Lee CTL312-160 Feed the milsurps!

leverboy

leverboy

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Loving this mold:) I have my SKS ticking over at 3/4 throttle... The Long Branch is throwing them down range in plinker, varmint, and nearly fullhouse varieties...

Next I want a Mosin... High time I owned one...and guess what! Yup. Same bullet again. One size feeds many:)
 
That's one of my favorite bullets for my 308 actually. I size them down to .311" and they work great with 60-70% loads. I've also tried it in my Mosin and 300WM but they prefer the Lee 185gr .312"; also sized to .311".

My two .303B's are .313"ish and .316"ish so I use bullets sized to .314" for the first and as cast .3165-.3170" for the second.

I have a bunch of 7.62x39 brass I wanted to try cast in for my SKS and was going to use that 160gr bullet. Haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
I have the mold but I've been to busy to get into casting yet. Glad to hear your rifles love it, seems like a well thought out design. The only thing I can't understand is the single .312" driving band near the base. Does anyone know why it only has one while the others are .311"?
 
I had one of those and it was a great bullet but it was by far the worst casting Lee mold I've ever used. No amount of leementing, tin added or playing with tempereature would get it to fill out. I now have a 6 cavity mold of the C312-155-2R version and it's the sh!t! Shoots just as good and not only drops perfect boolits but it drops a ton of them fast! I size them to .314 for my SKS, Mosin and No5Mk1 and .311" for my 308 Savage, 30-30AI Handi-Rifle and .309" for my Win. 94 (one in the chamber and one in the tube). It's definitely the most versatile .30 cal mold in my collection!
 
@supernova
I have no idea why the driving bands are like that but it works wonders for me so I wont complain.

@sawzall
Mine casts like a dream. Maybe you got one buggered from the factory? Lee QC can be hit or miss at times. If the halves don't have the proper air gap when closed you could get air trapped.
I have a Lee TL430-240SWC that doesn't cast well at all but I've read many people having no issues with this mold.
 
Mine is the newer better style of two cavity mold that Lee is selling now.... It has locating pins instead of those goofy bars and grooves like all the other Lee two cavities I had til now... It also seems to have better air relief machined into the faces...more like the six bangers.... That said, this one is still a bit finicky for fillout... One does fine pouring straight in, the other likes to be forcefed right against the pour spout... I wish I had a six-cavity for this bullet
 
Harris boolit is great design.I shoot mine in Mosin,Swiss model 1911 and Israeli Mauser-all of them shoot just great with it.

If i ever choose to downsize and run on just one mold this one would be it.

I wish someone did the same design in .325 size.I bet 8x57 would benefit greatly.
That 160Gr Lee makes for 8mm is very temperamental and not very forgiving for me.
 
But I thought Lee moulds were absolutely no good?!? :p

I love to hear from people who use Lee moulds to good effect. Lee is all I have ever used, with the exception of one, an 8mm I think it is. I just poured a bunch of WW in 160, and sized them to .308 for my Israeli rifle(s). Also poured some 150 FN for 30-30 and .303 Savage. Love casting, and firing off warning shots at targets. :)

Edit: I made a mistake. My mould is 155 and a bit different design. :redface:
 
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I have some NOE and some Accurate Molds and they are much nicer to work with and better made than Lee molds. They are also 3x the price so I would hope they are nicer. I get fewer rejects and less trouble with alignment and poor fill-out. For the price I still buy Lee molds because, for $30-40, they are very high value.

With the Lee CTL312-160 I have shot some 3/8" groups at 50yds our of a 308. I know, only 50yds, but I was impressed and just haven't had a chance to get it out to 100 or 200yds with that load yet. I test all cast bullet loads at 50yds first because sometimes they group 10-12" at 50 so shooting at 100, I might not even be on the board, nevermind paper.
I have had some other loads/powders at 100yds in the same rifle with that bullet and have shot just over 1" with 5-shot groups. Not bad for a cast bullet at ~1700fps. If I can get them to reliably shoot sub-MoA, even at 100yds, I will be quite impressed.
 
leverboy said:
When you say you haven't had luck do you mean with the molds filling out?... or the bullets not performing?....
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bullets performing

I can get them in a 4 inch group at 100 yards but still get flyers.

I use alloy that can be measurably tested to 30,000 cup, well below my load max.

I am shooting the 312 out of a 300 win mag at 1400 fps with GC

It is sized to 311 and fits snugly in the bore.

My only answer is that a barrel twist of 1:10 is just too much to fire those things accurately.

I have much better luck with accuracy firing lead in what it is INTENDED for.

45-70 44 special 357 mag.

All those are incredibly accurate.
 
Sounds like a few factors there... Others will have more experience shooting for pure accuracy, since most of my shooting is offhand at under 100 yards.... 1400 sounds pretty slow to me.... gas checked you can easily goto 2400 I would think... No sense playing slowpitch with a baseball....
 
They shoot for crap in my 300WM at any velocity. I have a Rem700 SPS stainless and use 185gr .311" cast in it with GC's. Maybe the twist rate wants a heavier bullet? I have no idea.
 
pearcetopher said:
bullets performing

I can get them in a 4 inch group at 100 yards but still get flyers.

I use alloy that can be measurably tested to 30,000 cup, well below my load max.

I am shooting the 312 out of a 300 win mag at 1400 fps with GC

It is sized to 311 and fits snugly in the bore.

My only answer is that a barrel twist of 1:10 is just too much to fire those things accurately.

I have much better luck with accuracy firing lead in what it is INTENDED for.

45-70 44 special 357 mag.

All those are incredibly accurate.
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That's pretty low velocity for such a large case. What powder are you using? Any filler over the powder? If you're not using Trailboss, I'm betting your powder charge is pretty small. Some Dacron or cream of wheat over the powder to hold it against the primer may be what's needed. Inconsistent ignition due to the powder being too far up the case can certainly cause flyers. 1:10 twist is not too fast for that bullet, especially at such a low velocity.
 
sawzall said:
That's pretty low velocity for such a large case. What powder are you using? Any filler over the powder? If you're not using Trailboss, I'm betting your powder charge is pretty small. Some Dacron or cream of wheat over the powder to hold it against the primer may be what's needed. Inconsistent ignition due to the powder being too far up the case can certainly cause flyers. 1:10 twist is not too fast for that bullet, especially at such a low velocity.
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If I go any faster I get 10 inch groups at 100 yards

15 grains of red dot is what I got the greatest accuracy with

I am finished casting for 30 cal lead loads.

I now only do the big boys in lead and am much happier
 
pearcetopher said:
I have never had any lucky with 30 cal casts
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Smaller diameter bullets get harder to cast. 30 cal is usualy not too bad but more finicky than 45 caliber. Basically there are 3 possible issues you might be experiencing:

1. contaminated mold; scrub mold with petroleum solvent, then with soapy water, then rinse in boiling water. Use a toothbrush to scrub.
2. not enough tin; add tin to the alloy. solder, etc.
3. cold mold. Preheat mold and run temperature warmer. You really should have a thermometer in the pot.
 
Most of the time people refer to velocity limits on cast bullets, not pressure limits. There are of course maximum pressures but I find velocity has far more to do with success with cast bullets. I use the same alloy for all my casting and can easily push 1600fps out of my 308 but if I pass 1000fps in my 44 mag my groups open up to 24"+ @ 50yds.
It could also just be your rifle not liking that particular bullet. As I said earlier those bullets in question don't work in my Rem 700 300WM at any velocity no matter what powder I try. A differently shaped and heavier bullet (185gr) work great for some reason unknown to me. Just because a single bullet shape/weight doesn't work with a single rifle doesn't mean much of anything in the world of cast bullets. This is true even for the big bores that you say are intended to shoot cast bullets. I have a Lee 340gr .457" (.4585"-.4590" as cast) mold I use in my 45-70's that shoots like a dream in my Marlin Guide Gun but are utter crap in my H&R Buffalo Classic. I have no idea why.
 
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