Reloading & casting 30 caliber
- Thread starter glenn742
- Start date
i do not know to much about the casting yet but you will have to get the book '"layman cast bullet handbook it has got a lot ofgood advice .read it o
ver ,tells you what to buy and how to cast bullets and basic loading . i think the book was in cabellas catolog .malcolm good luck
ver ,tells you what to buy and how to cast bullets and basic loading . i think the book was in cabellas catolog .malcolm good luckI joined the cast boolets forumn because i just started casting for my 30-30,and you will find a mind boggaling amount of info on casting,I suggest you look it up. I started with a single cavity Lee 170gr mold, tumble lube them with what they call mule snot( Lee liquid alox ) hand press a gas check on the boolet and shoot them unsized with 14.5 gr IMR4227, that is about as simple as it gets and they shoot great. From there the sky is the limit on experimenting with lube, lead , molds, sizers etc.
"...layman cast bullet handbook..." That'd be Lyman. All three use the same bullet diameter. However, using a cast bullet in a .300 Win Mag less than a .308. You can't drive cast bullets at .300 mag velocities.
Anyway, Lyman makes a 173 grain mold that'll do nicely for all three. Their mold number 311291. Number 31141 for a 176 grain bullet. Both require gas checks and use handgun powders for max velocities under 200 fps. I have data if you want it.
Anyway, Lyman makes a 173 grain mold that'll do nicely for all three. Their mold number 311291. Number 31141 for a 176 grain bullet. Both require gas checks and use handgun powders for max velocities under 200 fps. I have data if you want it.
I have a .30 cal Lee 170gr Flat point gas checked mold I use for 30-30. I use the same info in Lee, Hornady, Speer manuals as listed for a jacketed 170gr bullet. Since listed velocity is just under 2000 FPS I find it works great with the lead bullet. My M94 seems to like IMR 3031 powder.
The 30-30 uses flat point bullets so they don't set each other off in the tube mag. Lee sells 150 and 170 grain fp molds.
The 308 and 300wm can use all the 30 cal cast bullets. You can do a search and you will find quite a few websites with cast bullet reloading info.
I gascheck all my 30 cal bullets, so I can go up to 2000 fps velocity.
Buy the lyman book of cast bullet reloading. It has some cool stuff in it.
The 308 and 300wm can use all the 30 cal cast bullets. You can do a search and you will find quite a few websites with cast bullet reloading info.
I gascheck all my 30 cal bullets, so I can go up to 2000 fps velocity.
Buy the lyman book of cast bullet reloading. It has some cool stuff in it.
I have reloaded cast for my .30-30, .308 Win, and .303 British with Lee Molds, Hornady Gas Checks and Wheel Weight Lead (WW). Sizing boolits about .001" over groove diamter of my rifles (.309" for a .308 etc)
C309-150-F Lee 150gr .309 cal mold for my .308 etc
Check out Lyman 49th Reloading Handbook
& Lyman Casting Handbook 4th Ed.
Lee Modern Reloading 2nd Ed. manual also has casting info
In addition to the manuals (you don't need them, but they are VERY handy)
1 Lead (harder than pure lead, WW at a minimum)
2 Something to melt lead in (Lee pot for me) metal pot/propane burner etc
3 Mold for your calibre
4 Sizing die or tool to size boolit to the size you want and seat gas checks
5 Gas Checks (not needed for slowest rounds, but for .30 rifle should have)
6 Normal reloading gear, dies, press, scale, powder, primers etc.
You might want to check out the Cast Boolits forums too.
C309-150-F Lee 150gr .309 cal mold for my .308 etc
Check out Lyman 49th Reloading Handbook
& Lyman Casting Handbook 4th Ed.
Lee Modern Reloading 2nd Ed. manual also has casting info
In addition to the manuals (you don't need them, but they are VERY handy)
1 Lead (harder than pure lead, WW at a minimum)
2 Something to melt lead in (Lee pot for me) metal pot/propane burner etc
3 Mold for your calibre
4 Sizing die or tool to size boolit to the size you want and seat gas checks
5 Gas Checks (not needed for slowest rounds, but for .30 rifle should have)
6 Normal reloading gear, dies, press, scale, powder, primers etc.
You might want to check out the Cast Boolits forums too.
300 win mag
180 grain Lee round nose mould
Gas check
16.5 grains of Unique powder
Very accurate and I can shoot them all day long without breaking my shoulder.
180 grain Lee round nose mould
Gas check
16.5 grains of Unique powder
Very accurate and I can shoot them all day long without breaking my shoulder.
I've cast and reloaded for .303, 8mm Mauser and 8x56R (for my M95 Mannlicher rifle and carbine). I used the Lee 185gr mould for .303 and sized the 205gr 8x56R bullets to .323 for use in my Mausers. All my bullets were gas checked.
I initially used the Lee Manual, and relied heavily upon the C.E. Harris article at Cast Boolits about loads for military surplus rifles. I also relied upon some articles at surplusrifle.com, in particular the one about producing #2 Alloy with wheelweights. If you are willing to pay attention to all of the little details that go into bullet casting, I think you'll find it rewarding, even if your first batch of cast might be a bit frustrating. I've done a couple of batches of bullets, and by the second or third batch was both producing decent bullets and getting good results, having figured out what worked best in my different rifles. Looking back, I probably would have remelted the bulk of the bullets that I used in my first batch of ammo, since even after repeated remelting and casting, it took a while to produce bullets without minor blemishes.
I was looking at Lee's .309 150gr mould for possible use in a Swiss K31, some .308 Mausers, maybe an M305 and Garand. I'd use the faster loads in the autoloaders to make them cycle and maybe load some lighter loadsfor plinking purposes with the boltguns. IMR Trail Boss is apparently a good powder for producing generic, low cost, low power loads, so reloading with that powder looks like my upcoming winter project.
You might have to research a bit deeper to find a good load for the .300 Win Mag, since it has such a large case capacity, but myriads of loads for .30/30 and .308 are available to suit your particular needs.
Good Luck,
Frank
I initially used the Lee Manual, and relied heavily upon the C.E. Harris article at Cast Boolits about loads for military surplus rifles. I also relied upon some articles at surplusrifle.com, in particular the one about producing #2 Alloy with wheelweights. If you are willing to pay attention to all of the little details that go into bullet casting, I think you'll find it rewarding, even if your first batch of cast might be a bit frustrating. I've done a couple of batches of bullets, and by the second or third batch was both producing decent bullets and getting good results, having figured out what worked best in my different rifles. Looking back, I probably would have remelted the bulk of the bullets that I used in my first batch of ammo, since even after repeated remelting and casting, it took a while to produce bullets without minor blemishes.
I was looking at Lee's .309 150gr mould for possible use in a Swiss K31, some .308 Mausers, maybe an M305 and Garand. I'd use the faster loads in the autoloaders to make them cycle and maybe load some lighter loadsfor plinking purposes with the boltguns. IMR Trail Boss is apparently a good powder for producing generic, low cost, low power loads, so reloading with that powder looks like my upcoming winter project.
You might have to research a bit deeper to find a good load for the .300 Win Mag, since it has such a large case capacity, but myriads of loads for .30/30 and .308 are available to suit your particular needs.
Good Luck,
Frank
Welcome to the world of cast bullet and shooting more for less.
Lyman cast bullet handbook is a very good source to start.
I would also suggest getting the Lee manual of modern reloading sometimes down the road.
It has a section on how to extrapolate jacketed bullet data to cast bullet data.
I find it extremely useful and very good reading.
Once you understand the concepts of driving a cast bullet the fun starts.
I cast everything form the small 22 cal to the larger 458 cal.
I find the diagram and pressure tables in the lee manual very helpful, as long as you understand hot to use the information.
Here is a picture of a group I made the other week with some cast 223 at 100 yards
Velocity was around the same as jacketed bullet velocity
Lyman cast bullet handbook is a very good source to start.
I would also suggest getting the Lee manual of modern reloading sometimes down the road.
It has a section on how to extrapolate jacketed bullet data to cast bullet data.
I find it extremely useful and very good reading.
Once you understand the concepts of driving a cast bullet the fun starts.
I cast everything form the small 22 cal to the larger 458 cal.
I find the diagram and pressure tables in the lee manual very helpful, as long as you understand hot to use the information.
Here is a picture of a group I made the other week with some cast 223 at 100 yards
Velocity was around the same as jacketed bullet velocity
