richhodg66
Well-Known Member
Most of my shooting anymore seems to be playing with cast in .30 caliber rifles. A few years ago, I got a couple of rifles top do this exclusively, heavy bench rifles in .308 and .30-06. The .30-06 is really my favorite and can be finicky, but shows a definite preference for heavier bullets.
A month or so back, I dropped in to my favorite LGS which is really more like an indoor eclectic flea market of outdoorsy stuff. AMong the stuff that was out were some jars of cast bullets, no doubt from the old man's younger days or an estate sale of someone like him. I bought one of a long, heavy, pointy design I thought were 8mm bullets, but upon looking closer are 311329, an unusual one which seems to have been discontinued decades ago. I didn't have real high expectations from that pointy nose, but I checked some, ran them through a Lee push through sizer since I didn't have a top punch that would work and dipped them in thin liquid alox up to the beginning of the ogive and let them dry. I loaded 13 (odd number, but that's how many of my primed fireformed cases were left in the box of brass I was working with). Figuring slow was best for this design, I loaded 17 grains of 2400. The attached picture is the 13 shot 100 yard group, that bull is 1.5" for reference. The one flyer at the top was the last shot and was lubed a little heavier than the others which is why I think it went outside the group.
To say I'm pleased is an understatement. I'll use the rest to make sure this wasn't a fluke. Now I need to find a 311329 mold, any suggestions besides watching Ebay?
A month or so back, I dropped in to my favorite LGS which is really more like an indoor eclectic flea market of outdoorsy stuff. AMong the stuff that was out were some jars of cast bullets, no doubt from the old man's younger days or an estate sale of someone like him. I bought one of a long, heavy, pointy design I thought were 8mm bullets, but upon looking closer are 311329, an unusual one which seems to have been discontinued decades ago. I didn't have real high expectations from that pointy nose, but I checked some, ran them through a Lee push through sizer since I didn't have a top punch that would work and dipped them in thin liquid alox up to the beginning of the ogive and let them dry. I loaded 13 (odd number, but that's how many of my primed fireformed cases were left in the box of brass I was working with). Figuring slow was best for this design, I loaded 17 grains of 2400. The attached picture is the 13 shot 100 yard group, that bull is 1.5" for reference. The one flyer at the top was the last shot and was lubed a little heavier than the others which is why I think it went outside the group.
To say I'm pleased is an understatement. I'll use the rest to make sure this wasn't a fluke. Now I need to find a 311329 mold, any suggestions besides watching Ebay?
