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Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

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Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 19, 2007
1,509
4
Cora, Wyoming
Got my new NEI double cavity #308-188-GC-DD and fired up the lead pot.
The DD is an ideal NEI reinvented a few years ago. It refers to the driving band at the front of the bullet which is designed to seat into the lands, thus giving the bullet a better start. Side by side tests with the same rifle/bullet/load with & w/o the DD showed it works. I have this same bullet in 357 and 411. It works great in 35 Whelen and 400 Whelen, 40-82 (.411 bore) and 400 H&H. Anxious to try it my 308 595 Tikka Super Sporter (a poor man's TRG before there was a TRG). Cheap shooting, lots of trigger time with no barrel wear. IMO, NEI makes the best base pour molds available. Check em' out.
http://www.neihandtools.com/

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Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

Looks nice, but how long does it take you, at two bullets per pour, to make a standard box of 100? I've never casted bullets, but some molds are 4 per pour, which would cut the time spent on a double pour, by 50%.

I'm just thinking that the time spent making cast bullets offsets the $30/100 price of jacketed bullets, but I might be wrong?

Thanks, Chris
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

I have many questions! How hard the alloy Mr. H.? Any leading problems or are you going lower velocity. Do you have a preferred lube?

They look well cast. That bullet looks like it takes a copper gas check; Am I wrong? If not will you apply them and what method do you use?

Casting lead bullets has an appeal that makes me fear of falling into their gravitational pull much like guns, reloading and the eye's of pretty girls!
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

I'll try to answer all questions:
1. I cast 150 this afternoon in about an hour with only 3 culls
2. Bullet metal is standard Lyman mix for rifles (see Lyman Cast bullet book) &
http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/lyman2bulletmetal.htm (FREE shipping!)
3. Yes it is a gas check bullet
4. Generally speaking any rifle bullet molds above 2 cavities don't have good enough weight variation among bullets and are heavy to use
5. Leading is no issue if you use the right alloy, lube, have a smooth bore and don't try to push them too fast. I use SPF lube in a Saeco sizer that also applies the Lyman gas check and will probably try these sized .311
6. With this bullet, there is no "jump" as you seat them to engage the rifling, a trick remembered from the super accurate Schutzen rifles that were breech loaded with loose bullet by a starter, followed by an unsized loaded case (primer & powder) with a wad to retain the powder.
7. If past experience with carefully sorted (+- 2/10 th gr), long 30 cals pushed at about 1800 fps counts, these should do MOA on a calm day out to 400 at least.
8. Interesting history tidbit. The 200 yard benchrest record set in the 19th century with a 32-40 was not beaten until the mid 20th with a .224 caliber

If you want to get started, the Lee molds throw quite good bullets in 30 cal and up. You can hand apply the gas checks and lube and push them through the Lee bullet sizing die that fits in your regular press. Before you LOL, I have a Lee 400 gr 45 cal plain base that shoots 1.5" 100 yard 5 shot groups in a Ruger #1. I bought the mold for 5 bucks at a yard sale.

thanks for your interest
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

very interesting- thanks for the info. I would like expand my horizon to include casting...maybe one day.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

I've been saving lead screw anchors for years on the very likelihood I would one day melt those babies down and cast them as bullets. Have something like 50 lbs to date. No idea how hard they are on hardness scale.

I have some odds and ends including 1, .38 sp and 1, .45 acp molds but will probably bite down and buy a casting package from Lee, And a few other molds will follow!

 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

Mr. H - That's a nice looking mould you have there. I'd like to see how they shoot. I get pretty decent accuracy from lead in my rifles.

My dad and I have been doing this for many years, for pistol bullets I use 6 cavity moulds simply because they're prevalent and even a cheapo Lee 6 cavity makes lots and lots of bullets without wearing out.



I made about 600 175 TC's last weekend for my 10mm auto in about 40 mins.

I shoot lead from rifles for everything in 30 cal range through 458 caliber. The primary use of heavy lead slugs is my 44 caliber wildcat.

In 30-30 I can get lead to 2400 fps, so in relative terms there's no difference between expensive commercial bullets and 2cent per bullet gas checked lead.

I keep the hard cast below 2500 fps, but still, that's nothing to sneeze at for 308 or 30-06. Works great with the 220gr round nose and it's pretty much a full bore load.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

Yeah, folks don't really know much about just how deadly cast bullets can be as this guy found out. 650 gr 61 caliber Maxi ball designed by me and mold made by Lee. Replica 1807 British Military Flintlock Baker rifle. FFg at about 900 fps.
The boys in camp, with their modern stuff giggled a bit... until we came back with him.

2009elk2.jpg

 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

That's probably one of the nicest racks I've seen on a deer, ever posted on the infraweb! At least it looks like a deer to me, but I don't hunt and live in Miami. Our Key Deer wind you up in the Federal Grey Bar motel if you muck with them.

Chris
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

thats an elk....... vert interesting read though on the casting.... thanks
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mr. Humble</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yeah, folks don't really know much about just how deadly cast bullets can be as this guy found out. 650 gr 61 caliber Maxi ball designed by me and mold made by Lee. Replica 1807 British Military Flintlock Baker rifle. FFg at about 900 fps.
The boys in camp, with their modern stuff giggled a bit... until we came back with him.

2009elk2.jpg

</div></div>


That's a beautiful elk you have there!

I got an 8 pointer last year with a 460grn round nose cast and gas checked bullet in 44 caliber fired from my tinkering rifle. Bullet was going about 975fps, from 45 yards the bullet entered about 1/8" off dead center between the eyes. His legs folded up so fast the deer was out of sight behind the low wood pile when I recovered from the recoil I thought I'd missed.

Walked out to see if there was a blood trail and low and behold he was laying there, looking like he was asleep (except for the gaping hole)
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

Chris as I am Key West snowbird, you might be amazed just how many Key Deer come to a bad end down on Big Pine Key. Hell, there are two nice bucks mounted in local businesses here in KW.
Sorta like the "protected" Griz and wolves in my real home......
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

That's a good looking bullet. I wouldn't be surprised if you see sub-MOA at 100. I have a 7MM Saeco mold that will beat MOA from my 7BR XP100 and just a tad less from a 14" 7TCU Contender. I've shot a beaucoup of 40X40s with both.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

I wonder how this would work in a sub-sonic load. I would think a 240gr-ish lead bullet may be a better choice for sub-sonic though. Would you still need the gas-check at sub-sonic velocities?
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

You don't need to gas check it as SS velocities, but if the mould is made for a GC then it needs to be there.

240gr bullets in cast lead are usually not stable at SS speeds from a 1:10tw barrel, the limit I've found is about 220gr for reliable stability in my area, which is 400 ASL.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

That bullet looks like it has a lot of bearing surface. So I assume you are using a pretty hard lube??

Casting bullets for me is pure enjoyment. I also really like the ability to shoot about 1,000 shots through my 45 Colt rifle for about $100. I can usually pour between 100 and 150 bullets per hour. But I like a single cavity mold. I keep my electronic scale by my pot. If the bullet does not meet my standards of weight then it goes back in the pot. Tom.

I normally use a GC for any loads with a speed over 1600 fps. Tom.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

Since Humble is perma-banned, I'll take a crack at Hog's question from what I remember.

The front of the bullet has a driving band on it, the lube groove in the rear separates the 2 driving bands in the rear. This is GC mould, and it requires a GC.

The front driving band is there to help the bore rider design align properly and increase accuracy.

I don't know how it ended up working out for him in this particular case, however, I've used the same idea once and it was fine. The problem that I ran into though was either I needed to short seat everything or jam the driving band into the lands hard.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bohem</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Since Humble is perma-banned</div></div>

?? WTF. I was digg'n this thread.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">but some molds are 4 per pour, which would cut the time spent on a double pour, by 50%.</div></div>

It dosnt work that way. Sure maybe for general plinking, but for serious accurate loads, you dont want gang molds. All molds arnt the same, and all holes in molds may not be the same. Most bullseye shooters casting for 45 or 38s will pick the best cavity out of a multi cavity mold to make their match bullets.

Sure gang molds are great for shooting out of snub nose revolvers at 15 yards, but its a differant ball came shooting bullseye slow fire targets at 50 yards.

I've loaded tons of cast rifle bullets. I found shooting cast bullets at about 800 fps out of a M1 or M14 at 50 ft SB targets makes for some great off season HP practice.

But cast bullets are the cats meow for shooting your heavy rifles. My 416 Rigby is right down unpleasent to shoot, but cast bullets pushed by a load of TrailBoss @ about 1360 fps makes for some pleasent shooting.

I built my grandson a 308 and he finds it somewhat uncomfortable for normal loadings, but he can shoot cast bullets & trailboss all day long, with that load I'm teaching him how to shoot instead of how to flinch.

One not shooting cast bullets in their rifles is missing half the pleasure of shooting. Pretty much anyone can load jacketed bullets, but you get some good accurate cast bullets, you've accomplished something.

And then when you think you got cast bullet shooting down pat, try Black Powder Creedmoor matches. I've been shooting cast bullets for about 40 years, I found out shooting my first Creedmoor Match (800, 900, & 1000 yards) with a 45-70 is a whole differant ball game. You basicly have to disregard all you know about reloading and start over.
 
Re: Got my new bullet mold! Cheap 308 shooting!

Shot- It happened probably 9 mos ago or more, there were some pissing match threads and finally the mods had enough. It's a shame, some of the experimentation he was doing I feel had merit, but when it came down to "internet people skills" (that terminology makes me laugh actually) then he and some others had some short comings. He ended up banned and the problem solved itself.

Kraig makes some very good points, and he's dead on with the moulds not being the same. I shoot tons of cast boolits through my pistols, including Glock barrels, I can reload 44 mags for about 9 cents a round, I could barely afford to own it if I had to just shoot factory ammo or jacketed bullets and H110.

Cast rifle loads are awesome to shoot, especially if you cut back the velocities to 1500ish fps, they're great for positional practice and really working the bugs out of a rifle. Much like a 22LR is an excellent practice platform, 200gr RN's from a 30-06 and 12gr of Unique provides me a very affordable way to get actual trigger time on the rifle.
 
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