243 bore rider mold?

johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Have to admit that this 243 cast bullet shooting is all new to me. The loveren 85 gr mold I have makes a pretty bullet. My concern is the gas check is way below the neck when seated to touch the rifling. Is this a concern.
Are the bore rider bullets any better or not. I don't know anything about them,except for what I have read. Some good and some bad. Please school me on this. Thanks..
 
Joshua

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
A properly seated gas check is not gonna come off as the bullet is launched, even if it is below the neck. Many of us have shot gas check bullets where the gas check was below the neck. Many would argue that it isn’t ideal. Now, if the check is loose, and can be easily pryed off with your fingers, nothing about that is good.

Don’t worry about it, if you do have a problem, your target will tell you.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Gas check below the neck is one of those things that is generally discouraged, however in actual practice it doesn't seem to matter most of the time. I wouldn't worry about it.

Bore rider bullets are bore rider bullets, they do one thing well until they don't. Most of what we think of as Loverin-style rifle bullets are not actual bore riders. Bore riding, two-diameter bullets are more attributed to Barlow. Again, I wouldn't worry about the design right now, they all work very well for certain things.
 
Maven

Maven

Well-Known Member
johnnyjr said:
Have to admit that this 243 cast bullet shooting is all new to me. The loveren 85 gr mold I have makes a pretty bullet. My concern is the gas check is way below the neck when seated to touch the rifling. Is this a concern.
Are the bore rider bullets any better or not. I don't know anything about them,except for what I have read. Some good and some bad. Please school me on this. Thanks..
Click to expand...
It doesn't make a bit of difference, John. Long ago Jim Carmichael in HandLoader magazine did an accuracy test with that very CB , seating it to 2.29" OAL and then something more normal, i.e., longer. I tried it and it made no difference at all in accuracy. Btw, my standard OAL with that CB was 2.61" (in a Ruger #1). However, your OAL will likely be different.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
FWIW, an actual bore rider design depends on a good fit between the fore section and lands. When they fit right they can be very dependable and good shooters. When they don't fit right...not so much. I love the idea of a bore rider. The SAECO RG4 style appeals to me in a target application. So far I haven't gotten a good match between nose and bore. I do have one actual RG4 that is way undersized for a standard American 30 cal, but should (!!!) work really nice in my Swiss K31- if I ever get the chance to work with it!

Loverin designs seem, at least to me, to be a rather forgiving design. I'd stick with what I got for now and work on getting things figured out.
 
JWFilips

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Work with what you have until you master it or it masters you ( in that case move on to something else!) You got to shoot a cast bullet long enough to know how it behaves in your rifle. If you keep jumping between bullets it will drive you crazy.
In my Ruger 77V Rifle I worked with that very bullet for quite awhile and I could only get it to shoot at higher speeds Very Accurately!
That was something like 15 gains of RX-7 and it like to be seated deep and make the jump to the throat itself! Go Figure....I never seat bullets deep in the case but this one, in my rifle, loved the big jump! Once I got good targets at that load with that bullet I moved on...because I could not shoot it in Low Node and now I like to shoot low velocity. I have done a lot of High Velocity shooting with that rifle in my life.
Just keep it simple and work with one bullet style at a time is my advise.
 
johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Good advice,I appreciate it very much. That's what I'm going to do. I might try some powder coated as well. Should I use the red or should I use the blue. Lol...
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
How are you determining how deep to seat the 85gr loverin?
.
you don't need to seat so all lube grooves are covered, I generally seat so the bullet nose (ojive) starts to be engraved by the lands.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
OK, I just re-read your OP, I see you are seating to lands.
I guess you can disregard the question.
.
Make sure the GC is on tight, then no problem, IMHO.
 
Maven

Maven

Well-Known Member
johnnyjr said:
Have to admit that this 243 cast bullet shooting is all new to me. The loveren 85 gr mold I have makes a pretty bullet. My concern is the gas check is way below the neck when seated to touch the rifling. Is this a concern.
Are the bore rider bullets any better or not. I don't know anything about them,except for what I have read. Some good and some bad. Please school me on this. Thanks..
Click to expand...
Here's a quick & dirty trick to see whether a bore rider CB will actually fit and ride the bore: Take your CB and insert it into the muzzle of your [unloaded] rifle. If it drops in to the driving bands with no resistance, it is likely too small and high accuracy won't result.* E.g., I have a Lee bore rider for my 8 x 57mm Mauser that does exactly that. Accuracy is great out to 50 yd., but stretch that to 100 and the wheels really come off the wagon.

*The late Robert Sears described this "trick" in the NRA's Cast Bullets.
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
The 243 has been in my 'Fleet' for close to 30 years. It has been SUPERB through 4 rifles with both J-words and 2 castings.

Those castings are the RCBS 6mm-95-SP and the Lyman #245496, a Loverin design. Using LSS Carnauba Red, I have run both to 1800 FPS atop 12.0-15.0 grains of 2400. I won a couple benchrest matches at NCBS using the RCBS bullet under 12.0 x 2400, and have tumbed hundreds of ground squirrels and jackrabbits as well--a few to 200 yards.

The 243 has been one of the most satisfying calibers I have enjoyed with cast bullets. The RCBS might shoot 5%-10% smaller groups at 100 yards than the Lyman Loverin. The front portion of the RCBS bullet when cast of 92/6/2 is a draggy firm fit into the lands; this has been the case in all 4 rifles, including the Tikka now on hand. Both the RCBS 22 and 24 caliber 'SP' designs seem to be hybrid bore riders of sorts.
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Add-on, regarding the 243 Winchester rifles I have owned. Like 41 Magnum revolvers, my 243 rifles have shown remarkable dimensional consistency from one to another. To date there have been 2 Remingtons, one Winchester, and one Tikka. Grooves have all been .244" +/- a tenth or two, and lands pin-gauge at .236" without fail. The 243s are by some distance my best cast bullet varmint rifles ever, though the 22 Hornet/Lyman #225438 and 25/20 WCF/Lyman #'s 257420 and 257312 are pretty close.
 
B

BudHyett

Active Member
I campaigned a Savage Striker 6mm BR for CBA Long Range Handgun competition for several years. I set a National Record with this gun using the RCBS mold.

My molds were the RCBS 243-095-SP and the SAECO #243. (The SAECO mold threw a 92/93 grain bullet depending on alloy instead of the advertised 85 grain.). Both molds threw bullets at .244+ diameter. I first sized at .244, going to using a .245 die simply to lubricate.

My best accuracy with monotype was 2200 feet-per-second, the best accuracy began at or above 1900 feet-per-second.
 
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johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Once this weather turns around I'll be doing some range time. My next bullets are going to be a few with linotype which I got from a friend of mine.
 
johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Sure am. Been casting off and on for years. Mostly 38/357 now. Years ago I cast for 223,45/70 black powder cartridge,308. Etc.
 
johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
I have been reading about it. Most
Of my bullets are approximately
Bhn of 10 to 12. Not sure if this will be
To soft for 243 or not. I am considering powder coating some to experiment it.

Can't do much range time with this cold weather and possible more snow for tomorrow's forecast anyway.
 
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