Trying to work up some cast loads for my 308, not much success with two prior molds. The Lyman 311413 was sideways at 50yards and the Lee 312-185 gave 6 inch groups.
I'm not new to casting and have had great luck with my 8x57 in the past
I had a Lyman 314299 purchased for a 303 British that dropped bullets a bit small for the 303 with wheelweight alloy at .312 (Lyman told me it was close enough as far as they were concerned
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Even though they are a bit heavier than I preferred for the 308, I decided to size them down to .310 and give them a try.
I also decided that if I could get them to shoot without gas checks I could save 3 cents a shot.
Keep in mind that this mold is designed for use with gas checks.
The gas-checked bullets shot into about 1.5-2 inches at 100 yards for 5 shot groups with no noticeable leading at approximately 1700fps. Not spectacular accuracy but round groups that show promise and it was a bit windy.
Next I attempted the same bullet and load with no gas checks installed. They were an utter failure. Significant smoke likely causes as there is now a smaller diameter base on the bullet filled with lube that is exposed to the burning powder. I could have helped this by wiping off the extra lube. Accuracy was horrible. My 2 inch group opened up to 18 inches. To add insult to injury, 3 of those rounds (what are the odds) managed to find my target frame as well.
In the future think I will just pay the extra 3 cents for this load...
