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Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

tomme boy

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 25, 2007
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Iowa 52732
Just checking to see if anyone is loading lead bullets? If you are what are you using an what loads.
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

lead sucks in pistols and is even worse in rifles, you are limited to very low sped to avoid leading, did I mentioned lead sucks!!
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

Lyman manual would be a good source for data. If you need it, let me know and I can copy that page for you. I've never loaded a single lead cartridge. There was a thread on THR about a year ago where a guy was loading 7.5 swiss right about the speed of sound with lead bullets and getting very impressive results on paper. IIRC, he was using it in Highpower.
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

I have looked into it, but without casting my own, it wasn't worth it to even attempt. You should look over at http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ for more info. There are plenty of guys there that load around 2000 fps with gas checks and hard cast alloys with good results.
I will probably get into casting for handguns and likely subsonic bullets for the 300 blk at some point in the future.
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

Guy next to me at the range was loading lead bullets. He was shooting a 2 foot group at 100 yards. He had a decent gun and a good setup. It was not him or the gun. It was his handholds.

You can try it to have fun but, with the advanced bullets out there today I'd stick with regular bullets and not revert to civil war tech.
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

I cast my own for play, hunting, plus subs, an run them with a lock on style gas check. Groups at 100 are under moa and even the subs an will kill Deer DRT at 200 w/o issue. Many things come into play when rolling those you have cast yourself. I would never underestimate the ability of a cast load to shoot well, as I have pushed them to 2500fps and have rang steel to 800yds w/o much effort. All that coming from a POS 600 Rem that is topped with a first gen Leupold 2.5x8x36.
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

Well some people don't know sh*t about loading lead for pistols or rifles. I shoot my 45acp with lead using a 200gr hp at 1000fps. with NO LEADING. If it leads, you are not doing it right. I cast all of my own pistol an rifle bullets.

Right now I am working on a load for my 308 with a 165gr lead bullet. I had ACCURATE MOLDS make a mold just for my rifle. I am getting right at 1" with it. Granted it shoots right at 1/2" with 168 AMAX'S, but these are costing me 12c each to load right now.

I just wanted to see what everyone else was doing.
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

tomme boy,

I've not cast any pistol bullets in a while, but they work and it seems you know they do.
I met an older gent that had some 30-06 loads that used lead bullets. I didn't shoot too many, but they worked really well out of his M1A. Almost no recoil and he was using a pistol powder. I think it was Unique but that may be wrong. I could hit the 300 yard gong without any troubles.
I've been interested in casting some bullets for .308 as well but my lead supply is gone. Can you post a picture of what you are running?
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

Here is the rifle. Savage MD10, Rem PSS 308 barrel rethreaded, shortened to 24", an chambered for the Savage action. Ross muzzle break. B&C stock.

100_0726.jpg


This is the mold I had made. It is made for my rifle with readings off of my chamber. Email Tom as he is very smart and can tell you what you can do an need. I would change a couple of things if I could remake this mold.

Accurate Molds

If anyone needs help, Go to the Cast Boolits web site forum. Most of the older guys there know than anyone I have ever seen when it comes to reloading. Just like on this site where a few have been there an have the shirt to prove it. I have learned so much from loading and making my own bullets in the last year. So some of the people need to not knock on something they have no clue to. I see it on not only this site, but most all the time.

You think it is hard to read the wind on a very high BC bullet. Try shooting some of these some time. It is a learning that carries over.

Here is a group I fired a couple of days ago at 500yds. The bottom 3 hits are from another powder I was testing that day.

101_0009.jpg
 
Re: Anyone loading lead bullets in 308win?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cacciatore</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Guy next to me at the range was loading lead bullets. He was shooting a 2 foot group at 100 yards. He had a decent gun and a good setup. It was not him or the gun. It was his handholds.

You can try it to have fun but, with the advanced bullets out there today I'd stick with regular bullets and not revert to civil war tech. </div></div>

You should have sat next to the guy I did one day. A .308 Rem 700 shooting cast bullets @ 100 yards. He shot for about 30 minutes and I "peeked" over at his target with my scope. There were only 6 holes in the target. He was shooting one round per minute (he timed them) and there were 6 separate 5 round groups, all single holes, not even the traditional ragged "bug hole".

I guess anything's possible if you know what you're doing.