When is bigger not better?

[Trapaddict]

I think I have a bit of a dilemma. I have a 303 Brit, 7.7 Jap, 7.62 Russian and several US made 30 Caliber rifles in various calibers. If ordering a mold to service all of these rifles, would ordering one in .314 be too big to size down to .309 for the US rifles?

Jeff

[462]

First, you have to slug the barrels, as .314 may not be fat enough.

[Shooter]

462 is right, slug your bore.
That being said; I use a Lyman 314299 in .303, 7.62X54, 30-06, .308.

[Trapaddict]

The information obtained from that exercise will not help answer my question since slugging a barrel has nothing to do with sizing a .314 bullet down to .309.

So back to my original question......

Is there a problem with sizing a .314 bullet down to .309 for use in a US 30 caliber bore?

Jeff

[mooman76]

I believe what they are trying to say is 314 may not be big enough, especially for the Russian and you may not have to go as low as 309 after you slug the barrels or you could go many be .002 over and come out like .310 or .311. It's really not good to try to make one bullet do all functions but maybe 2 could get you buy depending on the guns.
Having said that the answer to your question is both yes and no. You probably can as some have gone that far down with success when they needed to but it depends on the bullet you want to size down and the lube grooves. Also it would be best when sizing that much to size in two stages and the more you size the more it will distort the boolit or maybe size it off center slightly. All that lead has to go somewheres.

[Dan Cash]

Slug your barrels andd plan on two moulds. A bullet for .303 or the Russian with a .309 or so nose and .314 to .316 body is not going to size down to fit your nominally .308 diameter bores. I have tried it with a Lyman 314299 and it won't work for the half dozen .303/7,62 Russian and a similar number of .308 bores in my posession.

[Trapaddict]

Dan and Moonman -

Thanks. That is the type of answer I was looking for. Someone with actual experience with what I was looking at doing. Was really wanting to get in on this group buy for the 198 Gr bullet by just getting one that might work for a few applications.

Jeff

[Wayne Smith]

As implied above, you can do this. Make sure the lube grooves are filled and go down in stages. Just be aware, for instance, that a bore rider nose will no longer be a bore riding nose in the smaller sizes. You are changing the design of the boolit as you are sizing it. It will come out slightly longer and full diameter most of the length. This will increase the bearing length and affect how it handles the rifling.

If the above makes no sense to you look up the Greenhill formula.

[462]

Perhaps my answer needs some qualification.

My No. 4 Mk II requires a boolit of at least .316", and others have posted that their rifles have similar dimensions. It is in that light that I mentioned slugging the barrels first, since it's possible that a .314" boolit would be too skinny for the Enfield, and your idea of one mould for use with multiple guns would not work.

Of course, a mould can always be beagled to drop fatter boolits, and un-beagled to drop skinnier ones, thereby making it useful for multiple guns.

[Fat-beeman]

why not just buy a lee 309 there only less then 20.00 the buy a 311 lee don't size lube and shoot
my 7.7 and 303 works fine
Don