Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting 30-06 cast bullet

Our local club has a bang and clang and you have to use cast bullets. A lot of guys are using 30-06. I don’t plan on casting bullets just like know of a good source to buy some good cast bullets. I guess some use gas check others don’t. Max velocity is 1600 FPS as well. So if any of you have a load you like to share that be great too.

You wanna run 1600fps you better have gas checked ones.

Thanks i guess..

Can't help with a source for store-bought cast bullets, been making my own since LBJ was president and never bought a single one. I will second the suggestion re: gas checks on stuff you're going to run at 1600 fps. Plain base .30 bullets start having issues with leading past 1400 fps or thereabouts, depending on a lot of conditions. If the distances are short, then low-vel plain base loads can do just fine. Longer distances almost demand more velocity unless you have tons of elevation adjustment at your disposal. Personally, I would cut to the chase and go with gas checked bullets.

I betcha Google-fu will locate suppliers.

Get thee a Lyman cast bullet manual too, if this is your first rodeo. Any of them published over the last 50 years will suffice as an intro.

Good luck! I wish our club had a "bang-and-clang" cast bullet match.

Save yourself a lot of grief and grab a neck expander/mouth flaring die too, sized to fit the bullet you use (ie: .309 for .310 diameter bullets, .310 for .311's, etc.) Lyman and RCBS make good ones, as do others I'm sure. I'm partial to the RCBS, but that's personal preference.

Squeezing a typically oversized .30 lead bullet (sized to fit your throat) into a case prepped for .308 jacketed bullets does two things: it'll like as not further reduce the diameter of the bullet (brass is harder than lead), and will likely shave lead off the bullet too (hence the mouth flaring aspect of the above mentioned dies).

I've had no experience with commercial cast .30 caliber bullets, but I've cast my own for many years using a variety of designs ranging in weight from about 160 grains up to 210. My favorite is the Lyman gas checked #314299 (about 200 grains) cast of wheelweight alloy loaded to around 1650 fps.

With .308s, .30-06s, and most other .30 calibers, I've found best accuracy is almost always with a .310" or .311 bullet, but sometimes .309" will work. A "fat" nose will generally provide better accuracy than a minimal one. For best accuracy, seat bullets where they very slightly engrave, not enough to pull the bullet from the case when you extract a loaded round, just enough to make contact with the lands.

If possible from a commercial caster, buy samples of several bullets and try them. I think you'll find best accuracy with heavy bullets, but there are no firm rules with cast bullets.Get a Lyman book that has cast load data. Good luck-

79s didn't have much time this morning to post, so I just tried to stop you from wasting time with a plain base bullets, Get a copy of the NRA's cast bullet manual it has the info you'll need to flatten your curve. Lymans 311141 is a fn gc bullet for the 30-30 yet they shoot fine in my 30-06's more traditional 06 bullets were the 311291 and 311299 molds both rn gas checked. Hornady gas checks and good lube. Also get Lymans cast bullet hanbdbook. gnnoah also hit the bullseye on your need for a lyman "M" die for seating a cast bullet with out problems. MB

Thanks guys, I been searching for cast bullets for sale online and seems a lot are out of stock. Like magnum bob said I was going to try and find bullets with gas checks. As of now it looks like I might be getting into cast bullet making lol.

Thanks for the info, I might just buy molds and give it a go. Far as bullet sizer die are the lee bullet sizer dies worth a crap?

lee 150gr flat nose lee 390 sizer to set the gc.the tumble lube will come with the lee sizer. your in the game

Yes they're ok. Slow though, because you have to lube separately. Not a big deal. I don't like the tumble lube at velocities over plain base velocity levels. YMMV. You can stand the bullets in a shallow tray, pour molten lube around them, and remove them cookie cutter- style when cooled. Another Google/YouTube deal for how-to demonstrations.

gnoahhh i do not under stand dose the smaller cal lead more than a larger one with the tumble lube ? pm me if you want just looking for knowledge at your convenience if you want thank you

You can find 30 cal bullets online. Easy to find a coated 170gr 30-30 style bullet but try to get it sized to a minimum of .310 depending on your barrel. If they have a .312 you can size it smaller with the Lee dies or use it as is. The Lee die is excellent for coated bullets...much faster than a lubrisizer. I haven't pulled the handle on mine for over 20 years.

Coated bullets do not need a gas check and will shoot fine with zero leading well past 1600fps. Even bullets that were designed for a gas check with no GC that I powder coat at 2500fps and no leading. Gas checks do help with accuracy, but sub 2" groups at 100yds without a GC are mostly good enough.

Coating is cleaner and eliminates so many issues with cast lead that since I started coating in the 80s I don't shoot much lubed lead anymore.

That match sounds like fun....shooting cast lead in a '06 is fun regardless... but I started when I was 12 so I am biased.

In a word, no. But there's so much to take into consideration on this topic that'll take us beyond the scope of the OP's quest to break into the cast shooting game as easily/cheaply as he can. Tumble lube runs out of steam, so to speak, long before the elasticity boundaries of a given lead alloy are breached.

The whole topic of PC'ed bullets versus traditionally lubed bullets has been chewed over ad infinitum all over the internet. Adherents in both camps have pluses and minuses on their side. It boils down to individual goals/end uses/philosophies. On a personal level, there's so much I have yet to explore in the world of traditional lubed bullets that I fear I'll run out of time before scratching all those itches let alone add a whole 'nother dimension to it all by adding PC'ing to the mix. Besides, I don't mind the mess (what mess?) and prefer to not accept lessened accuracy (such as that may be).

I wonder how many here are CBA members and are following some groundbreaking experiments by a member, conducted with no lube or PC at all. Kind of eye opening and certainly food for thought- little or no leading with decent accuracy. Calls up the old debate over what really is the function of lube/coating on a bullet.

Now if y'all will excuse me, I need to get back to loading a sack full of .22 K-Hornets with (un-PC'ed) cast bullets for my first range session this weekend since undergoing house arrest two months ago! Lyman 225438's at 1600 fps. If time permits I have an accumulation of .30-06's to put through my Springfield M1903A1 National Match too. NOE 309-169 (Elco) spitzers (NRA formula lube) over 20 grains SR-4759- real x-ring killers- and 180 RN's out of an ancient NEI mold + 18 grains SR-4759, 1400 fps or thereabouts and the bane of paper targets across the land!

Thanks for that info acme bullets has 155 that are coated with HI-tek coating..

So, how did Mr K do?

Mr. Killer Hornet will crack tomorrow. Wind like a banshee today.

Best of luck, will await the report.

No joy in Mudville. The loads wouldn't group better than 1" at 50 yards. I was using a stiff load of 4759. Methinks dropping back to Unique or Bullseye (for a good swift kick in the bullet's pants) is where I need to just stay.

Mind you, 1" at 50 yards is certainly useful squirrel hunting accuracy but I think Mr. Kilbourn would encourage more accuracy out of the rifle he built. Jacketed stuff certainly performs better than twice as well as that.