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 Casting for Reduced Rifle Loads 
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I like to be able to pull the trigger, sit back and take a sip of tea, set the cup back down and then see or hear the round hit. I like my boolits like I like my women; slow. For different reasons though.

So I like to load from some old manuals with the small charge of fast powder, a little bit of Dacron to hold things in place.
I'm looking for a fairly universal boolit for use between x39, x54R, 30-06, .308 and 300BO.
Has anyone else worked up some cast boolits for any of these calibers?
I want heavy for the 300BO, not sure about the rest.


Tue Apr 18, 2017 5:50 pm
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You want to use the exact same bullet for all of those calibers? You might be able to do that, but I don't think you'll get the "heavy for the 300BO" desire.

Maybe something like a 150-grain .308" bullet? Seems like the 7.62x39 would be the limiting factor, weight-wise. I've loaded 203 and 240 grain bullets in 7.62x39, but those were highly experimental subsonic loads . . . not really normal ammo.

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Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:50 pm
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MadPick wrote:
You want to use the exact same bullet for all of those calibers? You might be able to do that, but I don't think you'll get the "heavy for the 300BO" desire.

Maybe something like a 150-grain .308" bullet? Seems like the 7.62x39 would be the limiting factor, weight-wise. I've loaded 203 and 240 grain bullets in 7.62x39, but those were highly experimental subsonic loads . . . not really normal ammo.


Yes sir. I considered the .308 .311 angle too- wasn't sure about casting to .311 or above, and sizing to .308 for the Freedom Calibers. I haven't cast for x39 or 54R.
99% of my casting was for 38/357, and my molds dropped without need for sizing, or I was too young and ignorant to notice otherwise.
I'm definitely not opposed to getting two new molds. The 30 cal molds that I already have are 1 or 2 cavity, and I am loving the idea of the 6 cavity molds.


Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:59 pm
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I don't think you'll be able to use the same bullet, simply because 7.62x39 and 7.62x54r run around .311 instead of .308, or you'll have to do extra work at times to use them.

I think you'll need 3 bullets. One for the com bloc guns, one for the .30-06 and .308 and one for .300, unless you want to give up on the idea of a heavy .300

Edit. Your reply and mine hit at the same time where you already considered that. Blah.

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Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:00 pm
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Well, I guess if you're using cast bullets then even your "308" loads will be at least .309, possibly larger. The 300BLK bullets that I load are 0.311".

On the flip side, some 7.62x39 and x54 guns will shoot .308-ish bullets satisfactorily.

So . . . maybe cast some .309-ish bullets, powder coat them to reduce the chances of leading, and give it a try . . . ?

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Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:06 pm
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kf7mjf wrote:
Edit. Your reply and mine hit at the same time where you already considered that. Blah.

Negative Goat Rider. I beat you by a minute, and I didn't cheat to do it. haha

That I considered it doesn't mean that I know squat about it- still don't know if the sizing down is done. Imma ignorunt on mini things, and this is one of that long list.

I don't need much space in any of the cartridges since I like shooting slow.


I LOL'd about the GoatRider in another thread. Been looking for an opportunity to drop that in there. No offense intended if you actually ride goats.


Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:09 pm
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Has anyone here sized cast bullets down .003" 0r more?
It seems doable, but real life experience trumps musings made under the influence.


Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:50 pm
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Check with SAGELA, he does a far amount of bullet casting.

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Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:17 pm
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PMB wrote:
Has anyone here sized cast bullets down .003" 0r more?
It seems doable, but real life experience trumps musings made under the influence.


Madpick hit on a win...cast .308 and powder coat for .311 use.

Sizing down three thou might leave you smeared bands. Not so bad with a good Lyman or Keith style mould
with one large grease groove but LEE micro-groove slugs got ugly.

Lyman Cast Bullet handbook probably discusses all this thoroughly - except I don't remember
a section on powder coating. YouTube has lots of how-to on PC.


Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:46 am
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I am going to try and reply to a few different questions and offer some (perhaps bad) advice.

Not saying you could never find a "one size fits all" bullet, it is just unlikely.

My first question is this: What is the groove diameter of each firearm? I believe this must be known before shopping for a mould. Cast bullets
which are .001-.002" larger than groove diameter will generally work best. If will slug the barrels on each gun, assuming a spotless bore beforehand,
you will find some real variations.

2nd question: Which bullet diameter are you getting from your mould? If you have .309" groove diameters to deal with, a mould throwing a .310" bullet
is great until you come to sizing/ lubricating.

3rd question to consider: After sizing, what is your bullet diameter? If you squeeze that .310" bullet down to .309" or .308" during the sizing/ lubricating process,
you have created a likely accuracy problem. Unless the bullet fills the groove diameter, you will have gas cutting, leading, and a sloppy fit in the barrel. The solution
I have chosen is to buy an smaller diameter sizing die, a reamer, and open up the sizing die to your needs. Some people use a Lee lubricator and don't size at all.

On the 7.62x54R, slugging the barrel is very important, as I am guessing you have a Mosin. My Mosin barrel slugs at .3175", more than .006" over specification!
Now what? Easy- have a custom mould made which throws a .319" bullet (note: we are now into 8mm J bore territory). Upon making up a dummy cartridge, I found
that none of them would chamber due to the (now) oversized neck diameter. Next step- I rented a .345" throating reamer and carefully opened the chamber neck to provide a .002" clearance with my dummy cartridges.

Casting is a whole 'nother hobby, and it can be expensive, but it can be hugely rewarding to get an old rifle shooting again. Do you think that Mosin would ever group
7.62x54R ammo with .311" bullets? Patterns, maybe...groups no.

Some folks get into powder coating their bullets and all sorts of fun: http://waguns.org/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=43737&hilit=bore+rider&start=15

The side benefits are less powder, less recoil, more tinkering, and more fun.

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Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:47 am
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I think you can easily load one bullet for all of those rifles, as long as none of them have a really slow twist, and the Mosin doesn't have a grossly oversized bore as mentioned above.
The 200gr Lee round nose bullet would be a good choice, if you get one that casts large enough. If not, lap it out or "beagle" it (very simple method of making molds cast larger).

Yes, you can easily size .003" or a lot more accurately and concentrically, if your sizing system is up to it. A polished Lee push-through sizing die will do this easily; some lubersizer setups will not and you'll end up with lopsided bullets. Its possible you may have to size larger for the Mosin than everything else, but I'd plan on sizing ~.312" for everything to start with, and see what you get. I regularly size at .311" for my .308" bores and get good accuracy from them. That includes 308, 300 Blk, and some others. It is perfectly acceptable to shoot oversized cast bullets, as long as they fit in the chamber without jamming the case neck tight.

Powder coating would be a good choice here, as it makes your load more tolerant of variations between different barrels. I developed a very simple "shake and bake" dry powder coat process that is as fast as tumble lubing, and have documented it on several other forums. If you're interested, I can copy that info here as well. This was the first dry tumble coating process back when everyone was either spraying or using solvents; other people have tried to "improve" the process by adding more steps and complications, but those aren't necessary if you follow my process.


Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:21 pm
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I'd love to see your powder coating process; maybe start a separate thread and post it up? Then we can comment on that without getting away from PMB's topic.

But yeah, I've done a little powder coating and I'd like to get better at it.

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Thu Apr 20, 2017 5:15 am
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I have been looking through my boxes for dies... Only found pistol and revolver molds. They've been put away for 10 years or so. :crybaby:
I ordered up a few different .30 cal rifle boolit molds and will do some testing... I kind of hate to do it right now, but my sanity requires some distraction from the "real life" of trying to finish a house building project that has stretched over several years.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. The toughie is going to be loading for Mosins, I think. I didn't realize how much variation there was in those sweet old machines, and I have far too many to get lucky that they all match.


Thu Apr 20, 2017 8:29 am
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MadPick wrote:
I'd love to see your powder coating process; maybe start a separate thread and post it up? Then we can comment on that without getting away from PMB's topic.

But yeah, I've done a little powder coating and I'd like to get better at it.


Sure, I was thinking a new thread too for the same reason. Give me a day or two to sit down and get it done.


Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:59 pm
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Yondering wrote:
I think you can easily load one bullet for all of those rifles, as long as none of them have a really slow twist, and the Mosin doesn't have a grossly oversized bore as mentioned above.
The 200gr Lee round nose bullet would be a good choice, if you get one that casts large enough. If not, lap it out or "beagle" it (very simple method of making molds cast larger).

Yes, you can easily size .003" or a lot more accurately and concentrically, if your sizing system is up to it. A polished Lee push-through sizing die will do this easily; some lubersizer setups will not and you'll end up with lopsided bullets. Its possible you may have to size larger for the Mosin than everything else, but I'd plan on sizing ~.312" for everything to start with, and see what you get. I regularly size at .311" for my .308" bores and get good accuracy from them. That includes 308, 300 Blk, and some others. It is perfectly acceptable to shoot oversized cast bullets, as long as they fit in the chamber without jamming the case neck tight.

Powder coating would be a good choice here, as it makes your load more tolerant of variations between different barrels. I developed a very simple "shake and bake" dry powder coat process that is as fast as tumble lubing, and have documented it on several other forums. If you're interested, I can copy that info here as well. This was the first dry tumble coating process back when everyone was either spraying or using solvents; other people have tried to "improve" the process by adding more steps and complications, but those aren't necessary if you follow my process.


I hope that you or some other experienced casters can get into gas check experiences too.
Have you used gas checks with powder coating?
The only thing that bugs me about gas checks is 3 cents apiece or so. 1/4 cent or less of material. Tight, I tell ya. haha
I have a few big obi presses and have considered setting up a semi-automated gas check punch line when I get the machinery back into my shop, but that would kind of be like dollars waiting on dimes.


Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:16 am
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