sizing 30.06 questions (.308 bore .311 sizer)

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I have a sporter 1903a1 that slugs at .308 I tried some cast bullets that the seller sold me online as .309, the group was horrible to say the least, when I miked them they turned out to be .308.
I had some Moyers bullets that he said were .309 and they mike at .309 to .309 1/2 and I am getting an inch group at 50 yards, with scope off rest, but I am running out of them and he is at least 2 months backordered.

I have some 30 cal. bullets from a Lyman .311041 that I want to gas check and try, the only problem is the only sizer die I have for my Lyman sizer is a .311 (most of the raw bullets are .310 to .311)

If I size them to .311 and gas check them and then shoot them out of a barrel that is .308 or .309 would there be a problem, i.e. what will happen?

 

[asp]

Were the .308 cast bullets causing leading? I would suspect yes. The worst that could happen with .311's is more leading and bad accuracy. As long as your load is safe and you're not trying to push the boolit too fast you should be just fine. Load a small batch and see what happens. If you think you need .310's, shoot me a PM and I'll send you 20 or so. It might take a few correctly sized boolits down the pipe to clean out any residual lead, or shoot a few jacketed loads and that blows it right out. What kind of lube is on these boolits?

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I am using Trail Boss at about 1200 fps. I have a bunch of Lake City so will shoot a few rounds of jacketed as suggested.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

They were lubed with Red Rooster lube RNFP 150 gr and 180 gr acted the same

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

If some are dropping at .310 from the mold can't you run them through the sizer just to add some lube?
If you can cherry pick a handful like that for a test load you could get your answer.

Is your slug exactly .308?

 

[Patriot]

How hard is the lead you are using for the bullets? I would cast a few, size them, and try them, if it were me. I would
definitely not use a really hard lead (>15BHN) as you want the bullet to conform to your bore. It's not unusual for folks
to actually shoot a cast bullet that is as much as .003" over the slugged bore size. You don't need a really hard lead if
you are only shooting at 1200 FPS muzzle velocity. Wheel weight hardness should do you just fine. JMHO.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I am not sure of the hardness, but I just got back from the range, I shot some of my 173 Gr .311041 bullets with Trail Boss at 1200 they were sized at .311 and while not as tight as the .309 they weren't that bad, the .309 is still about 1 inch while the .311's were about 2 inches.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

just talked to the guy who made the 150-SP bullets, he says his BHN is 22 and they shoot great out of both my 03's, the 311041's I cast myself are straight wheelweights so maybe about 10? The Penn bullets, no gas checks, I haven't heard back from him yet on hardness, I have a Lee tester at home and will try a few to see what they give.

I am still relatively new to this, but the ones at 22 BHN are pretty much linotype, but they seem to group really well. If harder or softer better?

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I heard back from Penn and his bullets are around 20 BHN, I wonder if could be how I am seating them or the shape of the nose, I am really at a loss

 

[Patriot]

I doubt they are linotype as that mix is probably too expensive unless you are paying top buck for your bullets. They are probably water dropped wheelweight equivalent which will measure that hardness after they sit about a day. The reason they are that hard is because that is his process and he sells to folks that may actually need them to be that hard. I have used wheelweight equivalent at greater than 1600FPS without problems. I never water drop anything I cast and that is because it's more of a PITA because I have to lube them right away or they are too hard to send through my lube/sizer. I tried it and found water dropping is incompatible with my casting style and the perceived benefit vs actual benefit wasn't worth it. By the time I finish casting, I usually have other pressures on me for attention and I just can't seem to free up that amount of time at once. I use a mix of WW or range scrap, tin (pewter), and lino or other hard lead and aim for an initial hardness around 13-14 BHN. Even that hardness gets dicey going through the luber/sizer if I let it sit for a while.

just talked to the guy who made the 150-SP bullets, he says his BHN is 22 and they shoot great out of both my 03's, the 311041's I cast myself are straight wheelweights so maybe about 10? The Penn bullets, no gas checks, I haven't heard back from him yet on hardness, I have a Lee tester at home and will try a few to see what they give.

I am still relatively new to this, but the ones at 22 BHN are pretty much linotype, but they seem to group really well. If harder or softer better?

 

[Patriot]

Seating seems to be really important with cast bullets. I'm using the Lyman M die to open up the case to allow better (easier/straighter) seating.
Perhaps with the larger diameter bullet it is causing difficulties with seating?

I heard back from Penn and his bullets are around 20 BHN, I wonder if could be how I am seating them or the shape of the nose, I am really at a loss