Universal Boolit for 30ish Rifles

[gunboat57]

Hello all.
I am thinking of ordering the Accurate mold 30-170M with the driving bands cut to drop at .315 diameter. Since this is not a bore-riding boolit, I'm thinking I can size it down to fit my tightest 30-30, 30-06, 7.5, or size it just a little to fit my generous grooved 303 British, or anything in between.
Has anyone tried this before? Good/bad results?

[Bigslug]

The problem common to "Swiss Army knives" is that they are usually less than satisfactory as knives, and all the corkscrews, saws, and tweezers they contain are compromises to the real thing as well.

You're looking to size that bullet down A LOT for the likes of a rifle with a .308 groove diameter, and if your load needs a harder alloy, it may be more squeeze than your sizer wants to deal with.

Your 30-170M mold design will probably work well for a .30-30 or a .30-40 Krag with their long necks, but I believe the lube grooves extend a bit far forward to fit the lube inside the shorter neck of a .30-06 or .303, while keeping the sides of your gas check braced by the neck walls.

Once seated in the case, you also have to consider where the ogive sits in relation to the lands. If the front end of the bullet is optimized for a .303 bore and .312 groove, you might have to seat it deeper in a rifle that's .300/.308, again, placing your gas check in a less-than-optimal setting.

Not saying you can't - just saying there's possibly more to it than you're thinking.

[Firelock66]

Looks like a good bullet for 303 Brit type calibers. That's a long way down to 30 cal.

[Rich/WIS]

For nominal .308 groove barrels the 311291 sized .310 works well in most but for generous groove diameters may not work as well. Not familiar with the bullet you're looking at but perhap a Loverin style could be made to work in the calibers you listed if sized for each groove diameter.

[gunboat57]

Thanks for the advice!

Bigslug, I tumble lube my 30ish rifle boolits and sometimes have the lube grooves a little beyond the case mouth in order to get close to the rifling. But I understand what you said about the principle of "one size fits none".

I think all my 30-30s and 30-06s have had groove diameters .309 to .310. So I'd be downsizing to .311 or so.

Until now, all my boolits have been bore riders. With the 30-170M I understand it will be important to get as close to the rifling as I can because the boolit is not guided by the bore until it hits the rifling.

My cast boolit rifle shooting is limited to reduced power loads for groundhog hunting and paper punching.

[405grain]

I use either the Lyman #311299 or the #311284, as well as the RCBS 30-165-Sil sized to .309" for all of my 30 caliber cartridges. I powder coat these same bullets and size them to .3125" for use in my 7.65x53 and 7.62x39. You can order a bullet mold that is appropriate for your 30 caliber needs, then, if you want, increase the bullet diameter with powder coating to use them in a 303 British, 7.7 Japanese, 7.62x54 or 7.62x39 Russian, or a 7.65 Argentine/Belgian cartridge.

[popper]

I find 312 for 'newer' 30 cal that take 308-311. Accommodates most alloy variations and can size to what is needed. Accurate can make a mould in several sizes, 2x312 and 2x315, in same mould. Less $ than several moulds. I'd get the larger Al blocks for anything over 180gr.

[gunboat57]

I'm thinking with a non bore riding boolit, I could even bump up the diameter a thou or two. I've had good results bumping a 200 gr .431 boolit up to .434 to fit my 44 mag Rossi R92.

[Winger Ed.]

A universal boolit for several different applications is sort of like a 'street/trail' motorcycle.
It doesn't do either job very well.

[lar45]

We drew up the Fat30 bullet many years ago with a slightly tapered nose to fit 30ish rifles. We also ran a Fatter30.
Accurate has the drawing for the Fat30, I think it's 194F, I'll look it up.

[lar45]

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...bullet=31-194F



The original had a rounded lube groove. It shoots great in my 30-06, but never did get around to trying it in a 303, or Mosin...

This is the original drawing from 20ish years ago when we did a Lee group buy.

[gunboat57]

That's kinda what I had in mind. But some of my 30 cal rifles have bore/groove of .301/.310 dia. That bore riding .304 to .308 dia would give me trouble I think.

[PAndy]

If you powder coat, you can add a thousandth or two ...might help stretch a .311 bullet to larger diameter needs. I agree with tapered bullet
I like Lyman 311041

[gunboat57]

Well, I just bought a Lyman 31141 (311041?) single cavity mold. I am hoping this mold will produce driving bands of at least .313 diameter with WW so I can use it for any of my ~30 caliber rifles, especially my Marlin XLR with .310 grooves.

[Hanzy4200]

I went down this road a while back. .303 Brit, 7.7 Jap, 30-06, 30-30, .308, ect, ect. The simple answer is you won't find a bullet that performs well in all of these. Much better off buying 2-3 molds that fit there role better. The cost incurred is worth it to avoid your wasted time and sub par performance.

[Larry Gibson]

Well, I just bought a Lyman 31141 (311041?) single cavity mold. I am hoping this mold will produce driving bands of at least .313 diameter with WW so I can use it for any of my ~30 caliber rifles, especially my Marlin XLR with .310 grooves.

You might come close to .313 IF it's an older Lyman mould AND you add 2% tin to your COWWs. Also casting with the alloy temp at 710 to 725 and pour the alloy in allowing it to roil back out leaving a good sprue, even if some runs off the sprue plate.

[Jack Stanley]

You could start with a "normal" thirty caliber bullet for the thirties . If a .31 type rifle needs help there is unsized and powder coated . Then if you have a(ahem) thirty one like some of the SMLE rifles I had you could paper patch to make the right size .

Jack

[gunboat57]

A few years ago I ordered an Accurate Molds 315-195RG that casts .316 bands and a .304 nose with wheel weights. It has worked very well in my generous bore Enfields and my Mosin. So really my universal 30ish only needs to work in my 30-06s, 30-30s, and 7.5mm Swiss without trying to perform in 303s. So if I can get .313 bands from my Lyman 31141 then I should be all set. I should get the mold in a couple days. I plan to do me some casting this weekend!

[gunboat57]

My new Lyman 31141 produces .314 bands. The mold is single cavity so the going is slow, but I've never had a mold that is so easy to make good boolits.

Larry Gibson, I followed your advice about over-pouring. I will try that technique on my other Lyman molds.

Update: 4 holes touching at 50 yds with Marlin XLR and receiver sight. That's plenty good for me.

I'm using a mid power load of IMR 4198 recommended in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook.