Plain Base .30 cal. RCBS, 130 gr.

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I've owned an RCBS , 2 cav., 7.62 , 130 gr. g/c mould for about 4 years now.
Here is the mould new from MidWay :

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/30...09-diameter-130-grain-spitzer-point-gas-check

Recently, I decided to plain base one of the cavities ( the remaining cavity will stay as a g/c ) .

When the work was finished removing the g/c shank , the bullets from the cavity that had been plain based came out just about perfect. The base of the bullet measures a nice round .3135 " now.

Sizes real well to .311" I loaded some in Win. commercial, 308 Win. cases with 8.3 grs. of American Select. This one is a real " Lead Saver ".

Ben

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Here they are lubed, sized and ready to load :

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This one should slice through the wind.





Here they are lubed with Ben's Red , sized .311" and rolled in BLL :



My friend Bryan shot this 5 round group at 40 yards with metallic sights from my Springfield 1903 - A3 , 308 Win. , 8.3 grs. American Select with the RCBS, 130 gr. Plain base, sized .311" .

A lot of the old casters of 50 -60 years ago said you were wasting your time on a spire point cast rifle bullet , that they wouldn't shoot well......................Had to be a RN or a flat point before it would shoot well.

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JWFilips

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Ben,
I just love how you go at it ...taking out that Gas Check thing!
I have been following your lead in most of my moulds
With great success
Jim
 
S Mac

S Mac

Sept. 10, 2021 Steve left us. You are missed.
I keep thinking I will follow Ben's lead on a 311413, I have 3 different single cavity moulds, just haven't got around to it. Don't you use a 5/16 drill bit Ben?
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
S Mac,

5/16 drill bit

Yes, Super Sharp ! !
Sounds unreliable, but I use a regular drill press and a .312" dia. drill bit.

It usually takes me 30 minutes or so to set up things. ( You don't want to get in a hurry with a $90 bullet mold hanging in limbo ! ) The secret is controlling the depth the bit plunges into the mold cavity and the vertical perpendicular alignment of the bit. I check the alignment of the bit " cross - ways to Sunday " before I ever begin to turn on the drill press. Also notice that the mold is held in a vise. That vise IS NOT attached to the drill press platform in any way. It can slide and " float " as the bit enters the mold cavity.

I've removed the g/c shank on about 7 or 8 molds now and have had very good results on every one of them. You also need the drill press turning the bit at a slow speed.

My final check prior to turning on the drill press is to go 360 degrees around the drill bit with a small 90 degree square that sits on the top of the mold blocks to make a final check on vertical alignment of the drill bit.

Once I'm satisfied that the bit is set for the proper depth with the stop on the drill press and I have as near vertical alignment as possible with the bit, I drill the gas check shank out.

I hope this is a help to you.

Ben

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I'm very happy with the " finished product ".

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Ben
 
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F

freebullet

Guest
I like it Ben. I'd probably do both cavities. Can never have enough plain base boolits.

I just about bought another 30cal hp mold a couple days ago for the same purpose. If it had been 2 cav I'd bought it with plain base conversion in mind.
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
freebullet said:
I like it Ben. I'd probably do both cavities. Can never have enough plain base boolits.

I just about bought another 30cal hp mold a couple days ago for the same purpose. If it had been 2 cav I'd bought it with plain base conversion in mind.
Click to expand...

An enjoyable afternoon shooting .30 cal. plain base bullets is easy on your shoulder, your ears, your rifle, and your pocket book.

When you look through your spotting scope you really do enjoy shooting plain base bullets !

Ben
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Ben said:
I hope it will serve as well as the Navy's round. Ben
Click to expand...

Well close maybe. Old Mo's 16 incher would put a round into the area the size of a football field. Of course that was from 20 miles away fired from a ship without computer aid and bobbing around in the ocean.
 
KHornet

KHornet

Well-Known Member
Have been under the guns of a WWII battle wagon. Sort of awesome when the ship is off shore 6-7 miles, you are on shore about 5 miles from the water, and the target is about 6-7 miles beyond you. We used to describe the shots as being about like having a VW Beatle going overhead filled with explosives.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Thank you for sharing those stories, & for your service.

I can't hear enough of those experiences. Being younger & in general drawn more toward my elders than folks my age has lead me to hear some truly captivating experiences of folks who done it.
I hate the thought of loosing those experiences when we loose our heros. Please continue sharing them, at least with your friends and family. What you went through, experienced, & had to do matters!
 
M

Maxjon

Member
Great work, but the PB bullet, is limited to 1400? And 150m? I need 300m and 1900fps (200gn/ .308) to make power factor for service rifle competition I shoot. PB would be great though.
 
L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
So if powder coating allows gas checked bullets to perform well sans check, are we just altering moulds for no good reason if we do this?
 
Spindrift

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
My own tests with powder coating plainbase or checkless bullets have not been very exhaustive, but I have tried it a bit.
GC-designs with reasonable bearing surface despite the lack of GC, and coated PB, can shoot well at 16-1800 fps in your .308-06-something.
 
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quicksylver

quicksylver

Well-Known Member
Ben, I have followed your lead on just about every 2 cavity AL, mouId I have , they didn't come out as clean as that iron one, but I have yet to be disapointed with the way anyone of them shoot, as a mater of fact I got throughly bored with the consistant accuracy I got from my Winchester 54 in .30-30 using the PB 315 and Universal that I stopped using it and went on to something more chalanging, I fear the 299 PB in my .308 may suffer the same fate , THANK YOU MY FRIEND, for opening up a whole new world in cast bullet shooting. Dan BTW nice work and great shooting
 
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