NOE #315 Copy

[Matt]

Well Ben you were right. After you suggested getting a copy of the Saeco #315 as the best plain base design I ordered the 5 cavity .311 315 from NOE.

Testing has been slow because we’re having a very wet and windy spring. Did get a chance to shoot in light wind yesterday. When you said the 315 is a different animal you were right. First loads with visually inspected bullets sized to .311 with Ben’s Red and seated to feed from the magazine of my 788 were the best PB groups the rifle has ever fired.
Loaded some .Ideal 308241s for comparison. As you can see the 315 is good, very good for no load development. Thanks for the direction. Still can’t
orient photos...........

 

[Ian]

Don't hold yer fone sideways it's ok, at least you get images to show up and I can hold MY fone sideways to see them.

Amazing what happens when you achieve good dynamic fit, isn't it?

 

[Spindrift]

Good shooting, Matt! You’re gonna have a ton of fun with that bullet!
I have a 4-cav 50/50 mould. The GC and PB bullets have both been an instant success in the rifles I’ve tried them in (meaning good accuracy at modest load levels).

 

[Ben]

A wonderful start.
You'll love that design as time goes on..............

Ben

 

[Ole_270]

That's the bullet I went to in my old JC Higgins 51-L 308, only the gas checked version. Works great in this well worn, oversized throat. I shoot it mostly at over 2100 fps.

 

[Matt]

Glad I can still learn something. Loaded 50 rounds of .30/06 in mixed brass, Winchester large rifle primers, 8.0 Red Dot, #315 cast from bullet trap scrap (as cast .312+ a little)sized to .311 with my new batch of Ben’s Red. 25 with bullets seated at 3.088”, 25 with bullets seated at 2.988”. Seating depth based on covering grease grooves, 2.988”
just puts all grease grooves in case neck. 3.088 just barely covers the bottom three grooves. Both OALs feed through the magazine and don’t engrave the bullet. Thoroughly cleaned the bore of the M70. This included using chore boy and JB bore paste to get the bore squeaky clean. I normally just brush a few times with Ed’s Red follow with a couple of wet patches and then a couple of dry. This keeps the cold bore first shot flyers more or less in the group.

I wanted to see how this bullet “settled” in. I started with the 3.088 OAL. In the attached photos the first group from a cold bore was characteristic of this rifle with a real clean bore, wanders around but still a good group. Group 2 was odd, the first three in a big triangle, I thought the throat must be starting to lead. I pulled the bolt and the bore was still bright. I shot 7 more rounds into the center hole and couldn’t resist seeing what three more would look like. They stayed in the group!

Next was the 2.978 OAL I did not have high hopes. I also grabbed a bullseye target by mistake but didn’t want to go back and get a Leupold style. The first (bottom) group is the best 10 shot 50 yard cast bullet group I have ever fired! I know it’s a fluke, especially with the mirage from the ground, 90 degrees here today, and from the barrel. I adjusted 16 clicks up and fired another 10 shots. It took 3 shots to settle the scope and then the next seven group pretty nice. The remaining ten were fired from the magazine fast at the 200 yard plate.
All hits and the barrel was very hot-but still bright.
This #315 copy is like Sierra 168s; they seem to shoot well in anything. Thanks for the advice and lube recipe Ben.