Maven
Well-Known Member
After reading the comments about Lyman #311466, I rummaged through my mold collection, found -466 and cast ~60 bullets. (It must have been 10 yrs. since I last used that mold!) -466 was a pleasure to use with very few rejects into the bargain. All were gas checked, sized to .311", and coated with Lars' Xlox.
While cleaning out some .30-06 brass (old, less than 2.48" OAL), I came across some new LC '68 Match .30-06 brass purchased from Hi Tech reloading, but long forgotten until last month. After running it through my [Lyman] FL sizing die minus the expander ball and then the M-die, it was ready to reload with -466 and its brethren, Saeco #315 and the CBE 185gr. flat nosed bore rider, which looks very much like Ly. #31141. Btw, both #315 and the CBE CB were gas checked and sized to .311" as well. I wanted to use a powder charge that would fully fire form that LC match brass, and based on past experience, chose 40gr. IMR 7383 ignited by CCI #34 primers (5 failures to fire out of 62 rounds).
The results, while satisfying, were not entirely as good as I was expecting. In addition, difficulty in chambering all three bullet designs (OAL was suddenly too long!) wasn't helping matters, as I then had to tap the loaded CB's deeper into the case to get them to chamber. The good news is that accuracy wasn't diminished, and perhaps even improved. Next time I reload this brass, I'll try shorter OAL's as I'm tired of smacking the bolt to close it. The rifle, it should be mentioned, is a .30-06 Mod. 70 Win. which wears a 4 x 16 Tasco scope: both have been most reliable.
All testing was done @ 50 yd. since I could then be more confident that aiming errors were minimized (and my fault!) Specifically, Saeco #315 gave the widest spread and little evidence of 5-in-1 hole results for 20 shots. However, its poor showing was but a bad memory compared to the results I got with both the CBE, a known performer btw, and #311466. Both shot pretty much into 1" for 17, and 18 shots respectively. Indeed, that was the best result I've ever had with -466 in my Mod. 70.
A word about CCI #34 primers and IMR 7383. The CCI #34's were manufactured in 1995 and have a harder cup designed to prevent slam fires in military rifles. In spite of that, they've fired reliably in my "civilian" rifles, but failures to fire have been more frequent with these than any other LR primer I've used.* As for 7383, 40gr. burned very clean, with few unburned kernels left in the fired cases, and no sooty case necks at all. My lot, which by some peculiar twist of fate, lacks a lot no., but acts approximately like IMR 4831 in the .30-06 (with jacketed bullets) and IMR 4350 in my .243Win., also with jacketed bullets.
No pics or chrono. data as the light wasn't good for the latter and because I usually don't think to drag a camera to the range.
*There was some discussion of this on the Cast Boolits site several years ago.
While cleaning out some .30-06 brass (old, less than 2.48" OAL), I came across some new LC '68 Match .30-06 brass purchased from Hi Tech reloading, but long forgotten until last month. After running it through my [Lyman] FL sizing die minus the expander ball and then the M-die, it was ready to reload with -466 and its brethren, Saeco #315 and the CBE 185gr. flat nosed bore rider, which looks very much like Ly. #31141. Btw, both #315 and the CBE CB were gas checked and sized to .311" as well. I wanted to use a powder charge that would fully fire form that LC match brass, and based on past experience, chose 40gr. IMR 7383 ignited by CCI #34 primers (5 failures to fire out of 62 rounds).
The results, while satisfying, were not entirely as good as I was expecting. In addition, difficulty in chambering all three bullet designs (OAL was suddenly too long!) wasn't helping matters, as I then had to tap the loaded CB's deeper into the case to get them to chamber. The good news is that accuracy wasn't diminished, and perhaps even improved. Next time I reload this brass, I'll try shorter OAL's as I'm tired of smacking the bolt to close it. The rifle, it should be mentioned, is a .30-06 Mod. 70 Win. which wears a 4 x 16 Tasco scope: both have been most reliable.
All testing was done @ 50 yd. since I could then be more confident that aiming errors were minimized (and my fault!) Specifically, Saeco #315 gave the widest spread and little evidence of 5-in-1 hole results for 20 shots. However, its poor showing was but a bad memory compared to the results I got with both the CBE, a known performer btw, and #311466. Both shot pretty much into 1" for 17, and 18 shots respectively. Indeed, that was the best result I've ever had with -466 in my Mod. 70.
A word about CCI #34 primers and IMR 7383. The CCI #34's were manufactured in 1995 and have a harder cup designed to prevent slam fires in military rifles. In spite of that, they've fired reliably in my "civilian" rifles, but failures to fire have been more frequent with these than any other LR primer I've used.* As for 7383, 40gr. burned very clean, with few unburned kernels left in the fired cases, and no sooty case necks at all. My lot, which by some peculiar twist of fate, lacks a lot no., but acts approximately like IMR 4831 in the .30-06 (with jacketed bullets) and IMR 4350 in my .243Win., also with jacketed bullets.
No pics or chrono. data as the light wasn't good for the latter and because I usually don't think to drag a camera to the range.
*There was some discussion of this on the Cast Boolits site several years ago.
