Bullet Mold for 303Brit

Andy said:
Try holding the cast bullet in the micrometer and slowly rotating it. Do this several times and note the highest reading you get - it's not perfect, but you don't have to be within 1/10000" in these things. For the 303 Brit in a Lee Enfield, it's rare that a bullet smaller than 0.314" in diameter works best, so I'd aim at that. The Lee 90385, 90361 and 90371 all work well, and typically drop at 0.313" or 0.314".

Get to know these guys: http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/

They sell a bullet for the 32-20 that makes a good plinker and drops at 0.313" or more depending on your alloy



They also stock a Lee 0.313" lube-sizer - no need to order a custom one.

I recommend that mold, or any of the three Lee molds and a 0.314" sizer.

Lyman, RCBS and others make much higher quality molds, but they are priced accordingly. For someone just starting, those prices might be just high enough to turn you away from casting, much less experimenting. Nevertheless, the Lee molds will provide thousands of bullets before they crap out, certainly enough service for you to decide if you'd like to get more serious about casting.
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I tried your measuring while spinning the slug trick and I get 0.313 (0.312 - 0.3135). I got 0.314 once and wasn't able to get it again so I figure it was just the way I was holding the slug.

So I guess I should go for the Lee .313 sizer eh?
 
Lee doesn't make a .313 sizer. That's why I bought a .314" to crimp gas checks on. You can order a custom .313" but its more money and a month wait.

Some people do shoot gas check bullets without checks with success but you can lose out on most of that bullet potential with more normal cast bullet loads.

Lyman's cast cullet handbook 4th Ed. Is a very good read
 
I'll have a look for that manual.

I emailed Wholesale sports asking for the following Lee molds cause I couldn't find them on their site:
-C309-150-F (90366)
-C309-170-F (90368)
-C312-155-2R (90385)
-C312-185-1R (90371)

But they said that they don't stock them or do special orders from Lee. Cabela's doesn't show any Molds on their website so I don't figure they'll order them in for me either.

Any recommendations as to where to buy these for the best price or should I just bite the bullet and buy straight off the Lee website? (pun... intended)
 
I order all my Lee products from FS Reloading in Hartford Wisconsin. They used to call themselves Factory Sales. They are across the street from the Lee Factory and offer pretty much the lowest prices on Lee equipment.

Most shops can get the Lyman manual, or you can get if from Sinclair International in the US as I did.
 
Andy said:
Buy a mold for an 8mm or 32 Special and a custom 0.319" sizer and size them down. If you're handy, you can open up a standard Lee sizer, for example a 0.314" with a "O" drill or reamer to 0.316" as is commonly done, and then go the extra 0.003" by other means such as sandpaper around a dowel.

Be careful that the neck in your chamber can accomodate such a large bullet and if the clearance is insufficient (i.e. less than one thou), you'll need to neck turn your brass. Generally this is not required, but you have to check.
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Thats the idea I was toyinh with. A 8mm lee mold and size it down to .319-.320. Anyone have any experience doing this?
 
you can make a mold larger pretty easily.

This works for steel molds, but I personally have not tried on aluminum.

Put a large steel nut on top of the prepped bullet mold, centering the nut over the mold cavity. Pour lead RIGHT TO TOP OF NUT,

remove bullet/nut assembly from mold

put a little bit... A LITTLE BIT, of valve grinding compound on the OUTER RINGS OF THE BULLET ONLY since our objective is to only increase these bearing surfaces

place bullet back in the mold and close, being very careful not to get compound on any other surface.

rotate nut/bullet 20 times, clean mold well, and cast a test bullet.. See how much the size increased. Make note of approximately how many more rotations you need to reach the desired size.

Repeat until satisfied.

Save the money of a custom mold :)

Or just buy a lee blank and design your own bullet for $20
 
maybe before going to castboolits, have a look at this, there is one heck of a lot of good info here;

http://www.lasc.us/

Then root thru the castboolits Classics & Stickies
 
lorne19 said:
Anybody got any ideas about a mold for a Lee Enfield that with a oversize bore. My No 4 sluggs at .318 and the bore is near mint.
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Your rifle sounds like a good candidate for paper patching. Two wraps of 16# paper around a .309" cast bullet should get you real close to .319". I can even wrap up a few for you to try if you are willing to pay the postage.:cheers:
 
With Lee sizers just buy a size smaller than you want and polish them out to your desired size. Since they start really rough this is two fold of giving you the size you desire in addition to a slick-as-snot sizing die.(dowel with emery paper...just remember to polish evenly)
 
Boolitcaster said:
Your rifle sounds like a good candidate for paper patching. Two wraps of 16# paper around a .309" cast bullet should get you real close to .319". I can even wrap up a few for you to try if you are willing to pay the postage.:cheers:
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A friend and shooting partner, hs4570, that has since passed away, gave me an article from a copy of the Handloader titled "Patching Cast Bullets with Teflon". The patching is done with the teflon tape commonly used by plumbers. It's another patching option. I scanned the atricle and if you're interested, PM me your e-mail address and I'll forward it on to you.
 
My moulds from FS Reloading arrived in the mail today (super fast!) and I got my melting pot yesterday. Stopped by the local tire shop and got a 3gallon bucket full of wheel weights (for FREE!) and I was off to the races!

Here's what my first go at 'er looked like:
155gr for my 303 at the top and 150gr for my 30-30 on the bottom (I already have plenty of cast bullets purchased for the 30-30 so I spent more time casting the .312's for my 303)
423568_10150724117783816_513708815_9025176_1550330305_n.jpg



Anyhow, Thanks to all for the help in deciding what to get! :D
 
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