RCBS Mold question

[high standard 40]

I am considering a new RCBS 30 caliber mold. I am a hugh advocate of bore rider designs and I have an RCBS mold in 7mm, the 145 gr SIL design. My 7MM mold drops a bullet with a nose section that measures .279" which is OK because I can easily run that nose into my .277" sizer and it becomes a bore rider. Accuracy is awesome set up this way in my 7MM XP100s. This 7mm mold may not suit my needs if that nose were instead, let's say .274". Which brings me to my question about the 30 caliber molds I'm looking at. RCBS makes three that I'm considering.....

165 SIL.......which looks like a fatter version of my 7MM mold
180 SP........ditto above but add 15 grains and another lube groove
200 SIL.......closer in design to the lighter SIL mold but heavier and according to images I have the nose is different.



What I'd like to know is does anybody here have one or more of these molds and can you give me some measurements on the bullets it drops. I know that molds can vary from lot to lot and I have no guarantees that I can buy what you have. My 30-06 has a very tight chamber throat and I have to size .309" to be able to chamber a loaded round so drive band measurements, while important, shouldn't be as much of a possible issue as the nose diameter would be. According to the images RCBS puts out there, the 200 SIL is the same diameter all the way from the base to the start of the ogive. Ideally, all three designs will have a nose a little larger than .300" which would allow me to size the nose as needed for my application.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[RickinTN]

I have the 165 silhouette mold and love the bullet as do my 30-06's. Drive band wise It will size nicely at .309" but won't quite make a good .310 bullet even with Lyman #2 alloy. The bore-ride portion of my bullets aren't perfectly round and most aren't but that portion on my bullets measures about .3015" with wheel weight alloy. The throats in my rifles are long and tapered and this creates no chambering issues. I like the 165 so well that I have considered adding the 180 to my selection, but haven't done so yet.
Good Luck, and I hope you are as pleased as I am,
Rick

[Aunegl]

I have both the 165 sil and 200 sil. The 165 sil is accurate in my TC 32/20 and my Encore 308. Bullets are sized to .309. The 200 sil keyholes slightly in the Encore and in the TC 32/20, no problems. Both barrels are 1-10 twists. Go figure.

[high standard 40]

I have both the 165 sil and 200 sil. The 165 sil is accurate in my TC 32/20 and my Encore 308. Bullets are sized to .309. The 200 sil keyholes slightly in the Encore and in the TC 32/20, no problems. Both barrels are 1-10 twists. Go figure.

Aunegl, if you don't mind, what does the nose section measure out to on that 200?

[high standard 40]

I have the 165 silhouette mold and love the bullet as do my 30-06's. Drive band wise It will size nicely at .309" but won't quite make a good .310 bullet even with Lyman #2 alloy. The bore-ride portion of my bullets aren't perfectly round and most aren't but that portion on my bullets measures about .3015" with wheel weight alloy. The throats in my rifles are long and tapered and this creates no chambering issues. I like the 165 so well that I have considered adding the 180 to my selection, but haven't done so yet.
Good Luck, and I hope you are as pleased as I am,
Rick

Thanks Rick for that info. That's just what I needed on the 165. Maybe others will chime in with the other two.

[runfiverun]

my 165 makes about a half click over .300 on the nose and sizes nicely to .310 on the body.
I like my bore riders to engrave and help center the round better.
my rcbs 145 silh boolit fits my rifles the same way, with a hair over .280 nose and the body sizes to .286 without an issue.

[detox]

Using Linotype my 180gr bullet measures .3095 - .3100 at the bands and .302 bore ride. Bullet shoots verygood if seated long so that it engraves rifling deaply. My Lyman 314299 is a better shooter in my Remington 700 VS 308 Winchester, it has a bore ride of .3027 and .3115 at bands.

[Terrence Clarke]

I have all three and are all close to .3095 bands and .300 nose and are cast from range scrap

[high standard 40]

Thanks for the info guys.

[cbrick]

My RCBS 30 180 FP nose measures .302"
My RCBS 30 180 SP nose measures .3012"
My RCBS 30 165 Silh nose measures .3027"
My RCBS 30 150 FP nose measures .300"

All with CWW +2% Sn.

I don't have the 200 gr, boolit in RCBS.

Hope this helps.

Rick

[ShooterAZ]

.310 on the band and .301 on the nose on my RCBS 165 SIL. This is using either WW + 2% tin, or with Lyman #2. I shoot it in my 1903 Springfields. 4759, 5744, IMR4895, and 2400 have all given good results, as long as I don't try to push it too fast. I think this would be a good candidate for paper patching, but haven't tried it yet.

[frnkeore]

You'll note in the picture of the 200 gr Sil bullet that it appears to have only one band but, the area ahead of the grease groove is a long tapering band and on my mold, in #2 alloy, it measures .3095 and tapers approx .480 forward of the grease groove to .300, just back of where the ogive starts. The base band measures .310.

Frank

[high standard 40]

You'll note in the picture of the 200 gr Sil bullet that it appears to have only one band but, the area ahead of the grease groove is a long tapering band and on my mold, in #2 alloy, it measures .3095 and tapers approx .480 forward of the grease groove to .300, just back of where the ogive starts. The base band measures .310.

Frank

Thanks Frank, that's exactly the kind of information I was seeking.