Old standard for 30 cal military bolt action rifles
Aug 4, 2023 16:25:30 GMT -7
todddoyka and shootist---Gary like this
Post by Bullshop on Aug 4, 2023 16:25:30 GMT -7
You would think that after all my years of collecting bullet molds I would have long ago acquired the old standard 30 that has likely been used more than any other in competition the Lyman #311284. If your not familiar with the design it is a two diameter gas checked bullet with nearly equal length of bore ride nose to groove diameter drive bands at 220 grains give or take depending on alloy. It became very popular for practice as well as competition when the 30-40 Krag was still in regular use and faired equally well in the 30-06 when those rifles started to become surplus.
I have had the desire to acquire a mold for the 311284 design but one thing that held me back was the variation in bullet nose diameter that seemed to fluctuate with vintage. Bore rider bullet designs can shoot extremely well if the bore ride nose section is a snug fit to the barrel. It seems that the design started out well with a nose diameter that would make that snug fit at from .300 to .301". Then some time later and about the time I started collecting molds our lawyer controlled markets decided it was more prudent to be overly safe than practical so they reduced the nose diameter by a couple thousandths resulting in it fitting poorly in all 30 caliber barrels. For that reason I had for a long time been hesitant to purchase a 311284 mold without first being able to cast with it to first determine the nose diameter.
Well the long patient wait seems to have paid off and I have finally acquired a mold for the 311284.
This mold came from a gentleman even older than myself that had the same concern and had the nose portion of his mold turned to produce a nose diameter of .3015" which makes a snug fit in the old worn military barrels. It may be too tight for new barrels but then again perhaps not. Case in point is that I had a new Ruger M-77 in 30-06 that did its best shooting with the Lyman # 314299 a bullet with .314" drive bands and a .303" diameter nose section. Go figure huh !
The new to me mold is a single cavity which for accuracy is my preference. As for speed of casting with a single cavity my first and only so far casting session with this mold was set at eight seconds per cycle so about seven bullets per minute. At seven per minute that works out to about 420 bullets per hour so not too shabby for a single cavity the bonus being all the bullets are from one cavity not from two or more that are less than identical.
Today I believe is the first time I have ever fired a 311284 bullet and for that I chose an old well worn classic a Remington model 30 Express in 30-06. The powder drop on my bench was filled with Accurate LT-30 and since I have been on a roll with that powder I decided to go with it. My old Lyman book says a max load of 2400 with the 220gn 311284 is 24 grain. LT-30 being substantially slower burning than 2400 I felt quite safe starting with a charge of 25.5gn. That charge was giving me perfect vertical strings of about 4 to 5 inches so I kept adding powder until the vertical tightened up and groups were more round and uniform. That point was at 28.5 grain and a standard large rifle primer. No chrorograph today but I am going to guess something about 2100 fps.
That was good for a first try with what was the old standard for 30 caliber rifles. Next I hope to try them in a 30-40 Krag that has a barrel in much better condition than the Rem model 30. All my vintage Lyman load books pair the 311284 with the 30-40 as potentially most accurate so I am anxiously awaiting the chance to try. All in all I think it was worth the wait to get a classic bullet design in a mold that produces it proportionately correct as it was intended lawyers be damned.
I have had the desire to acquire a mold for the 311284 design but one thing that held me back was the variation in bullet nose diameter that seemed to fluctuate with vintage. Bore rider bullet designs can shoot extremely well if the bore ride nose section is a snug fit to the barrel. It seems that the design started out well with a nose diameter that would make that snug fit at from .300 to .301". Then some time later and about the time I started collecting molds our lawyer controlled markets decided it was more prudent to be overly safe than practical so they reduced the nose diameter by a couple thousandths resulting in it fitting poorly in all 30 caliber barrels. For that reason I had for a long time been hesitant to purchase a 311284 mold without first being able to cast with it to first determine the nose diameter.
Well the long patient wait seems to have paid off and I have finally acquired a mold for the 311284.
This mold came from a gentleman even older than myself that had the same concern and had the nose portion of his mold turned to produce a nose diameter of .3015" which makes a snug fit in the old worn military barrels. It may be too tight for new barrels but then again perhaps not. Case in point is that I had a new Ruger M-77 in 30-06 that did its best shooting with the Lyman # 314299 a bullet with .314" drive bands and a .303" diameter nose section. Go figure huh !
The new to me mold is a single cavity which for accuracy is my preference. As for speed of casting with a single cavity my first and only so far casting session with this mold was set at eight seconds per cycle so about seven bullets per minute. At seven per minute that works out to about 420 bullets per hour so not too shabby for a single cavity the bonus being all the bullets are from one cavity not from two or more that are less than identical.
Today I believe is the first time I have ever fired a 311284 bullet and for that I chose an old well worn classic a Remington model 30 Express in 30-06. The powder drop on my bench was filled with Accurate LT-30 and since I have been on a roll with that powder I decided to go with it. My old Lyman book says a max load of 2400 with the 220gn 311284 is 24 grain. LT-30 being substantially slower burning than 2400 I felt quite safe starting with a charge of 25.5gn. That charge was giving me perfect vertical strings of about 4 to 5 inches so I kept adding powder until the vertical tightened up and groups were more round and uniform. That point was at 28.5 grain and a standard large rifle primer. No chrorograph today but I am going to guess something about 2100 fps.
That was good for a first try with what was the old standard for 30 caliber rifles. Next I hope to try them in a 30-40 Krag that has a barrel in much better condition than the Rem model 30. All my vintage Lyman load books pair the 311284 with the 30-40 as potentially most accurate so I am anxiously awaiting the chance to try. All in all I think it was worth the wait to get a classic bullet design in a mold that produces it proportionately correct as it was intended lawyers be damned.