I have a very nice Pre 64 M70 on 9.3x62. Veral is going to make me a 4 boolit mold. Can't decide on a weight; 250 to 286, maybe 300. Easy shooting, lots of shooting yet be able to take an elk, stop a charging grizzly or cantankerous moose. What weight would you go with?

Alan

I'd have him make it the 286gr version. Classic bullet weight for anything you want to hunt, plus you can load it down to hunt bunnies.

Ed

You sure you're not splitting hares with that load?

The weight matters little; the throat diameter and geometry would be my first concern.

That said, the weight with the most jacketed data gets my vote.
It gets you nice starting loads to work up with and to top with dacron

I do plan on using a GC. Am I wrong in assuming one does not need/use dacron with a GC?

Alan

Yes. Gas checks and Dacron serve different gods.

Depends on what you are wanting/trying to do. I am selfish, only because of the thread title! (grins)

The "what would you do"? goal is to get a good fit to the throat first and use a gas check WITHOUT Dacron filler, so you can easily use all data out there and easily work up safe, workable loads.

When or if you want to get into jacketed speed/jacketed data, filler may/may not be needed, but the weight with the most data (and powders) gives us valuable pressure latitude for "ifs" that may arise.

A good throat fit and a gas check is a great place to begin and hopefully end at!

Just curious, are you going LFN or Spitzer (I assume LFN)?

Have him cut the mould .001" over throat diameter- regulated by whatever alloy you will be using the most. Then plan on sizing to .0005" under throat diameter. (I didn't cook that up. The benchrest gurus in the CBA worked that out generations ago- and it works.) Size/ream if necessary the case neck for a custom fit to the bullet and chamber neck dimensions. Follow those protocols and I will bet on you getting superb accuracy right out of the chute. Chamber/throat dimensions always drive bullet size. Always. Coupled with a good bore riding nose design adds to the chance for accuracy.

Why not have a couple weights in the same 4 cavity block? Versatility is nice. How about one of the cavities being a plain base design for low recoil/low cost/high fun/accurate plinking?

LFN for sure. With a very sick wife�.and a son, who will be grown and likely gone within the next 3 to 6 years, my plan is to move back to Alaska. This rifle is light enough to carry a lot, yet shoot a lot and have a bullet of sufficient weight and an appropriate design to stop a charging grizzly. It shoots 250 Accubonds and 285 Partitions very well but�..cast boolits have always be special to me.

If you happened to have caught a thread I started over on the Gunsmithing section, this rifle has a VERY short throat. Veral could only get bullet weight up to 174 gr with a LFN mold he made for me based off a throat slug I sent him. So, once I receive the new mold from Veral, I will then cast some up, seat them to the appropriate depth (GC at the base of the neck?) and slowly start reaming the throat until it will accept a loaded round that is just touch the throat when the cartridge is chambered.

Alan

Might be, 'cause the sight picture gets fuzzy real quick after the first shot!

Ed

What did Veral recommend?

Veral recommend I lengthen the throat. I sent off a bullet mold order. Once I git it, i'll cast some up and loaded up dummies rounds so the base of the GC is at the base of the neck. I'll then measure the OAL, at the ogive with a Hornady bullet comparator. That will be the length in the chamber I will strive for when I start to ream the throat.

Alan

I would have gone 250-260 for weight, 2 pb, 2 gc cavities. Or, 1 each with 250's, and 1 each with 280-290. Even with a single cavity per bullet type, you'd cast enough in an afternoon for a lot of shooting. I like options though. Good luck with the project. Let us know how it goes.

I actually discussed a two boolit mold; 250 and 286 gr. Vera talked me out of it, saying that in his experience the customers that did the same regretted it.

Alan

That's backwards, if you're ordering a custom mold. Ream the throat first, and order a mold to fit those dimensions.