Great fun with the Lyman #311299, 200Gr. Cast Bullet

dthunter

dthunter

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Had some awsome fun today shooting home cast bullets!

I Shot at 100,200,300,400,500 & 600 yards with my #311299, 200 Grain boolet (.310" Diameter).

Rifle: Remington 700 Varmint Laminate in .308 Winchester.

LOAD SPECS:

Winchester Neck sized and uniformed cases

Federal 210Match Primers

19.0 GR IMR SR4759 Powder

Lead Alloy and Mould used:

Lyman #31299,(18 pounds wheel weight alloy + 8 Feet of 50/50 Lead/Tin Solder).

Overall length: Seated snuggly into the rifling.
This leaves a loaded round that is required to be fed one round at a time.

Todays velocity reads: 1741fps average(20shots) Two weeks ago,this load averaged 1691 fps.

Extream Spread: 39.0 fps

Standard Deviation: 8.66 fps

-2 degrees Celcius, and Cloudy, 2-3mph, wind from my back to target.


My groups are as follows:

200 yds= 1.5"

300 yds= 4.50"

400 yds= 4.25" (2 shots on plate + 1 on paper, as seen on the picture)
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l501/darcytyndall/3shotsat400311299.jpg
hope that works!

500 yds= 7.25"

600 yds= 8.0"

Wow! These are just dropping in there! I cant believe they are staying on target like this!
The boolet holes are still nice and round at 600. Indicating that the boolet is still stable.

Not bad for home made cast bullets! I was a little surprised. :eek:

I would have moved out further, but ran out of vertical elevation adjustment on my scope.
I guess I will be needing to purchasing a set of Burris Signature rings with the offset bushings to gain another 20 MOA or so. I wonder how far they will stay stable?

I tried another load with 35.0 Grains of Varget (2190 fps Average), 0.902" for 5 rounds!

I never expected to get this accuracy at this velocity with such a softish alloy!
No leading evident yet.

I recovered one of the boolets that hit my target at 600 yards. Talk about lucky!
It penetrated 4" of an Ash board after going through the target just above the gong.
I found it on top of the snow 60-70 yards down range of my backstop.


Hope you guys enjoyed the report/info!

Straight shootin, and keep it fun!:dancingbanana:
 
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I can't help smiling reading a report like that! It is what one of the things I believe boolit casting and reloading should result in: the successful culmination of painstaking research and attention to detail. Well done!
 
TCBF:
Thanks for the encouragement! Its this acknowlegement from fellow members that makes this pursuit and hard work worthwhile!

And of course the ring of a gong wayyy out there! LOL!
 
Nice to do it all and get good results!

Anyone do this with .30 Magnums? I'm trying to make my 308 Norma a rifle that is plesant to shoot all day at 100 yds. I have it grouping at about 0.75" at 100 yds with 165 SGK's and H4831(~2750 fps). It may be tame as a magnum but it still becomes a chore not to flinch after about 35 rounds. Is this a possible solution, or will the big case cause ignition problems with the small amount of faster powders used?

I don't recall a thread about shooting cast. I'll have to check.

Not much lately it seems. I found a ref to another forum, Cast boolits (or something). Any other links for this topic?
 
Sweet stuff DT. I hope mine stay stable that far. I haven't even poured any bullets out of my 200 gr mold.
What lube? Gas check?
 
Sounds like a lot of fun. I've been buying molds and getting some equipment together but have yet to even melt my wheel weights.

Nice detailed notes, thanks for sharing.
 
Great job dthunter! You've got great accuracy potential with that 200gr. bullet. That mould is definitely a keeper. If I were you, I'd cast a couple thousand of those bullets this winter and have them ready for when the warmer weather comes.

For plinking purposes, it doen't get a lot better than that.
 
Nicely done dthunter. Years ago I had good results years ago with Lyman #311284 cast to 210 grs on top of 25 grs of SR-4759 in the .30/06, and like your load, the extreme spread was pretty tight. I haven't done any cast shooting with .30 caliber rifles for a while, and its time I started again, thanks for the reminder.
 
I looked at a site called Cast Boolits. I haven't looked about much, but will in the future.

Any other ref? There has to be some more web resources out there. This is as good a spot as any to put them.

I'm begining to really like this idea. Low cost, easy on the equipment, and more important, me.

What if you don't have a source for wheel weights? Is it easy to get the raw materials? Is buying the different metals and alloying it yourself the least expensive way to do it (if you start with freash metal)? It would also be by far the best way to get the hardness you want and to be able to repeat it consistantly. Sort of kills some of the joy if the lead isn't free but the more I think about this the more I like it, assuming it doesn't add to the cost to the point where it's just not worth the time.
 
What is the twist of your rifle 1/ 10-11-12 ???

you should be able to push it a little faster 1850 - 1900 fps

that bullet has a BC of .377

5744 is another good powder
 
That is wonderful stuff. My cast bullet days were pretty short due to time for other shooting interests but at 200yds, they did work well.

Consider Trailboss. Might get you SD even tighter.

Look forward to more news. What are you using for lube?

Jerry
 
dthunter said:
Had some awsome fun today shooting home cast bullets!

I Shot at 100,200,300,400,500 & 600 yards with my #311299, 200 Grain boolet (.310" Diameter).

Rifle: Remington 700 Varmint Laminate in .308 Winchester.

LOAD SPECS:

Winchester Neck sized and uniformed cases

Federal 210Match Primers

19.0 GR IMR SR4759 Powder

Lead Alloy and Mould used:

Lyman #31299,(18 pounds wheel weight alloy + 8 Feet of 50/50 Lead/Tin Solder).

Overall length: Seated snuggly into the rifling.
This leaves a loaded round that is required to be fed one round at a time.

Todays velocity reads: 1741fps average(20shots) Two weeks ago,this load averaged 1691 fps.

Extream Spread: 39.0 fps

Standard Deviation: 8.66 fps

-2 degrees Celcius, and Cloudy, 2-3mph, wind from my back to target.


My groups are as follows:

200 yds= 1.5"

300 yds= 4.50"

400 yds= 4.25" (2 shots on plate + 1 on paper, as seen on the picture)
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l501/darcytyndall/3shotsat400311299.jpg
hope that works!

500 yds= 7.25"

600 yds= 8.0"

Wow! These are just dropping in there! I cant believe they are staying on target like this!
The boolet holes are still nice and round at 600. Indicating that the boolet is still stable.

Not bad for home made cast bullets! I was a little surprised. :eek:

I would have moved out further, but ran out of vertical elevation adjustment on my scope.
I guess I will be needing to purchasing a set of Burris Signature rings with the offset bushings to gain another 20 MOA or so. I wonder how far they will stay stable?

I tried another load with 35.0 Grains of Varget (2190 fps Average), 0.902" for 5 rounds!

I never expected to get this accuracy at this velocity with such a softish alloy!
No leading evident yet.

I recovered one of the boolets that hit my target at 600 yards. Talk about lucky!
It penetrated 4" of an Ash board after going through the target just above the gong.
I found it on top of the snow 60-70 yards down range of my backstop.


Hope you guys enjoyed the report/info!

Straight shootin, and keep it fun!:dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

with your rifle 1/12 twist you should be able to push that 200g to 1900-2000 fps or faster

if you have balistic tables for a bc of .377
my tables are incomplete but if you push it to 2000-2100 fps you will gain 10" plus of scope adjustment at 300 yds

you might not have to buy new rings

Accurate Powder lists data for a 200g 5744 powder max vel at 2124 fps
at a lower pressure that some of the other powders (so brass/rifle will take less of a beating)

Next trip to the pluming store get the Lead free solder, and you can use less of it per pot

when you fill up more of the case you should get a lower Extream Spread and less chance of position sensitivy

19g of Sr 4759 will just rattle around in that case

What overall length are you using ?
To long and if you have to extract a live round and you might pull it from the case


Sorry Trail boss powder is not what you want

What other powder do you have ???

I tried another load with 35.0 Grains of Varget (2190 fps Average), 0.902" for 5 rounds!
Click to expand...

How were the primers with the Varget My book lists 34.0 as a max @25800 psi
Primers were prob showing less signs of pressure than the SR 4759 load

Keep us up dated
 
.
Way back in the Dark Ages, 55 years ago, when I was still in High School and had very little money, I shot cast bullets out to 600 yards in the .303 British. I was getting the same or better accuracy with them that I could get with the Mark VII Canadian Ball ammo, and that stuff is considered some of the best.

While you can push cast bullets faster, resulting in less drop in trajectory, it is not necessarily the best idea for some loads or rifles. Accuracy here is what counts, and if you have a load such as the OP has, and is getting acceptable accuracy at those ranges, you could experiment a bit, but it is always wise to remember that something going like a bat out of hell is no good if you can not hit anything with it. Eight inch groups with cast bullets at 600 yards is very acceptable accuracy.

Small charges of powder in a large capacity case can be held against the base with a small tuft of dacron. An old pillow can almost give a lifetime supply of dacron. Alternately, if you elevate your rifle just before you fire it, the powder in the cartridge will settle at the base initially.

Because a small charge of powder lies on the bottom of the case, with powders that are a bit difficult to ignite, the flash from the primer passes over the powder charge first. The use of the more powerful Magnum primers give a hotter and larger area of flash inside the cartridge.

The 322299 is also a good bullet to use in the .303 if you paper patch it. You can drive it at original load velocities with no leading at all.
.

.
 
Mystic/Jerry:
My lube is Lyman Super Moly.
I have tried Trailboss, but it didnt give me great S.D's. And accuracy compared to the other powders such as IMR SR4759, Varget, and IMR4895.

I am starting to work with Dacron fillers. So far on the four loads I tried, it has reduced the Standard Deviation significantly. I will try it in my Varget & IMR4895 loads this weekend hopefully.(time permitting)

Just having some fun:
What other powders do I have? Well lets just say I have very little to purchase for testing. I have been testing everything for years! LOL!
I have the AA5744, but have not tried it yet.
My twist is 1:12"

Red shooter:
I am a regular member of cast boolets.com website. It is a great source of info for cast bullet shooting! Allot of the members are very helpful as well!

2Bad4u:

I have a thousand of #311299's and 311644's still, but will spend a day or two increasing that number 2 or 3 fold.
 
tdhunter

The past Monday I tried dacron for my self for the first time
100 rounds 2 different bullets, testing loads

Had to back loads down and work up again --- getting a lot better results now
With out the Dacron was position sensitive

My twist in one of my rifles is 1/10, so I have issues pushing it too fast

Shooting RCBS 150 fn & RCBS 165-sil & RCBS 180-sp in a Semi as well as a bolt gun

I now mark all loading data so i know if i used dacron or not

During the summer I shot 400 rounds with out cleaning my rifle --> No leading
Looked like I had just cleaned it and shot only one round
Using ww /tin and my version of Felix Lube
 
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