Cast for a Mosin

Yes I have.....not so good
I have tried many many bullets in my mosin and the best 2 are: Lee 7.62x39 165. And the better is Lyman 314299 200gr

The problem with sizing a .319"/.321"/.323" bullet down to .314"is a 4 fold problem:
1) When you size the bullet down that far you loose all but the very bottom of your lube grooves. If the bullet be a tumble lube type forget about lube grooves at all.
2) The unlubricated bore riding section is actually .002-.003" smaller than groove diameter and this is a bad thing as no lube plus rifling engagement and freeplay cause bullet cocking (missalignment) and BAD leading.
3) There is a lot of force required to size from .323,to.321,to.319,to.316,to.314 and the distortion of the nose or eccentic sizing of the bullet is a real possability (probability)
4) Ever try putting a gas check on a bullet through a sizing die thats 4 sizes too small or too large and try to get it on streight? LoL have fun sizing through 4 different dies then seating a gascheck and going back through all the dies again....for...every....single...bullet....just get the proper mold. Trust me I've tied it all.....even tried paper patching and graphite lubing undersized bullets...ya, no, don't do it! Just don't.

What's your bore Dia? If its near .312 a 7.62x39 bullet should work and lee molds are cheap to aquire.

I've tried:
Lee #CTL312-160-2R (165gr SPGC 7.62x39)
Lyman #319247 (32-40 CFP 165gr, #323470 (8mm RNGC 165gr) ***314299 (314dia RNGC 200gr)....
RCBS #RCB82024 (.321" RNFPGC 170gr)
Saeco #632 (32-40RNFP tapered 165gr) #*732 (32-40 RNFP 200gr) #081 (8mm RNGC 190gr)
Tried every alloy from 10:1 to Stereo type and even alloyed silver solder into them to try and prevent gas cutting on plain base bullets and subsequent leading.
A beagled 7.62x39 lee mold gave marginaly satisfactory resaults but poor lee quality gave a short mold life.
The best yet has been a 314299 Lyman mold that has been polished as recent lyman quality has taken a nose dive. Twice I returned the mold because of it casting 311/299 (body/nose) then casting 312/302 ...finally I received a mold that cast a .313>.314 oval/302 , frusterated I took matters into my own hands and lapped and polished the mold using succesivly cast bullets in a tapping handle. Now it drops .3155"/.302" so it can be sized to .314" and gaurenteed round
I have the fortune of having family and friends that have a large gun and therefore mold and sizing die collection that made such extensive tests posible.
 
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I have found out that if you want good results you have to buy the proper moulds for the rifles. Sizing down to far is hard on sizing dies and has never gave good accuracy.

I just got myself a new enfeild/mosin mould. I have yet to try these boolits out. They are a 202 gr round nose. Sized to .313"
 

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I prefer 1 and 2 cavity molds for consistency sake. I've found too much variancy in size and casting temp in big gang molds in the past...might be ok for pistol use over short ranges or long range rifle use with a premium aluminum/brass mold and a pyro read out but haven't used one of them.

The mold I used was a lee? 5 cavity and what I found was that the dia. from cavity to cavity varies as cut but also as cast because by the time you cast the last bullet and let it cool the first bullet has cooled substantially and this overheats (expands) that portion of the mold. This is why I preffer 1 or 2 cavity molds for long range.
 
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Mine is aluminum. I do have the temp probe. I have had great results with all on noe moulds. I sell most of my boolits. So I need the high volume moulds. Consistency is great. And as for the moulds heating up. I always switch between 2-3 different moulds while I am casting to keep the rhythm going. I will never buy another lee
Mould again. I use rcbs/ LYMAN/ and noe. I also have a few Nei moulds also.
 
I hear good things about NOE but couldn't justify that much $$$ for an aluminum mold.
I prefer cast iron molds since they don't wear or warp or damage as easy as an aluminum mold.
For a gang mold I can see the probe and high thermal dynamic coeficient of aluminum being a plus
I hear good things about brass/bronze molds but again $$$$ and easily damaged plus the potential for lead soldering it self to the mold and requireing CAREFUL tedius removal. Atleast aluminum doesn't have an afinity for lead, tin, or antmony
 
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To be completely honest. I have done little over 9000 cast 45/70 out of my noe aluminum mould. No signs of wear. Still great bullets. The aluminum blocks are heavy duty. About an inch of meat per side. They are built like tanks. I might be getting an noe aluminum mould soon to try out. I have ordered so many moulds from them that I get amazing deals from them now. 😎
 
Hmm. I would have thought that the sprue plate would gaul an aluminum mold block pretty fast just like lee molds do (even with trued & polished sprue cutter plates.
....Especially on gangs as by the time the most distant cavity is at proper tension the cavity cosest the pivot bolt is a bit too tight....
Perhaps NOE uses harder aluminum than lee
 
kenneth carlson said:
Anyways sorry for hijacking this thread was not intended to do so. Anyways back to the op post.
Click to expand...

Ya sorry. I stand by my first assesment.
Lee 7.62x39 165gr SPGC mold if you are at -.312" bore dia and $$ is an isue

Lyman 314299 RNGC 200gr mold if you are at .313-.314 bore diameter and have a bit more $$ to play with

If your bore is +.314" then a NOE 316299 mold may be in your future.
 
Kegcaissy said:
316299 is THE way!! for nagant and enfields!
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I assume you mean because they can be sized down to .312" or .314" or so depending on your rifle? I can't shoot .316" in my Mosin.

My Mosin slugs .311" and shoots .311" like a dream. I tried .314" in it and my groups doubled in size. I tried some .316" I have and they wont chamber; I think they expand the neck too much. Maybe I have a tighter-than-normal chamber?
I don't know why the .314" don't shoot well. Normally I shoot .002" or .003" over groove diameter and it works well but for some reason my Mosin doesn't like it.
 
The lee 312-155-2r has been working well for me . My bore is .312 and the mold drops them at .3125 . I run them through a lee .314 sizing die to seat the gas check .
 
I am using the Lee C312-185-1R, my bore is .312, so I use them as cast with a gas check and lubed twice with Alox, I shoot a reduced load of 30,2g of H4895.
I also make some paper patch with this same bullet, I reduce the diameter to .308 on a Lee sizer, wrap a paper patch then reduce to .313 on a modified Lee sizer,
I also shoot them with 30,2 g of H4895. Precision with both of those bullets could be better, but considering my eye sight and the Mosin trigger it is OK.
Last week I made a few powder coated bullet with this same bullet, did not shoot them yet it is too cold, I will try them in the spring, this time I will use a reduced
load with Trail Boss powder.
 
ciphery said:
Hmm. I would have thought that the sprue plate would gaul an aluminum mold block pretty fast just like lee molds do (even with trued & polished sprue cutter plates.
....Especially on gangs as by the time the most distant cavity is at proper tension the cavity cosest the pivot bolt is a bit too tight....
Perhaps NOE uses harder aluminum than lee
Click to expand...

With a good spring washer you can keep the tension fairly even across the whole top of the mold, if you have it adjusted properly. I don't have a lot of experience with Lee molds, but I do own 40-ish aluminum molds by other manufacturers. No galling. a few of those molds have made over 10,000 bullets. No galling yet. :)

A lot of people think that the lube is used to prevent lead smearing, but it's actually used to prevent wear and galling as well. If you do have galling with the Lee mold, maybe you need to lube more often. I apply a very light coat of lube every 50 pours. That might be overkill, but my molds still look almost new.
 
Both my Mosin and SKS rifles have .312" groove bores,I shoot the Lee .312" 160 gr. GS tumble lube bullet in both rifles. My particular Lee mold drops bullet right at .314" GC are applied with the Lee .314 push through sizer,bullets get a light coat of my Lee Alox/JPW lube once before and once after sizing. As a side note the bullets are sized down to .311" and shot in my Sav. 99 in 300 Sav. as well with excellent results. For a general purpose load I like 16.0 grs. or Alliant 2400 in the Mosin and Savage 99 and 14.5 grs. in the SKS.

First 5 shot Mosin test load.
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Same bullet sized to .311" in the Sav. 99
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I have around 10 Lee mold for rifles and handguns and they all cast good bullet. My favorite is my NOE double crimp groove 357/38 HP GC mold. I don't have any of there rifle molds but hope to add a Ranch Dog design when it becomes available.
 
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