Mega-Dittos to everything 405grain said above.
(the only difference I have is: if you are seating the bullet to align with the
crimp groove, no problem in seat/roll-crimping into that groove 1-step)
Mega-Dittos to everything 405grain said above.
(the only difference I have is: if you are seating the bullet to align with the
crimp groove, no problem in seat/roll-crimping into that groove 1-step)
I second the advice of 405.
Having a mold that casts small can be an advantage if you are going to POWDER COAT. PC adds .001” to .003” to the diameter of the boolit.
I would suggest you buy a MICROMETER. You can’t reliably measure.001” with a caliper. They are inexpensive at Harbor Freight.
Powder coating allows you to use softer boolits. Powder coating allows some boolits designed for gas checks to shoot well without the GC.
Consult with Smoke4320 the PC vendor.
NRA Lifetime member since 1956, NRA Endowment Member. Reloading since 1954. CBA Member Navy Vietnam Veteran USS Intrepid CVA 11
OK I slugged both Winchesters and a 2 groove barrel 03-a3 I wanted to experiment with. both Winchesters came out .309 and the O3A3 was .308. I have no idea how it will do but I at least am going with more information. I re-coated a batch that I had put through the LEE 308 sizer die dry, with 2 more coats and they are measuring .3095 to .310 so I'm going to load a few without putting them back through the sizer and test them and I am hoping the sizer die can be honed out to at least .309 or a little more. It may be carbide coated but I am going to attempt it anyway and see
Powder coating will increase the diameter a bit. 0.002-3". The bullets I nose size are sized .299 before PC and are .302 after PC.
Most cast bullet sizers are not carbide and they can be enlarged if you are careful. Better is to get an NOE sizing setup and then just buy the bushings you need.
-- delete to Coatings: Chrome --
Last edited by mehavey; 08-07-2022 at 06:52 PM.
Another thing that's not been mentioned, is when seating the bullet be sure the neck has been expanded so it doesn't resize the bullet down as it's being seated. I got caught in that before. I had slugged the bore, sizing bullets .002" over bore but it still wasn't shooting worth anything. Got to checking and sure enough the expander I was using was too small. The expander needs to be a tad over, sometimes the brass neck will spring back some. Also a slight bell on the brass mouth will have on seating the bullet to be sure it doesn't shave any lead/PC off as it's being seated.
As other folks have mentioned for sure you don't wish to shoot bore sized cast bullets. Anything from .001" to .003" oversize is good. A .311" cast bullet is better than a .308" bore sized bullet. With good PC you're not going to have any problem with leading - I did the HF red, then got Smoke's PC and never looked back. The 30-30 is easy to load for. I've shot thousands of round cast thru my Marlin 336 before I had the barrel rebored to 38-55.
Lee sizers are softer steel. Go easy, I use a wood dowel wrapped emory paper and oil. Stick it in the die and roll the die on your pant leg, holding both ends of the dowel. Maybe 20 revs and then clean, size a bullet and measure. Repeat til you get the BULLET the correct size.
Whatever!
lots of good help here again- thanks. I cast another small batch this evening and plan to try loading with no PC in a few 30-06 cases and see if anything changes did roll in LEE liquid ALOX. but they only come out of the mold at .308 so I'll not mess with them in the winchesters. they may function on the 03-A3. but I'm thinking I likely need a different mold that will throw a little larger diameter bullet. I like the flat nose 173 grain style even if I don't shoot the lever guns with them but may have to see what is out there. I sure like the LEE molds for price and quick warm up. And I will search for that download
You could try to lap out the mold a little , to get them dropping at .310-.311
I had good luck with my marlin 336, sized at .311 (+.003") overbore, using the same lee 170/309 cast bullet, but powdercoated with eastwood lime green powder coat and gas checked. I use 10 grains of SW cleanshot (basically titegroup) and i do not put in a crimp, but I do unflare the bell flush and seat them to the crimp groove.
405grain,
I happened to know right where it was and thought I'd post it. http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm
Bill
I got an accurate 31-165C 2 hole I'll sell. I use in AR10 but GS wants the rifle. Drops 311-312 or so with 4% Sb alloy. He doesn't reload or cast. PM me.
Whatever!
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |