NOE .30 cal. 195 gr. Plain base mould

[Ben]

This one arrived today. I couldn't wait to get out and cast with it.
The mould cast a .3125" diameter plain base bullet as measured on the drive bands and real close to .302" on the nose.
About ideal for my needs.

It was 62 degrees here today.
I had to get outside and do some casting.
It was a beautiful afternoon.

These weigh 202 grs. on my scales.
I'm sizing these to .310". I'm lubing the bottom 2 rings with Carnuba Blue and then rolling them in BLL and then I set them on wax paper to dry overnight.

I'd like to try these in my Rem. 788, 30-30 Win soon.

Ben

 

[Ian]

Sounds like a great way to celebrate a break in the winter. Maybe it will last a few more days and you can get some shooting time in, too.

 

[Ben]

Ian,

I like your thinking.
I'd love to get to the range soon ! !

Ben

 

[Brad]

We don't have a range on warm days right now, we have a mud hole. Ground thaw, until a true thaw, means mud. I dislike mud.

 

[Ben]

Brad,

That certainly doesn't describe my views of a nice day at the range.
Hopefully things will improve very soon.

Ben

 

[Ian]

Dang, Brad, you had mud all last year and now you have frozen mud covered with ice and snow. You can't catch a break, can you? At least it gives you a break to clean stuff up and do some gunsmithing.

 

[Brad]

I installed a new LED light on the side of a cabinet by the Dillon today. The extra light is a good thing, that corner tended to be be dark due to shadows.
I have some lathe projects to work on too.
Kinda weird that freezing temps are a good thing right now. Frozen ground with a thin thawed layer on top is both muddy and slick as snot. Not my idea of fun.

 

[Wasalmonslayer]

Hello Ben

That mold looks awfully familiar
It did always cast very nice!!

Keep us in the loop

Thanks
Max

 

[Ben]

Thanks again Max !!!

Ben

 

[gman]

Ben, Do we need to chip in to get you a mold or two? You seem to be mold poor lol!

 

[Ben]

I think that would be a wonderful idea.
I'm running a bit low !


Ben

 

[Ian]

What's that? Running low on space in the basement for more moulds?

 

[Rally Hess]

I got a 5 cavity a couple weeks ago when NOE ran the Christmas sale. My rifle likes it way better than the 311-188, with recycled 188's. I'm loading 30 and 31 grs of IMR 4198 ( @ 2035-2200 FPS). My rifle seems to like .310 better than .311. Need to play with seating depth to see if that makes any difference. I've just been shooting over the seat of my snomo and need to get my bench set up to really wring it out some.

 

[Ben]

I loaded 40 rounds of NOE .30 cal. 195 gr. Plain base in the 30-06 for my Tikka this morning. Will be interesting to see how they perform ?

Ben

 

[Rally Hess]

I'm loading and shooting them five at a time right now Ben. My rifle stove pipes the last round when feeding from the magazine, when seated to just touch the lands. I'm seating the bullet to the crimp groove and moving out, while checking for general group size and function. No problems feeding seated at the crimp groove. Really clean and no leading thanks to Bens Red so far. I'm still shooting at 50 yards and will go to 100 when I get my bench set up. It's suppose to get cold the next few days so I'm trying to get it close to get some cold weather testing in here too.

 

[Rally Hess]

I got a chance to shoot some of these today. I started at 30 grs of IMR 4198 and a max load in the Lyman manual is 32.5. That's where I'm at and it has proven to be the best so far. I can't seat the bullet to just touch the lands in this rifle because it will stove pipe the last round coming out of the magazine. I'm seating at the crimp groove and it functions well. I fired 25 rounds today and the faster it went the better it shot. I'm at @2156 FPS now (max load by the book) with no signs of pressure. The rifle didn't like .311 at all. At .310 it was minute of deer. Definite preference for .309 with three bullets, so I'm not gonna argue with it.
We've had 22" of snow in the last week, so I rigged up a rest on the back of my snowmobile cargo rack. Nothing fancy but solid front rest with just a couple quick clamps to the cargo rack. The back support on the seat works pretty well for a rear support also.

When I step off the snomo I go up to about my knees in snow. Actually works pretty good when I lean on the seat and is almost a prone position. My normal shooting bench is slightly "under the weather" currently, and it has been warm the last couple days, making the snow settle quite a lot.

I shot at 50 yards today and will be shooting 100 when I get a few more loaded.

Not bug holes, but I'm getting closer.


Since the Lyman manual listed the 32.5 grs of IMR 4198 at max, I loaded five rounds of this bullet behind 50 grs. of IMR 4350, just to see where it was at. It threw them about 4" to the right, but in about a 2.5" group. Not the end of the world for sure, but, this rifle shoots a Nosler 165 BT with the scope set where it is, with 57 grs of IMR 4350. I'm thinking I would like to get the 195 gr cast to around 2300 FPS., with the Imr 4350, and believe it may do it with this 26" barrel. I really think with the large meplat of this bullet, the 2156 FPS is plenty of medicine for deer here. I'm just thinking I could flatten the trajectory out some, for a little less guessing at 200 yds. Any thoughts?

 

[fiver]

2.5"s is plenty of minute of deer to 200.
you could do a couple of tricks to the 4350 to help it out remember it likes to be near a case full and run at a bit higher pressure.
you could go to a slower powder like rl-19 for a bit more case full.
use a filler with the 4350.
try a hotter primer.
or go with the 2150 fps.
with the weight and that speed a deer don't stand a chance.
you have to find a balance though, fast and close means hamburger.
[of course the tracking job is a lot easier]
far and away means a bit of holdover but good results with the speed.

a balanced alloy and a touch over 2,000 fps sounds like a good compromise to me.

 

[Ben]

I got a chance to shoot some of these today. I started at 30 grs of IMR 4198 and a max load in the Lyman manual is 32.5. That's where I'm at and it has proven to be the best so far. I can't seat the bullet to just touch the lands in this rifle because it will stove pipe the last round coming out of the magazine. I'm seating at the crimp groove and it functions well. I fired 25 rounds today and the faster it went the better it shot. I'm at @2156 FPS now (max load by the book) with no signs of pressure. The rifle didn't like .311 at all. At .310 it was minute of deer. Definite preference for .309 with three bullets, so I'm not gonna argue with it.
We've had 22" of snow in the last week, so I rigged up a rest on the back of my snowmobile cargo rack. Nothing fancy but solid front rest with just a couple quick clamps to the cargo rack. The back support on the seat works pretty well for a rear support also.
View attachment 5175
When I step off the snomo I go up to about my knees in snow. Actually works pretty good when I lean on the seat and is almost a prone position. My normal shooting bench is slightly "under the weather" currently, and it has been warm the last couple days, making the snow settle quite a lot.
View attachment 5176
I shot at 50 yards today and will be shooting 100 when I get a few more loaded.
View attachment 5177
Not bug holes, but I'm getting closer.
View attachment 5179

Since the Lyman manual listed the 32.5 grs of IMR 4198 at max, I loaded five rounds of this bullet behind 50 grs. of IMR 4350, just to see where it was at. It threw them about 4" to the right, but in about a 2.5" group. Not the end of the world for sure, but, this rifle shoots a Nosler 165 BT with the scope set where it is, with 57 grs of IMR 4350. I'm thinking I would like to get the 195 gr cast to around 2300 FPS., with the Imr 4350, and believe it may do it with this 26" barrel. I really think with the large meplat of this bullet, the 2156 FPS is plenty of medicine for deer here. I'm just thinking I could flatten the trajectory out some, for a little less guessing at 200 yds. Any thoughts?View attachment 5175View attachment 5176View attachment 5177

Good Shooting

 

[Rally Hess]

That's where I'm at Fiver also. I wanted to be faster than my .30-30 with a 165 RD at 1850, with a larger bullet. I had high hopes for the 311-188 (hunter) but this rifle didn't like that bullet at all. It's rare where and how I hunt deer, to get a shot over 100 yards anyway. My alloy is 75% COWW, 25% MONO, with 1/2 lb. of 50/50 solder added to 18.5 pounds of alloy. Same alloy I used last year to take a little y buck and I liked the results. A little more speed shouldn't change the results much, and the 195 is a flat point. The 165 RD I used last year was a dimple point. I prefer two holes. Now I just need a 225 lb. eight point at about 80 yards to test this on.

Thanks Ben. Used a copy of your lube with a little more BW. Sent 25 rounds downrange yesterday and just a slight lube star. I'm filling all but the crimp groove.Ran a patch down the bore, and barely any discoloration on the patch. Bore shining like a new penny.

 

[fiver]

I found fast really has the advantage of better trajectory but that is also a negative at times.
I kept tracing a ruffed grouse around a couple of pine trees and got into some super thick stuff when he finally jumped up on a branch.
normally I just head shoot them but he was having none of that and I only had a low neck shot through the tangle.
when I touched off the 30-30 it pretty much killed and breasted the poor thing instantly.
feathers went every which direction and he [what was left of him] flew out of the tree about 8-9 feet from the impact.
a 165 NEI copy of the lyman Loverign design moving about 2300 fps was a bit too much even with it's rounded nose shape.
50-75 yds on a deer is a different story but even there the meat damage was a bit more than I needed, just glad I didn't take a shoulder shot.