What ranch dog 311 is this?

Attachment 325352


I saw this on eBay and it was interesting. Looks like a lube grove and a tumble lube section.

Thanks for the information!!!

That is something different, I've not seen anything like it.

Yep, that's what I thought...

It looks similar to a 434 in the catalog.

https://arsenalmolds.com/products?product_id=91

Yes, but the Arsenal grooves are crimp grooves. The pic in the OP looks to have rounded grooves, not exactly the same.

All the RD molds I ever saw him catalogue are tumble lube. No standard lube grooves if they have been ordered from RD. NOE has taken over the design and may do with it as he wishes, but I don't recall that mold.

This was on a Lee 6 cavity. Can this be a mold from back in the day?

Attachment 325381

I see 3 crimp grooves. Pretty interesting to say the least

This is only a guess. . .

Maybe a precursor to the ".30 Caliber Shortnecks" that he ultimately designed three bullets specifically for the .308, .300 Savage, and 7.62x39? Proportionally, the shank looks like it would fit the .308's neck very well, and no reason it wouldn't be happy in .30-06, .30-30, or .30-40.

I think you'll have fun with that. I have the RD .308 - it hits HARD and turns milk jugs into baby fog banks.:mrgreen:

I have an Noe ranch dog mould, I like it. I saw this one and got confused by it but it was interesting. I heard rumor back in the day there were various ranch dog moulds for all the fat 30-30s. Was curious if this was one of them

Wonder what the weight is? I have one that looks like that, but think it has another lube groove and is around 195 grs. Three crimp grooves and all. One of the best shooting boolits I have. It was a group buy mould. I suspect the mould you show is also a group buy too.

The listing said 150 grain.

It's not a "Ranch Dog" mould per se. It is a GB (Group Buy) Lee 6 cavity mould that was offered on this forum years ago. I have one and ordered it when the buy was in progress. Not sure who designed the bullet, but it is a C312-150-FN. It was designed to be the best cast bullet for hunting with the 7.62x39 cartridge. It shoots extremely well in my Mini Mk X and Russian SKS loaded over 27 - 28 gr of 4895. Is also a very good light weight bullet for the 7.65 Argentine M91 and 7.62x54R MNs as it feeds very well from their single stack magazines.

I knew I'd get a back story on this mould. I had a hunch it was a group buy thing since it says nothing on it. I remember joining this site and seeing posts about the group buys of the past and got jealous I missed out. Thank you Larry,