Has anyone had any experience with the lee 150 gn gas check mold in a .308 win.
I am sizing to .308 with an RCBS lube sizer (hornady gas check) & getting 4-5" MOA groups at the very best, usually worse.
Is this what I should expect ?
I`m using an Australian powder ADI`s fine AS-30 at 12.5 gns. I think this was sold as a Hodgdon powder in the USA, now discontinued.
Any other advice on Hodgden powder which is available here in Australia ?
What velocity should I aim for, I`m using about 30% linotype with 70% wheel weights.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers Morton

morton3, Lee Precision's molds are a good value if they fit your bore & throat. Have you slugged them? I have the 180gr. version of that bullet and both the body and nose are too small for my .30-06 (.309",.299" respectively). I suspect this may also be the case with your .308Win. After determining your bore & throat dimensions, you'll probably need a larger bullet, perhaps .310" - .311" with a .301" - .302" nose if a bore rider*. Lyman's tapered design, #311644 is one such bullet of proven accuracy in both .308Wins. and '06's.

Alloy: Wheelweights are fine by themselves or with no more than 1% tin added.

Powders: Accurate Arms' 5744 is probably one of the best choices for cast bullet shooting since it is designed with small charges in large cases in mind. Hodgdon/IMR 4227 and 4198 are also good choices.

Velocity: Since I only use cast bullets for target shooting, I usually don't exceed 1,750fps. With the aforementioned powders, that would mean charges of ~19gr. - 22gr.

*Check out Jim Allison's/Cast Bullet Engineering's (NSW) offerings. His workmanship is excellent, but more expensive than Lee Precision's.

At a guess, the problem is more in your sizing than in your mould. Most .308s need a bullet at least .309 with .310 being better and .311 being none too large. Lee moulds cast anywhere from the nominal diameter to .003 oversized with .001 oversized being the most common. A .311 sizer die will crimp on the GC and lube without affecting the as-cast diameter of the bullet.

I've used that mould for a variety of .308s and have come to expect it to be capable of 2 MOA accuracy or better.

Your powder description means nothing to me, but if it's a medium pistol powder, around HS-6 in burning rate, the charge sounds about right.

I'm with leftover on this. Your bullet is sized too small. Also, you're using way too much linotype for the type of loads you're working with. Drop back to ten pounds wheel weights and one pound of linotype. That'll give you more than enough tin in the mix for good mould fill out and the added antimony will help with the hardness.
I have that mould as well, but I haven't used it all that much, preferring to shoot heavier bullets. I like bullets in the 180 to 190 gr, range for target shooting the .308 Win. Powder charges of choice are 17.0 gr. Alliant #2400, 17.0 gr. IMR-4227, and 25.0 gr. IMR of H-4895. Groups are excellent with those charges and with Lyman's #311644, my M70 in .308 will do 1.5 MOS at 200 yards and a Savage 110S silhouette rifle 2.5 MOA at 300 yards when I do my part.
If I were you, I'd either size the bullet to .310" or shoot as cast if the as cast diameter is in the .310-.311" range and if your rifle will allow it, seat the bullet so it just engages the rifling.
Another tip. Take one of those bulets an press it into the muzzle of the gun. If it is a tight fit or even a bit too large to just slide in, that's good. If it's loose and wobbles even a tiny amount, that's not good. In that case, you'll have to Beagle that bullet. If you don't know the process, go to castboolits.com (I think that's the proper URL) and do a search on beagleing. You can also find it on castpics.com. Again, if that URL doesn't work, E-mail me and I'll send you the links.
Paul B.

Paul B, thanks for the URL`s. The Castboolits one led me to a site selling women for sex & other various potions designed to increase the size of my wedding tackle.
A quick search in google for the site gave me what you were recommending. great stuf I have to say.
I`ll take the advice of yourself, Paul Brasky & Leftoverdj & use some as cast slugs without sizing them & see where that leads me.
As a matter of interest, an as cast slugs mikes out at a touch over .310.
Here`s hoping that the larger diameter slug will improve things !

Cheers for the advice fellas

Regards Morton

quote:

Posted 21 March 2007 15:47 Hide Post
Paul B, thanks for the URL`s. The Castboolits one led me to a site selling women for sex & other various potions designed to increase the size of my wedding tackle.

We aim to please. I didn't know about the extracurricular stuff. At least they weren't advertising for free vasectomys.
Paul B.