I could find a 30 cal mould that weights 200-220 grains that has a .301 flat or blunt round nose without Beagling, lapping or bumping.

I have many 30 cal moulds and they pretty much throw bullets with .299 noses. One or two will go .300. Only one will go .301 and that is the RCBS 165-SIL.

I have eight 30 cal rifles and only one has a bore of less that .300. That is my Remington 03A3 and it shoots well with about any bullet in the fleet. The rest do really well with only the RCBS 165-Sil. I attribute this to the .301 nose which will engrave on the lands of every rifle in the stable.

The RCBS 180 runs .301 in the nose according to their tech folks. I don't know about the SAECO designs. I have an email inquiry in to their tech folks now. I may have to settle for a 180 but I would like something 20-40 grains heavier. This is a hunting bullet.

The Loverin designs may works just fine, but I don't like all of those lube grooves hanging out of the case neck.

Oh well, I can always Beagle, bump and lap, but it seems like the mould makes should have broken the code on this before now.

Charger my Lyman 299 throws nose over .301 depending on alloy and it meets your weight requirement. I use it in my 7.65 Argentine, my 7.7 Jap, and my 30-40 Krag which has a rather generous bore. They all shoot it fine and it doesn't have alot of lube groove as it mostly bore riding.

Joe

Charles...My 30-180-SP runs right at .309 and has a .301 nose. It weights right at 187 grains with check and lube.

You might look at the 311284 Lyman. Mine runs 217 grains and is a tad over .301 on the nose.

Probably both of these are probably going to be about as close to the specs you state as you'll find without going the custom route and that's iffy too.

Both shoot well in my Number 1 Ruger 06 but I have to taper the noses with an Eagan taper die before I can shoot them in the 06 as the nose is too big on both for this rifle./beagle

Charger, I feel your pain regarding fitting a cast bullet mold and boolit to your rifle. I do wish that Lyman, RCBS, and SAECO offered their .30 caliber mold designs in large, medium, and small. And some other calibers as well. I tried for 6 months to get the attention of RCBS, whoever designs their molds and got no response. I did get to talk finally to the machinist that actually makes the RCBS molds, and his answer was that dimensions are written in stone, if not steel. I was trying to go the other way with the nose diameter. I have a Win. 94, pre 1964, which has a bore and groove diameter of .299 by 308. The cartridges, being oversize in the neck, would not chamber. I gave up on that rifle with that bullet and later found that the RCBS 180 grain FN was a perfect fit in my O3A3. 302 by.311 So it was forget the Winchester, at least with an RCBS offering, and go with the Springfield, and all is joyfull from then on except for all the other shooters trying to get a cast boolit to shoot in one of the fat or skinney 30s.

We have a frequent poster here, Mr. Starmetal, who says that he had success advising the design team at RCBS regarding one of their progressive type reloaders. Perhaps he could direct his attentions to another area, (bullet diameter of cast projectiles), which is really important to all of us galenaholics). Extra special attention to .30 caliber and .44 caliber. After all the work that was done on the progressive reloader, I'm sure this will be a piece of cake.

Best regards from duke.

Great thread on a frustrating topic---undersized noses on .30 cal. boolits.

As a F.O.O.L., the heavy loverins have pretty much eased my pain---like 311407 and 311467(c.180 gr.). For hunting I'd recommend alox "tumble lube"; dries hard, thus no exposed lube groove problem.

Another way to roll the dice---buy old moulds, which more often than not are oversized in the nose and elsewhere. ---kid---

I wish that I could have such an influence with the companies making moulds mainly RCBS and Lyman.
Unfortunately I don't. RCBS had a severe design flaw with that press I spoke of, so that had to be remedied. As for the moulds they don't, at least not to them. There are so many uncontrolable variables that it would be damn near impossible to make a perfect mould per specific caliber. Probably best would be to make the moulds all oversized. Guess I've been lucky with my 30 cal. moulds as the noses on them are right. I agree we do need more moulds to fit some of the oversized bores for 303's, 7.7 Japs, 6.5's, and 7.65's, and a whole lot more. Good luck to you all on finding your mould need and good shooting.

Joe

Yes..This is a source of frustration. I have a 311284 and it give me .300 on the nose. The factory specs for both 311384 and 311299 call for a nose of .299-.300. Lino will of course bring us up to .301 but I am looking for a hunting bullet with a hunting alloy.

If you have a Lyman that runs .301 then you got one cut from a new cherry and consider yourself blessed.

SAEC0 send me the specs of their cherries and their 30 cal bullets will run .300 on the nose. They have a "31" cal mould that runs .302 on the nose .313 on the body. This is their 303 British mould. I have a brand new one of these still in the box that have never been used. When the weather cools a little and casting season begins I will throw some of these and see how they work.

RCBS (bless their souls) produce 30 cal moulds that throw bullets .301 on the nose. I am going to pick up one of their 180s.

I also have a good 311467 (Loverin). I am thinking about filling the grooves in the neck with lube and then taking the loaded rounds and dip what sticks out of the case in liquid alox.

NEI has a 200 grainer that they list as ".301" ogive. The body looks a little funky as it has just one very wide lube groove (a la pistol bullet). I have no idea how this works and I would like for some of the new NEI get into the shooting community for evaluation before I spend my bucks. I don't feel like "taking one for the team".

Of course, I can Beagle, lap and bump. But life would be so good if somebody would produce a mould like I want. I would hate to resort to a custom mould. I don't want to wait that looooooong wait to get one. I don't even buy green bananas anymore.

Charger...my 299 is a 314299 meant for 303's and such. It gives over a .300 nose with just about any alloy...at least mine does. In fact just cast some of wheelweights this week and they are a good .301 easy.

Joe

Gents,
There is a solution residing over at Cast Boolits in the form of Mountain Molds, You can call out your dimensions guys. Sure they aren't ebay molds but they will drop at the size you want without robbery prices and he has offered discounts to the board members equal to their contributions. A win~win situation for the Cast members. 45nut

Chargar. I have a Lee 200 gr. mold that I think will do what you want. I'd have to fire up the pot and run a few to be sure. It's a round nose bullet and to be honest, is a bit of a bitch to get good bullets from, but the good ones do shoot well from a 1917 Enfield with a Rocky Mountain bore. (rough as hell)
If you're interested, E-mail me and I'll run a few and take a measurement. If the nose is the right size, I'll loan it to you.
Paul B.

Paul..Hold off on casting those Lees for a while. I have an email off to Mountain Moulds. He has a drawing of a 30 cal. 180 RFN bullet that would be just what I want IF...the nose could be lengthened for an extra 30 grains and IF the nose/ogive could be cut to give .301. That does not seem like much of a stretch for a "semi-custom" outfit.

Anybody has any hands on experience with Mountain Moulds?