer. This is a gas check bullet but I would like to get by without gas checks is possible. I'm not a velocity nut, I like small groups. some Questions....Seat to crimp groove only or extend bullet just off lands? (my rem likes .015 off lands with 168 Matchkings) Also I've seen a bit about Trail Boss as a reduced load but all info seemed to apply to jacketed bullets. Suggestions Please.

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Thanks for comments on requested loads and my gizmo.

Doug Williams

[MtGun44]

I think you will find that Liq alox is maybe OK for pistol applications but I would pretty much
bet it is inadequate for rifle at any significant velocity. Tried it a few times for mild loads in
.45-70 got my first leading ever in that rifle besides very poor accy so stopped playing with
it. Tried it a couple of times with OK results in .45 ACP but HATED the goop on the nose
of the boolits and the long wait for it to dry. Personally I have given up on mule snot,
others swear by it and many swear at it. Primary advantage is that it does the std
Lee thing - it is an innovative way to load that costs a lot less at first. Downside is that
it is a pretty marginal lube system. I'd have used it for sure when I was an impecunious
college student, but alas it wasn't yet invented so I used the then current Lee 'whack thru'
sizer and cake cutter system - still viable today, but slow. Much less messy than mule snot, tho.

GCs are unnecessary for pistols in my personal opinion (opinions vary) but very useful
and almost required in rifle loading.

A great starting place for any of the std military bottleneck cartridges of the late 19th and
thru the 20th century (less the .22 calibers!) is 10 gr Unique under any cast boolit. Also
16 gr 2400 is very likely to work well in the same range of cases. 13 gr of Red Dot is
recommended, but I have not tried it yet, so please verify that load before you try it.

Size about .310 or .311 for a .308 bore for best accy and least leading. Some have success
at .309 but much fewer than .310 and .311 seems like the sweet spot to me. I will warn
you that while I have loaded cast for many different rifles, I know about 5% as much about
cast in rifles as in revolvers or semiautos. But I won't tell you anything that I don't know to
be true without saying so, either.

Bill

[Rocky Raab]

I cast that bullet of wheelweight/range scrap/whatever. I size it with a Lee .309 push-through die (seating a gas check) and lube it with LLA. I shoot it that way in my .30-30 and my .308. For the .308, I seat it so that the gas check is just even with the bottom of the neck. The front band will be lightly marked with rifling that way.

In either rifle, 16/2400 works fine. I also use 13/RedDot in the 308 (NOT in the 30-30). Accurate 5744 is also a great choice, following their book loads. I haven't used Trail Boss in either gun yet.

Neither rifle likes that bullet plain-based if the speeds go up over 1200 fps.

[sundog]

My best groups with cast in .308 have been with 5744.

[Maven]

"I'd like some suggestions for loads in this rifle with the above mentioned bullet. I have beeswax/alox lube and I have Lee liquid alox. I can size to .309 and intend to neck size only as long as I can get away with it, I do have a full lenght sizer. This is a gas check bullet but I would like to get by without gas checks is possible. I'm not a velocity nut, I like small groups. some Questions....Seat to crimp groove only or extend bullet just off lands? (my rem likes .015 off lands with 168 Matchkings) Also I've seen a bit about Trail Boss as a reduced load but all info seemed to apply to jacketed bullets. Suggestions Please."

Doug, I'm going to differ slightly from some of the other posters. First, I've never had a problem with lead deposits and Liquid Alox in any of my rifles. In fact, I just finished loading CB's lubed with it for my K-31's. Second, I think I'd size those Lee CB's to .310" or even .311" if you add gas checks, but I'd test to see whether their noses fit your bore first: Stick one in the muzzle. If it offers no resistance and is unmarked by the rifling, the nose is too small and accuracy may not be the highest.* Repeat this to confirm the nose dimension (should be .301" - .302"). Third, if you're going to shoot them without gas checks, try something like 5 - 6 grs. Bullseye or Hodgon Clays; 7 - 8 grs. Unique; or 9 - 10 grs. Blue Dot. Moreover, why not use them as cast and rolled around in Liq. Alox.? Lastly, Sundog's recommendation of 5744 is 100% correct if you use gas checks (Try 21 - 23grs.), but not with naked bases.


*The Lee bullet is a 2 diameter (body dimension & nose dimension) or bore riding design. In theory and practice, a too small nose dimension often results in less than optimum accuracy. However, I have a Lee bore rider for my 8mm Mau. whose nose is a bit small (falls into the muzzle with no resistance), but is quite accurate in spite of it.