I have had excellent results using lee moulds for my 7.62x54R but 303 brit has been a disaster. Two groove barrels have given me the worst possible results. The last one I slugged had a groove diameter of .316 & a land of .304. I am also getting tired of turing down beautiful #4 just because they have a two groove. Given the cost of lyman moulds & such, I figured I would ask what has worked well for you. So, what success stories have you got, with what & what was your barrel like? Spread the wealth boys, jacketed bullets are bloody expensive.
Casting for a two groove
- Thread starter desporterizer
- Start date
Lyman used to make a mould for 30 cal 2-groove barrels--it is a 180-190 grain spitzer type with a long bore-riding nose sectio, a single fairy large lube groove and made for a gas check. I cant's remember the mould number off hand but if you send me a pm to remind me I will look it up for you--I am not at home right now. A friend of mine used to have one and it worked fairly well in the 2-groove enfields. We also used it in 30-30 TC contenders for silhouette shooting. The loverin style bullets did not seem to work well in the 2 grooves we tried them in.
Is it the bore diameter thats giving you trouble?
A possible fix is to open up the moulds driving bands- I did one recently by taking a nail and grinding the head to .002" over bore size, installing in a drill chuck and running inside to the driving bands. The rest of the boolit is unaffected and you can finish it with a Lee push-thru sizing die. (which work great and open up to your own needs easily)
As for your lands being .304 thats no problem either- just take a sliver of aluminum flue repair tape $7 at home depot and "Beagle" the nose end of the mould.
A possible fix is to open up the moulds driving bands- I did one recently by taking a nail and grinding the head to .002" over bore size, installing in a drill chuck and running inside to the driving bands. The rest of the boolit is unaffected and you can finish it with a Lee push-thru sizing die. (which work great and open up to your own needs easily)
As for your lands being .304 thats no problem either- just take a sliver of aluminum flue repair tape $7 at home depot and "Beagle" the nose end of the mould.
I have an oversized mold as well, and am awaiting a mold this fall from a Group Buy on "Castboolits" for an oversized 311365: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=80372
I have also sized down a 32 Cal bullet designed for the 32 Special (to 0.316") and it retained enough lube groove depth to work well.
I have also sized down a 32 Cal bullet designed for the 32 Special (to 0.316") and it retained enough lube groove depth to work well.
Try paper patching for that two groove. I had the same problem. I now cast and put on the gas checks by pushing it through a .311 sizer. I then paper patch and size to .314. That two groove now shoots very well. Before the cast bullets would always tumble.
