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Have been reloading for years ... just not using lead or lead with Gas checks. Made a deal on some 200 gr bullets that ought to be great on hogs. Need any info as to current preferred powder.
Rifle is a Rem 700 w a Shilen 22" barrel. Previously used nothing but moly coated in this barrel. Has anyone moly'd lead ?
Currently I have 3 powders in stock >>> IMR 4895, N150 and Bulk 4895 (from GIBRASS).
Any help is appreciated.
Will
34grs of either of the 4895's will get you around 2000fps, the question being are the boolits hard enough to stand up to that velocity. I use that load with a hard 200gr boolit in my Krag, strictly for taget shooting, not bringing home the bacon. Here's a link to some good heavy boolit loads in the .308: 7.62x51 NATO (.308 WCF) in the Springfield M1A - Cast Boolits You should also check out the article "Cast bullet loads for military rifles" on the same website. 27-30gr of 4895 will get you in a good hunting velocity, where boolits cast of soft enough for hunting alloys won't lead. Plenty of power for pork pounding too.
Thank you !! "Found" that site after I had posted here but I do appreciate the info. I'm told these are hard cast. I'm finding out there is ALOT more to using cast than I thought !!
Yea, me too. Is it hard enough, how hard is too hard, what lube, sized to what size, slugging the bore to see what the right size is..... I've been having fun with the Krag, got a few loads together that work acceptly, but it is quite a chore. Be thankful you have a modern rifle in which the groove diameter is likely to be an actual .308, my old Krags mostly run .310, though they are like new, bigger manufacturing tolerances in that age. Were I you, I'd stick with 1750fps as a top load for your unknown bullets. The pigs aren't likely to get up and tell you the boolit wasn't going fast enough!
This was a joint effort funded by another shooter who is now heading back home after an accident in one of the snow storms out in the Rockies. He thought it would be economical to shoot the hogs with reloaded lead bullets instead of me using our match grade stuff. Well he was right & wrong !! While he is "recuperating" he'll get to prep & prime a bunch of "strange" brass (win, Hornady, Fed, IMI, etc) and I'll look at the loading. So far it looks like I can load these bullets without having to buy a crimp die (Remember, LOW BUDGET). I was on "castboolits" but ... I'm not prone to suffer ID10Ts especially when I ask 3 specific Q? and get non answers. So I am no longer on "CB". How ever, I can still lurk and I have found a book (Old, circa 1940's) by Philip B. Sharpe on cast reloading that ought to be just what I need as far as info. On top of that it was CHEAP ($6)
Works for me !!
I seldom crimp my boolits, I'm usually seated out to touch the rifling anyway. I don't think Phil Sharpe will get you into any trouble. Another good place to gather info online is: http://www.lasc.us/ Their cast bullet notes and the articles contained there are informative. I agree you have to sift through quite a few opinions at CB, some good, some not so good. With all the work involved, I'm no longer so sure about the cost effectiveness of lead boolits. Great things to know in an emergency, but an awful lot of hassle.
I once moly'd some .45 ACP cast bullets. Mistake! They wouldn't hold the rifling & made a mess. If your rifle bullets are hard cast, you may not have that problem. Alox can take care of you all the way to 2000 fps.
The Phil Sharpe book is interesting but I Overlooked one major/minor issue. The 308 WIN was not in existence back then !! I'm about to hand this all off to the other shooter and let him figure it out. HAve lurked on a bunch of sites and it looks like this operation is a money pit !!! Moreso than my LR shooting. At least I have everything for LR (except for time, lately)
Anyway, the bullets are .311 measured a good 20 and they are uniform. Do I need to size them for the 308 ? Saw where someone used Johnson Paste Wax as a lube, that I have and would mean I don't need to spend more IF that does work.
Well drat, work calls. I owe I owe ... off to work I go ....
You don't have to size them anymore, provided the rounds will chamber, meaning if the neck doesn't get too large with a .311 boolit, try one before you load them all. When the powder starts to burn they will get sized down. If you do need to size, the Lee push thru die is the cheapest way to go, and a bottle of alox comes with the set. I thin it down with mineral spirits, about 50/50, and just dip the part of the boolit that has lube grooves, then sit them on wax paper to dry. Less messy than tumbling and then handling them. You'll need another container. I'd go with the .309 sizing die if you have to size. Are your boolits gas checked?
One box (100) came gas checked and I have a box (1,000 ?) of GC's to work with. Tried a couple but I'm not sure finger pressure is the way to go. Thinking about using a small rubber mallet to gently tap on tip of bullet to seat them. Whole new ball game compared to my match ammo I am accustomed to dealing with !! Just a bit behind the learning curve !!
Again, the Lee push through sizer is the cheapo way to go, seats the gas check for you too. Then there's the bonus Alox.
OK, that's doable and not to costly.On another site not commonly known for cast bullet shooting one of the shooters said it all depended on how fast I pushed the bullets & the bullet type. Just to be safe I'll get the Lee Sizer w/Alox.
Thanks for the info.
You said the .308 wasn't around when Sharpe wrote the book you have. Bear in mind the the 30/40 Krag has about the same capacity, I'm sure it's in there.
If the alox is too sticky for you, melt some JPW in double boiler (metal can in pan of hot water) and mix in half and half thinned alox.
It makes a little go a long way. Warmed bullets may help it get the right coating.
JPW, by it's self, has a tendency to dry out and crack loose from the bullets.
Casting, and using cast bullets, is another hobby just like reloading.
If your barrel has moly in it you might need to remove it.
None of it is rocket science though. Remember our ancesters fed their families with it. It's all an art that was largely forgotten, and is making an economical come back.
Thank you both for the info. I have hard earned knowledge with JPW before the military got PC and offered to bust me back down in the ranks for making my floor shine !! Then they crawled my case for having a dingy floor and I told them "That's the polish you issue, Quit complaining". Anyway, I learned something new in that the 30/40 and the 308 have similar loads. Never even thought about that.
Still trying to locate a Lee sizer, was offered a RCBS unit (press & dies/sizer) but he didn't have 308. Duh ...
Here's a link to Graf's and the Lee push through die that goes on your reloading press Will. only $16.19 and you'll be in business. Graf & Sons - LEE LUBE & SIZE KIT .309 DIAMETER
Well drat ... just sent MO off to Lee for the sizer. Just under 420 but I figure going to the source wouldn't hurt. Actually another member another site made that suggestion. Someone else said I ought to shoot some at the size they are (.311) just to see how they shoot. The only "factory" barrel rifle I have is a savage 99. May have to try that just to see..
Is that a good idea or bad ?
As long as the cartridge will chamber, meaning the neck doesn't get too big when you have a .311 bullet seated in it, you'll be ok trying that. Once the powder starts burning, it'll get sized down to your bore's diameter.