1st .30 Cal Casting Session

Idaholewis

Idaholewis

Active Member
I couldn’t resist, I gotta try this Lyman 311299, Cast of Lyman #2 Alloy. This is VERY Different than The PURE Lead, or 1-40 Alloy i am use to, Some definite learning Curves to Casting this Harder Alloy. I found 700-725 Degrees To be about Right.

They all weigh .5 Grain of Eachother, once i got going things went Good
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This Lyman #2 Tested on with my Cabin Tree Hardness tester, I tested 3 Ingots, all 3 Read .086-.087 on my Dial, When Crossed over to my Chart that reads the Top end of Lyman No. 2, So far Everything i have gotten From Buffalo Arms has been Right on with my Tester.

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Just for Sake of Comparison of this new Cast bullet to a few Bullets I Currently Shoot in my .308

155 Grain Berger Hybrid Target on Left, and 168 ACLR on Right
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My .308 is VERY Capable of Super Accuracy, It will be interesting to See what i can do with these Cast?

This is a Quite typical 3 Shot Group with this Rifle, this one is on Video on my Channel. I have Shot numerous Targets like this with my .308, It is definitely in the Top Few Most Accurate Rifles i have Ever Owned, or Shot for that Matter. I FULLY expect 1/2 MOA at 100 out of this Rifle EVERY Time out. If i do my part, it does it’s
:lewis:

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Nothing Extraordinarily Fancy, Just a Cheap Rem 700 Black Bolt Gun, Heavy 26” Varmint Barrel, Nightforce NXS 5.5-22X56 MOAR Scope, Nightforce EXTREME Duty Rings, Nightforce 20 MOA 1 Piece Rail. BIX’ N ANDY 2 Stage Ball Bearing Trigger, i have set at 13 Ounces.
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If all goes well up Close? I have permission to Shoot here, This is where i will be Swinging at Longer Range, it is 850-860 Yards to the Back of this Private Lake at the Aspen Looking Trees, No rds, ANYTHING Near this, ALL PRIVATE Land. I have a Side by Side (Gator) to Run Targets around. I can also move to the Right here, and Back another 200 Yards, No problem to get 1,000 Yards here
:lewis:

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Ian said:
That'll be good for about 18-1900 fps. Next you get to find out if they'll chamber.
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I read a Guy’s claims of an Average MV of 2,375 fps with this one? And Shooting this Bullet to 1,000 Yards, i seen where Walter (Waco) Responded, so he Seen it. I would post the link to the Thread if i knew it was ok?
 
Here is the Title of the Thread, anyone interested can easily find it by Searching this

Shooting the 200gr. Lyman#311299 at longer ranges in a .308
 
Go for it, your castings certainly seem good enough and are plenty tough enough. But don't be too disappointed if you aren't getting 3/4 MOA groups at 500 yards on your first try.
 
Shooting the 200gr. Lyman#311299 at longer ranges in a .308.

Shooting the 200gr. Lyman#311299 at longer ranges in a .308.

Hi guys! I havent been to the site in a while. I just thought I would send a few lines telling about some fun wih my .308 Win. The other day I took my Rem700, Varmint Laminate out bear hunting. I hadnt shot my pet load in maybe 6-8 months. So we had to double check my point of aim. As we...
castboolits.gunloads.com
 
Ian said:
Go for it, your castings certainly seem good enough and are plenty tough enough. But don't be too disappointed if you aren't getting 3/4 MOA groups at 500 yards on your first try.
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Or 3/4" at 25 yards at first! Start low and work up. Record every change you make. Get the copper out of your barrel first before trying the cast and expect it to take a little shooting before it "seasons". Some barrels are like that.
 
My suggestion is to dry mop vs chemicals. It's part that old song about using the least intrusive methods first but with a slight twist. You are trying to get a glimpse of what's going on in the barrel and also the lead/load's efficiency. So while a bore scope is a fine tool,it isn't giving realtime data. It's after the fact.

Dry mop,and see what's being left behind. That first pass is the one to really study. Subsequent passes if necessary,can confirm but you get diminishing returns. Going dry also is not completely taking the barrel down to squeaky clean,you're leaving lube in the pores of the steel. You're looking to get to being able to predict cold bore,and/or first shot grouping character coming off a clean barrel.Can't comment on painted bullets. So maybe someone else can help you there.

Further,folks need to "learn" the skill? of separating gun work from load work. The overlap of these two VERY important aspects can trip up the most seasoned of shooters. Not everything you do on a firearm( new trigger,free float,bedding) is about the,"right now". Yes,these things all play out on how a load behaves but,you're building a base,or foundation for the rifle first and foremost. The load comes second.
 
Bret4207 said:
Or 3/4" at 25 yards at first! Start low and work up. Record every change you make. Get the copper out of your barrel first before trying the cast and expect it to take a little shooting before it "seasons". Some barrels are like that.
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This Rifle is actually REALLY Bad for that. When i do a Complete Strip Down of this Bore it Don’t like it!! I have to get 10-12 Shots Through it Before it will “Settle” Back in. This is the Worst Rifle i have ever owned, or Seen for this. When it finally Gets settled in, it will literally Shoot Thumb tacks at 100 Yards, and it will do so with Various powder Charges, and Seating Depths. With most Jacketed i usually end up jumping them .020-.030, Depends on a finding a Node of Course, one of my Favorite loads is .030 off the Lands. The Worst part is I have turned it in to a Single Shot by Seating this Way, to long to load in the Magazine. This is why i have the Neoprene slip on Stock Shell holder on this Rifle
 
Intheshop said:
My suggestion is to dry mop vs chemicals. It's part that old song about using the least intrusive methods first but with a slight twist. You are trying to get a glimpse of what's going on in the barrel and also the lead/load's efficiency. So while a bore scope is a fine tool,it isn't giving realtime data. It's after the fact.

Dry mop,and see what's being left behind. That first pass is the one to really study. Subsequent passes if necessary,can confirm but you get diminishing returns. Going dry also is not completely taking the barrel down to squeaky clean,you're leaving lube in the pores of the steel. You're looking to get to being able to predict cold bore,and/or first shot grouping character coming off a clean barrel.Can't comment on painted bullets. So maybe someone else can help you there.

Further,folks need to "learn" the skill? of separating gun work from load work. The overlap of these two VERY important aspects can trip up the most seasoned of shooters. Not everything you do on a firearm( new trigger,free float,bedding) is about the,"right now". Yes,these things all play out on how a load behaves but,you're building a base,or foundation for the rifle first and foremost. The load comes second.
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Excellent Post!
 
Idaholewis said:
This Rifle is actually REALLY Bad for that. When i do a Complete Strip Down of this Bore it Don’t like it!! I have to get 10-12 Shots Through it Before it will “Settle” Back in. This is the Worst Rifle i have ever owned, or Seen for this. When it finally Gets settled in, it will literally Shoot Thumb tacks at 100 Yards, and it will do so with Various powder Charges, and Seating Depths. With most Jacketed i usually end up jumping them .020-.030, Depends on a finding a Node of Course, one of my Favorite loads is .030 off the Lands. The Worst part is I have turned it in to a Single Shot by Seating this Way, to long to load in the Magazine. This is why i have the Neoprene slip on Stock Shell holder on this Rifle
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Not at all uncommon. I shot long range revolver handgun open sight competition for well over 30 years and it took me a long time to learn to leave the bore alone. Competition is at 50-100-150 and 200 meters. Very specific sight settings are used for each distance by counting clicks up from dead bottom. If the bore got cleaned it took at least a 40 round monthly match to return both grouping and sight settings to normal. Both groups and sight settings remained normal for 800-1000 rounds through the shooting season when not touching the bore. I cleaned & re-lubed the cylinder after each match due to lube fowling but the bore I eventually learned to leave alone. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
Cast usually takes 5-20 rounds to settle a fresh bore as well, unless you paper patch, powder coat, or have a really good lube engineered to the purpose.

You still want to get the copper out before shooting cast. It's nice to have the copper in there all stabilized and filling in low spots/scratches/pits, but that little bit of copper fouling tends to grab lead when you switch to cast (especially at the land root on the trailing edge) and that can open up gas leaks and increases lead fouling exponentially. You'll likely find that switching back and forth between cast and jax is impractical, if that was your plan.
 
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