Nose rider

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I'm still loading for my new Ruger # 1, stainless, 30-30.
Today, I loaded the 314299.
A long nose with all the drive bands in the case.
Sized .310" with a .300 " nose.
Rem 2 1/2 primer with 8.5 grs. of Blue Dot.
Chambers smoothly.

Ben

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fiver

Well-Known Member
you sized that nose.

ah the good ol' 314299, that mold taught me some lessons about 7828 not liking a jammed start.
it also taught me you can exceed your recoil limit with a cast bullet and not lead the barrel.
it also taught me about grey poofs of smoke, and no holes in the paper.

I also learned a lot about bullet alignment and jumps to the rifling using the nose as the guiding force to get everything in the barrel straight if you expect any sort of accuracy.
that's a lot of important things to know for what we do.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Yes, I sized the nose.
Seems EVERYTHING in this Ruger # 1 , 30-30 is tight.
If a nose is .301 or .302 , you can forget chambering a round.
A .300 nose chambers smoothly.

Ben
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Nose sizing

I have thirty +, .30 cal. molds right now. Since my molds are made by Cramer, SAECO, RCBS, Lee, Lyman/ IDEAL, the variations in drive band diameters , gas shank diameters, and nose diameters are " all over the place ".

Nose diameters of the molds described above vary from .299" - .304".

I have .30 cal. rifles that if you try and chamber a round with a .304" dia. nose, you won't ever get the bolt closed. In a hunting situation or self defense situation , you could stick the bullet ( with an over sized nose ) in the bore, when you withdraw the case, powder will fill the chamber and magazine box....a real mess. Basically rendering the weapon un-usable until you can get a cleaning rod to tap out the stuck bullet and get everything cleaned up. If you've loaded very many cast rifle bullets, you have probably already experienced what I describe above. If the nose is sized properly and you have the correct OAL for your loaded rounds, this will never happen. The beauty of a properly sized nose on your rifle bullets is IMPT ! for proper chambering and also an aid in the accuracy dept.

My .30 cal. rifles each like a different bullet dia. on the drive bands. However some of them have tight bores and won't tolerate a " fat nosed bullet." If the nose of the bullet gets much over .3015" there will be problems in chambering the round. I have a Springfield 1903 Sporter in .308 Win. that isn't very tolerant of cast bullets with a nose of over .301". I hope you are able to see why I ( and possibly you ) need the ability to control nose diameters.

I've always read about sizing the nose of a cast bullet, but considering the fact that RCBS, Lyman, etc . didn't sell the nose sizing dies , I just never got serious about the concept.

Many years ago, I had Buckshot make a .302 nose sizing die for me. It was solid steel that fit the Lyman 450 with the threaded ring that holds the sizer die in place. It has been useful, however I found that I also needed a .300" and a .301" diameter nose sizing die.

I contacted Rick ( Buckshot ) about making me a cast bullet nose sizing die that would take the Redding bushings . The die works flawlessly. This die takes the Redding sizing bushings that are available from MidWay, Graf's , etc.

Here are the bushings, I chose to buy the heat treated, hardened steel bushings since they are about 60% of the price of the Nitride ones. A thin film of lube on about every 3rd bullet going into the sizer ring is all this is needed with these steel bushings. They are polished " mirror smooth".

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Here is Buckshot's bushing die with a Redding .301 sizer ring in place and ready to be installed in my Lyman 450 :

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Brother_Love

Well-Known Member
Ben,
Thank you for that very informing tutorial. I do have some .30 caliber molds and some .30 caliber rifles that could use that. I will order the Redding bushing and see what I can come up with to hold in my antique Lyman 45 sizer.
Thanks again Ben,
Malcolm
 
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fiver

Well-Known Member
maybe look around NOE's site first, I think they have something like this over there.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I've never used the NOE, but Al is noted for making some fine machined items.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy his.

Ben
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ben,
Thank you for that very informing tutorial. I do have some .30 caliber molds and some .30 caliber rifles that could use that. I will order the Redding bushing and see what I can come up with to hold in my antique Lyman 45 sizer.
Thanks again Ben,
Malcolm

I'm glad that was a help to you.
Ben
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ben,
Thank you for that very informing tutorial. I do have some .30 caliber molds and some .30 caliber rifles that could use that. I will order the Redding bushing and see what I can come up with to hold in my antique Lyman 45 sizer.
Thanks again Ben,
Malcolm

A good local machinist could make the die for the neck sizing bushing to fit into. MidWay has the Redding bushings in just about any diameter that you'd need.

Ben
 
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Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I took my Ruger # 1, 30-30 Win. to the range this afternoon.
My grandson Trevor and I shot it some in between the rain storms.
I didn't have a lot of time to shoot.
I had the target at 50 yards.
I shot 7 rounds at 50 yards out of the rifle.
I think I may be off to a good start with this one..............

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Trevor thought he needed his picture made with the new rifle.

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Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I asked Trevor to shoot a few " fouling rounds " before I shot the rifle.

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Just about a perfect rifle to train a 10 yr. old with.

 
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