Lyman's 311359

[quicksylver]

I think it was KHornet (Paul) how mentioned that he had just put a new scope on his .308 and the loads he used to sight it in were some old (20 yrs old) rounds loaded with the Lyman 311359 and 16 grs of 2400....

He reported that they shot very well.... one group being around 5/8"...that's great shooting for old OR new rounds....!!!!

WELLL...wouldn't you know ....I had a box of those very same bullets kicking around on my reloading bench...they were cast using straight Lino and lubed with Lyman's 50/50, 40 + years ago...fully dressed they weigh in at 119. grs......originally I used them in my M1 carbine.....but having sold my carbine about 40 yrs ago...I used them like one would worry beads ...just kept them around and fondled them every once and a while...memories..

After reading Pauls' report I sauntered out to the reloading room and gathered up five of them , resized them to .310 and loaded them up with 16 grs of 2400 for trial in my own .308....

Yesterday I got to shoot them...AND I will be trying them again..!!!

What a blast !!! These little pellets are the cat's behind...What a joy to shoot..

I was lazy yesterday and since there were new backers on the stands I just threw two rounds into the backer to use as targets ..here is the group I got from those five, 40+ year old bullets...

MORE GOOD NEWS!!!!..I went back out to the reloading room this morning to check on my stash of these puppies and guess what.!!!!! ....FOUND ANOTHER BOX..

AS I SAID I WILL BE CHECKING THESE OUT AGAIN..!!!!!

THANKS PAUL.....

 

[JWFilips]

Dan,
Sometimes those little bullets are such a joy to shoot. I bought one of Al's 130 grain 8 mm bullet moulds when he started to run them. After going through with the deal I had second thoughts...130 grain pill in my GEW98? well I may have wasted money.
When I got it it cast up great bullets and they were super accurate in the old war horse. I Got a two cavity mould one being PB and man that one is the most fun. You sure don't need a lot of powder in those 8mm Mauser cases to make them happy. Such a pleasure to shoot & so accurate.
Let's face it Light bullets are FUN!
Jim

 

[KHornet]

Guys,
I tend to agree Jim, that the little ones are fun to shoot, and most of them within limitation are quite accurate.
They are slow to load for mouse fart loads and those running up into the 1200 or so range due to double charge
potential. I weigh all finished ctgs that have less than a 50 percent capacity charge for the powder being
right at the mouth of the case. Can't be to careful, and while dementia has not set in, memory is not as strong
as it once was, and I check and double check.

Have a mold for a little 30 cal pistol bullet, that weighs
somewhere in the vicinity of between 80-90 gr. Might have to try that one again for grins and giggles. If I
remember way back when, I loaded some of them in 30-30 over 3 gr of BE, and they shot pretty well, but
nothing special. Maybe I should have gone down a bit on BE.

The one exception, at least for me is the 311410 designed for the 30 carbine. Have never been able to get
it to shoot very well except in the carbine that I had maybe 30-35 years ago, and that was 3 1/2-4" tops at
100 off the bench. Of course, that is considered to be acceptable accuracy for a carbine. It has been now
probably well over 25 or so years that I have cast any of them and tried them again with some of Jim and
Ben's mouse fart loads in 30-30 and 308. Was in all probability pushing them to fast way back then. Maybe
next time I cast????? Don't have another show for 3-4 weeks now, so should be able to get some casting,
reloading and shooting in weather permitting.

Nice pics Dan! I need to rummage thru some of the draws in my bullet cabinets that have the little plastic drawers.
Haven't pulled some of them out since Hector was a pup as they say where I grew up.


Hotter than a firecracker for the last 3 days reaching close to 100 on a couple of them. Forecast next week is for
a LITTLE relief back down into the mid to the high 80"s. I sweat at someplace between 65 and 70 degrees. Am
very thankful for air conditioning, but don't look forward to the electric bill for this month. Need to get to the
range to shoot some of the Hunter blts that you so generously sent me Dan.

Paul

 

[Cherokee]

That is a great little bullet in the Carbine, have ever tried it in anything else.

 

[RicinYakima]

The Ideal #311359 was designed about 1909, one of the last before they sold the company to Marlin, for the 32/20. There was quite a discussion going on between the Winchester/Marlin fans over the best small game round, i.e. 25/20 or 32/20. This was the "hot ticket" for the long range 32/20. It was made to one up on the Ideal #257283, made about 1907. Ideal made almost 100 new bullet designs between the invention of the gas check in 1905 and selling to Marlin in 1911. This has always been known as a great bullet design.

 

[Ben]

I ran more today.
A great cast bullet ! !
Sized .310", lubed with Ben's Red, and then rolled in BLL.
They are now on the drying rack.

 

[quicksylver]

Ricin..... you must have two heads in order to hold all that info....

Thanks for the background. .very interesting...sort of repurposed design..

Ben...funny thing about those little bullets you cast and cast ...and the pile does not seem to get any bigger..

Before i can cast anymore I have to get the mold back from my nephew. ..ya right.
.

 

[Ben]

583 bullets in 10 lbs. of alloy.

Ben

 

[quicksylver]

What do think guys. ....will they give the .22's a run for their money. .?

58 + a pound sounds like a lot if fun to me...

Have to say they look a little strange in a .308
...and must look really odd in a 30-06...

 

[Ben]

I go by what they look like when they are going through the target.

Ben

 

[Brad]

I go by what they look like when they are going through the target.

Ben

Well said.

Pretty is as pretty does.

 

[RicinYakima]

quicksilver, Well I have, just measured, 42 feet of book shelves with reloading, shooting, gun and hunting books. I have been selling the excess and ones I don't want to keep for a couple of years. I have read them all over the last 50 years more than once. For me, to sit down in the evening with an adult beverage and read for 4 hours is common. Other than baseball games and three or four movies, the television has not been on for six months. The people and the stories about guns have fascinated me my whole life. Ric

 

[Brad]

I am impressed by the encyclopedic memory some people have regarding moulds and such. Having a good reference library certainly helps.

 

[Cherokee]

Interesting info on the little bullet, thanks for sharing. I have never tried it in the 32/20 because all my rifles are 1889 Marlin lever actions.

 

[KHornet]

Ya, they do look a little odd in a 308 and 06. Look kinda cool in a 30-30 however.
Only a two shot in a 94 but taint nothing really wrong about shoot only 2 shots.
Glad I have a 2 cav. Really appreciate the background info on the mold from Ric!
It is sort of neat shooting a bullet that dates that far back, and having it shoot so
well.

 

[RicinYakima]

There is not much that is new. We just keep re-discovering what those before us had done.

 

[Ben]

quicksilver, Well I have, just measured, 42 feet of book shelves with reloading, shooting, gun and hunting books. I have been selling the excess and ones I don't want to keep for a couple of years. I have read them all over the last 50 years more than once. For me, to sit down in the evening with an adult beverage and read for 4 hours is common. Other than baseball games and three or four movies, the television has not been on for six months. The people and the stories about guns have fascinated me my whole life. Ric

Ric,

I assure you, you could be doing a lot worse ! !

Ben

 

[quicksylver]

He even knows the length of his book shelf...

Really thankful you are here Ric...If I sat in a chair for four hours with an adult beverage ..I don't think I could remember anything...

 

[Tony]

Me either!!!!!

 

[9.3X62AL]

Drat you guys anyway, and your texts about Lyman #311359. Not sure just how much longer I can live without having one of these, now. The pics are a mite surprising--I had no idea the bullet's nose profile was so "pointy".

I have muddled through in 30/31 caliber for several years with the Lee Soup Can (113 grain FN/GC) on my several 30 caliber rifles and a 30 Carbine Blackhawk. My edition of the "LSC" won't pass muster for the 32/20s I have, though--.311" is as good as it gets, and for my war toys .313" is the bare minimum, and my S&W M&P x 5" needs .314". I suspect Lyman's offering might come up a bit short for my usages diametrically, as well. So, a semi-custom mould makes the most sense.

You guys cost me a bushel of money.