Casted up some .30 Cals

[Idaholewis]

I got my .30 Cal stuff out this morning. I Casted up a little Batch of my .30 Cal Paper Patch Bullets, This is NOE Molds Copy of the .30 Cal NRA Paper Patch Bullet. I need to get myself dedicated to this Project and find out it’s full potential from my .308, I have so much going on with Blackpowder, Muzzleloader stuff that i simply set this .30 Cal Stuff aside, They shot AWESOME For me my last time out.

Cast of Certified Lyman #2 Alloy, They weigh 170-170.5, Keep Rate was 100%

 

[bstorric]

My grandfather used to cast lead .30 cal Bullets for his 30-06s. I think he used copper gas checks on the bases. Seems like an interesting thing to be able to do. Especially if you already do reloading

 

[Idaholewis]

My grandfather used to cast lead .30 cal Bullets for his 30-06s. I think he used copper gas checks on the bases. Seems like an interesting thing to be able to do. Especially if you already do reloading

I cast one of them as well I did a LOT of research on Both Bullets before getting in to them, They are PERFECT for .308, The .308 is actually an AWESOME, IDEAL Cartridge to Shoot Cast in

This is my .30 XCB, Without Gas check

And beside my Lyman 200 Grain .30 Cal with Gas Checks

Lyman 200 Grain Gas Checked, These are a ”Bore Rider” I plan to Size & Paper Patch these, something else to Try

 

[Idaholewis]

With Loading components getting HARDER & HARDER to get by the Day, it’s nice to have the Ability to Cast my own .30 Cal Bullets

 

[bstorric]

When you paperpatch, you’re still taking about center fire cartridges? I’m curious how that works

 

[Idaholewis]

When you paperpatch, you’re still taking about center fire cartridges? I’m curious how that works

Yep! It is a lot different than how I Paper Patch for Muzzleloaders, For Cartridge you patch to Groove Diameter, For Muzzleloader i am patching to Bore Diameter

 

[Idaholewis]

With Paper Patch and Linotype you can Run Cast Bullets to 3,000 Fps, Right with Jacketed

 

[deermanok]

Looks like they work good for you.

 

[Idaholewis]

Casted up a little pile of 30 XCB’s as well Cast of Lyman #2 Alloy, They weigh 163.5-164 Grains 100% keep rate.

5 Cavity Mold, all cavities cast IDENTICAL I can Crank out a PILE of Bullets in a HURRY with this Mold

 

[MSalyards]

I was gonna ask your thoughts on multiple cavity molds. I've always shied away from them.

 

[Idaholewis]

I was gonna ask your thoughts on multiple cavity molds. I've always shied away from them.

For the most part i don’t like Multi cavity molds, The ONLY reason i ended up with this 5 Cavity Mold is due to buying it used from a Guy, After some research I wanted this Particular .30 Cal Bullet Mold in a BAD way, But I couldn’t buy one new From NOE as it was “Out of Stock“ NOE Molds won’t Cut a Mold specifically for you, He Cuts Runs of Molds, Various Cavity sizes (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) When they are Gone they are GONE until he decides to make More. Anyway, i put a “Plug” out for this Particular .30 Cal Mold and within a few Days i got a “Hit” it was this 5 Cavity, He had bought it new and didn’t use it. I feel fortunate these 5 Cavities cast identical to eachother.

 

[Screwbolts]

I will only now buy 5 cavity molds or larger# cavity molds from either NOE, Arsenal or Mihec, even the newest LEE 6 cavity molds are supper consistent IMHO. Their proven track record of uniform quality molds speaks for its self.

There is much knowledge available on PP w/ Black or smokeless powder in Cf rifles a simple search of this internet thing will keep you reading for days.

Here is a link to a good source of knowledge :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?62-Smokeless-Paper-Patching
I just went down to my shop and counted molds, LOL. I only have 19 molds that are, 5-6 or 8 cavity that I use regularly. I shoot my own cast in everything from, 22 K-hornet to 50BMG I have hunted exclusively with my own cast since 98. It has actually much longer than that with my 12 ga slugs, RBs and all forms of ML, Maxi, Minis, REALs. Many of my family and friends use my boolitz to harvest critters. If you shoot a lot, cast boolitz makes sense and is my way to have a tremendous amount of fun.

Long before Magnumeitus became a marketing tool of manufactures, animals were cleanly harvested with lead boolitz. I believe it wasn't until 1908 that the Gas Check was developed, the first bullet designed for it was the, Ideal 308284 a modified version of the 308282. The gas check shank was added to it. It was developed for the army to allow for a more cost effective 30-06 round for military to practice with out to 600 yards.

With todays machining capability on CNC machines, there is IMHO no reason to buy single or double cavity molds. I suppose if you only shoot 10 to 20 rounds a year.

Ken

 

[eekjellander]

I agree in princible however in todays market you buy what you can find , I use a (LOT) of single cavity molds because of the lack of choice . More important is calibur , precise loading for pistol is less important to me than volume as yardage/and amount fired at the range can involve (close) high volume shooting . Long range target involves precise slow and methodical shooting requiring in my hands a high end single cavity mold do to better temp control/weight and longer casting sessions (quality control) that is required to help me hit closer to where I thought I aimed/Ed

 

[Idaholewis]

I don’t mind multiple cavity molds in lighter bullets (200 Grains & under) Especially For say Pistol. But that’s it for me. If i had my Choice I would take a Single Cavity over a Double or More Cavity ANY DAY

I must own 60-80 Molds total, 99.9% of them are SINGLE Cavity. I am EXTREMELY picky with my Bullets, Weights have to be PERFECT in order for me to keep them. With larger 350 Grain and Up Molds in Multi Cavities i find Weights start to Vary slightly, to very noticeable from Cavity to Cavity. The few Multi Cavity Molds that i own, I usually only use 1 of the Cavities. So for me personally, It’s a WASTE to have a Multi Cavity Mold, as i won’t use more than 1 Cavity.

In short, i am NOT a Fan of Multi Cavity Molds, my preference is Single Cavity But then again I am casting BIG HEAVY Muzzleloader Bullets 99.99% of the time, i want PRECISION, Not multi Cavity molds that throw 1-2 maybe more Grains apart from eachother. I shoot for + or - 1 Grain MAX, and usually do FAR better than that, Most of my bullets are within a 1/2 Grain of eachother

 

[MSalyards]

I was just gonna say that I too only use one hole in the multiple cavity molds that I own. I can concentrate on better bullets. I've seen lots of pistol shooters go thru the motion of multiple casting then running the bullets thru a lube sizer and turn out some crappy bullets. Why waste the time? On the other side though, when I bought my very first mould from Paul Jones I had been shooting some REAL crappy bullets that I had bought. 10 gr over and under in a 540 gr bullet. I was new to BPCR and had no experience at all other than what I read. My 100 yd targets had 7" to 10" groups and I was going crazy with a new $4500.00 rifle. Paul told me that even being 10 gr off those bullets should shoot 1 hole at 100 yds. Then he asked me what size were they? Now I was learning about exact bullet to bore/groove size and leading up a barrel. With his help I learned that the only time I size a bullet is when I need the bullet to be a specific size. Other wise I shoot as cast. I also learned how to de-lead a barrel, ha!

 

[Idaholewis]

I was just gonna say that I too only use one hole in the multiple cavity molds that I own. I can concentrate on better bullets. I've seen lots of pistol shooters go thru the motion of multiple casting then running the bullets thru a lube sizer and turn out some crappy bullets. Why waste the time? On the other side though, when I bought my very first mould from Paul Jones I had been shooting some REAL crappy bullets that I had bought. 10 gr over and under in a 540 gr bullet. I was new to BPCR and had no experience at all other than what I read. My 100 yd targets had 7" to 10" groups and I was going crazy with a new $4500.00 rifle. Paul told me that even being 10 gr off those bullets should shoot 1 hole at 100 yds. Then he asked me what size were they? Now I was learning about exact bullet to bore/groove size and leading up a barrel. With his help I learned that the only time I size a bullet is when I need the bullet to be a specific size. Other wise I shoot as cast. I also learned how to de-lead a barrel, ha!

I will never know if he is right about that or not? My OCD would NEVER EVER allow me to Keep Bullets that far off, let alone Waste the Powder & Time Shooting to test it.

Simple fact is, if you are keeping and Sorting Various Bullet weights from the Same Mold, same Casting session, Same Lead? You need to go back to the Drawing Board and learn how to properly Cast Bullets, as you are NOT getting Optimum Mold Fillout.

 

[MSalyards]

That's for sure. So many folks cast and shoot without checking weight or quality of there bullets. Like you and others have said sharp bullet bases make a BIG difference. I'm very picky about what I shoot and cannot tolerate a bad target. I'm not a target shooter for competition, I compete with myself to get the most out of the gun I'm shooting. I might buy 3-4 moulds to get where I want the gun to be after going over the loads 1 variable at a time. And as you know, some moulds drive me crazy . Ha!

 

[Idaholewis]

With me, Even these little 165s and 170s For my .308 that i started this thread with are individually weighed, They MUST Make the Grade or they go back in the Pot. The way i see it? It’s just as easy to cast and Keep Perfect Bullets as it is to Cast and keep Half @ssed Bullets.

 

[eekjellander]

OK Lewis you made your point and for that you get 3 likes in 3 posts , consistant as always/Ed

 

[gle3105]

Haven’t casted in years. Lewis is making itch to get back in it. Especially with my Scheutzen.
Acquired a LBT mold from Veral in 98.
Need to be warming it ip again. 8.15x 46r.
And sorry, don’t mean to hijack the thread /post.