Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting 30'06 cast bullet recommendation

I have cast bullets for quite some time for 38 special, 44 mag, and 45/70 with adequate success for my needs. I cast from wheel weights and tumble lube the pistol bullets - they shoot as well as I can shoot a handgun. I have tumbled lubed some of the 45/70 bullets and shot them as cast using Unique and they were plenty accurate for off hand shooting at 50 yards.

I would like a recommendation for a 30 caliber bullet mold that can be tumbled lubed and is likely to work well in a 30'06 with loads using Unique (or Reloader #7) to make a plinking load for off hand practice. Any recommendations of charge weight of Unique or Reloader #7 also would be appreciated.

I am aware that powder coating is the new great thing in cast bullets but I prefer to stick to tumble lubing as I have ALOT of Alox.

Thank you.

Several '06's and I have many molds...but I always go back to the lowly Lee 170 gas check, around 12 Bhn, unsized, tumble lubed, 27 gr of RL-7 with a mild primer. Superb accuracy, decent velocity at around 1700 fps depending on the brass (I still use a lot of GI that just won't wear out and I like the slightly reduced internal volume). My Lee Liquid Alox is spiked with a little Johnson's Liquid to dry the finish somewhat. Unless you have a really strange throat it should work. I seat them to the crimp groove for Rem and Win chambers, and leave one driving band exposed on the Mannlicher Schoenauer which has a long throat.

Flintlocke, thank you for the reply. I was hoping to use bullets as cast and without gas checks. Keeping velocity below 1100 fps is fine with me. Would there be a better bullet choice if planning on shooting them without gas checks?

Thanks, again.

Maybe go on the search for an old Lyman 311241 mould? 155 grain nominal weight, plain base, ideal for low vel plinking bullets if you insist on only tumble lubing. You can certainly shoot gas check bullets sans gas checks but you may or may not get decent accuracy. I would stick with fast burning pistol powders for such things, Unique and faster - it provides a sharp smack on the butt to bump the bullet base to seal the bore from the get-go. Slower powders work, but may well get squirrely at the velocity level you're seeking.

Another approach, and one that I did as an experiment, is to take a Lyman 311291 gas check mould and mill the top flats of the mould blocks off, far enough down to remove the gas check shank off the cavities. Re-install the sprue plate and voila, a plain base bullet that is a near twin to the old 311241.

Another thought, for backyard plinking-type loads, would be a .32 pistol bullet. Plenty of moulds out there for 85-100 grain bullets. Only caveat: they pop out at .313-.315 typically so you would have to size them them down a bit in a Lee push-through die to use them in your .30-06. (But maybe not, depending on chamber neck and throat dimensions- there might be enough wiggle room to allow their use at full diameter. And shooting a really light soft lead bullet a bit too big is no big deal pressure-wise.) Makes for very economical shooting, two bullets for every one of the other heavier ones. Push them with a pinch of Bullseye or Red Dot and the biggest expense will be the primer. Empty beer cans at 50 yards will hate you!

The same deplorable Lee 170, minus the check (yeah, I know, ain't sposed to work) and around 8 gr Unique, puts me subsonic (1120fps at this elevation) and decent accuracy for plinking at 75 yds. In that load I went to WLR primers and seated the bullet to give a mild jam into the throat...otherwise I got some leading. If you can ever find a Lyman 311410 grab it...and then sell it to me.

I have bored out a 30cal mould to get rid of the gas check .

Only have one .30 cal mould, a Lyman 311041. Use it with gas checks for the model 94, tumble lubed.

BHN 12 - Wheelweight equivalent






Use it without the gaschecks in the .30 Sneezer, little softer alloy, BHN9, also tumble lubed.

Thank you all for the replies.

As I am looking really for beer can accuracy at 50 yards and I am looking to use up the large amount of Unique I currently have, would a gas check bullet minus the gas check be likely OK in this scenario? Having the ability to gas check them in the future is attractive on the off chance I would want to push them faster and use them hunting.

Also, any input on Arsenal molds? http://arsenalmolds.com/bullet-molds?product_id=107

When I load cast bullets in my .30-06 I use a 150gr. bullet and 10gr. of Unique. This load should work fine for the purpose you have in mind.

You don't need a gas check for mouse fart loads.

Another simple approach is a pinch of pistol powder, say 5 or 6 grains Bullseye or Red Dot, under a buckshot thumbed into the unsized case mouth, with a dab of bullet lube wiped on around the mouth afterward. Surprising how well they shoot at "backyard" distances.

Whatever you do, don't try substituting jacketed bullets for lead ones with mouse fart powder charges. I'm here to tell ya....

My low recoil plinking load is a 180 gr RCBS or 170 gr Lee bullet over 12.4 gr of Unique. Why that weight.....that's what drops from my old Pacific Pistol Powder Measure with no bushing in place. IIRC, it gets about 1400 fps in my 03A3 Springfield. The only target I could find with that combination shows 6 shots in about 3.5" with 4 of them inside an inch:





The two flyers were maybe my fault because the same bullet/powder combo in my 308 did this:








I think either of these qualifies for your 'beer can accuracy at 50 yds' requirement. My bullets are gas checked and powder coated because I use them in all loads, even full power loads. They should do just as well tumble lubed w/o checks at 1400 fps.

311041 but i've got the best results with 4198.

Hard to find a powder that doesn't work in the .30-06 for cast bullet work, or I should say not hard to tailor loads for any given velocity range. It's a very forgiving cartridge.

I do most of my .30 work with .30-06's in the grandaddy .30-06 of them all- 1903 Springfields, of every type they made, from Service rifles to bull barreled Style-T and everything in between. Probably 80% of what I shoot in them is stuff at around 1600-1800 fps with 165-200 grain cast bullets, gas checked, and mostly driven with SR-4759 powder. (I'll cry, literally, when my stash of that powder dries up but luckily I have enough for a few years yet.) Still, every now and then I like to load a sack full of cast lead plinkers and go to a buddy's place near here and dance empty beer cans around his backyard. Kind of a hoot to do that with a National Match rifle intended for long range precision work.

I'll certainly never wear out any of those barrels by shooting mild cast bullet loads in them.

Thank you all for the replies and advice.

Does anyone have experience with Arsenal Molds?

And if purchasing a mold that can be had either as plain base or gas checked is it much more likely that the plain base bullet will shoot better at reduced loads vs. a design made for gas checks that is used without the checks? I have had good luck with my 45/70 shooting those bullets unchecked and like the fact that I can , if desired, put checks on them and load them hotter. But, if it is generally the wisdom that plain base designs shoot better with light loads I will buy a plain base mold as the likelihood of me using my 30'06 with cast bullets for hunting is low.

Thank you all.

TCP, in theory you might be correct, but in real life the do or don’t with gaschecks is governed by pressure mostly. I have shot groups in the sub 1/4” size for 5 shots at 50 yards with the 311041 without gaschecks. This is with a soft alloy, around BHN9. If I want to up the ante I put a gas check on them and bump the BHN up about 3 notches.

I agree with Dan in the main, but it requires a bit more attention to quality control (and isn't a universal given for every design/weight .30 mould out there)- a gas check can cover up some deficiencies in bullet base perfection which left uncovered may well effect accuracy. Remember, the ass-end of the bullet is the steering end. Given a choice for strictly low vel loads I would go straight to the plain base design, and again inspect carefully for complete sharp mould fill out around the circumference of the base.

Even at today's prices, moulds are relatively cheap in the whole scheme of things, so it's no big deal to get a gas checked mould later if you decide you want to go that direction. Or, when you have the mould cut, why not make it a 4 cavity with two of the cavities for plain base and two for gas checks? (Why two cavities per bullet design? If you ever slaved for hours over a single cavity mould only to end up with a piddling pile of bullets you would know why!!)

Early on, I had some difficulties getting good accuracy with unchecked bullets from a mold cut for checks, even whey did well with gas checks added. Rather than try to make the unchecked bullets work well, I just defaulted to adding checks on all the bullets despite the velocity I was aiming for. Given the success many have had with shooting them unchecked, I now suspect the inaccuracy was caused by other variables, but I am still content to just check'em all!

First thought: probably way too hard.

Arsenal molds

This is a tumble lube/ micro band design. From the successful and accurate "Ranch Dog" design . you can specify the diameter you want for no extra charge. Available in gas check or plain base cavities, or a combination mold of each. Excellent quality, and very high value.

http://arsenalmolds.com/products?product_id=107&limit=100


Also remember, that you can use a "regular lube groove" cast bullet mold, and lube it without an expensive lubrisizer. Pan lube them. Melt bullet lube in a flat bottom pan, and place the batch of cast bullets- base down, standing up- in the melted lube. you need just enough melted lube to cover the lube grooves, not the entire bullet.

Let the lube cool. Use a fired case of a matching neck diameter as the cast bullet. Hacksaw off the rim. Slip the neck of the case over the lubed bullet, like a cookie cutter. Then do the same to the next bullet, and repeat. The 3rd bullet you cut out of the lube will push the earlier bullet up through the case. You can remove the top bullet with you fingers from the open-ended case that you cut off. Repeat cutting out the bullet lube ( and removing the pushed through bullet until done. Easy peasy and low cost.

Seating gas checks can be tricky without proper equipment. Lee Precision makes a push through sized that can be used on a reloading press. Just minimize sizing the bullet down. May have to hone out the inside to get the desired diameter. You can seat a gas check with the Lee push through sized die.


The bullet will be lubed, but not sized. Don't really need to size a bullet anyway, if the as-cast diameter fits in the throat of the chamber ; and will shoot more accurately than a smaller sized down diameter.

So far I've had good success with Lee 309-170. They fall from the mold at .309". I quench harden while casting. Seat gas checks and lube with an old lyman 450 with my homemade beeswax lube formula. I'll bet they were going 2600fps from a 26" barrel and 37grs of surplus 4895.

Shot several 1-1/2 groups at 100yds. Finished boolits weigh 180gr with lube and gaschecks

Forgot to mention these were loaded in a 308 win. The most fun I had was when loaded with 34grs of 4895 and fired in a semiautomatic. They're just powerful enough to cycle the action with greatly reduced noise and muzzle blast.

2600fps, 180 cast bullet over 37 grains 4895??

Yepper. I'll pull out the chronograph if you prefer some official results. The 26" barrel on a schultz and Larson action is most of the reason for higher speeds. Not to mention the beeswax lube and softer boolit metal. Gas chekt boolits will always out run their copper jacketed brethren because of less friction.

Ordered a few molds just yesterday. All out of stock so it may be a while.

Really just want a comment in so I can stay up on the thread, carry on.

Yes, please do. I'll remain skeptical until I see proof.

Oh, and it's spelled "bullet".

Looks like we'll be testing two things. #1. My homemade 309-170 Lee Gaschekt bullets loaded with 37.0grs of 4895, and #2 my ability to estimate velocity. This should be interesting, but first I need to do some loading. I only had 5 rds for experiment the first time around

Now just so you know. I'm always up for a good challenge, but currently it's 2 degrees outside with a couple feet of snow on the ground. I do my testing at a 100 yd range in SW Wisconsin

Ok, so I have an admission, a confession, and a flimsy excuse for the reason why. #1. the 309-170 clocked 2307 fps over 37grs of imr 4895 #2 my estimated velocity was only 300 fps short - but hey, ammo manufacturers do this all the time #3 my flimsy excuse is that it was cold. 22degrees F at the range when testing, so expect lower speeds with a temp sensitive powder such as imr 4895. But..im actually very glad you put me up to this because I wasn't necessarily planning on conducting this test

this is a 6-shot group. If I would have stopped with 5 I wouldn't have sent the last one high. Had a nice cluster going with 4 of them..

What's especially cool with these is the squeaky clean barrel that still shines after each shot. I shot this tiny little 100 yd group with these cast bullets and didn't need to clean it from the last time. I do prefer to have a clean barrel for proper accuracy testing

I like the 311284 with IMR 3031, not top speed but very accurate for me.



160yd shot

Awesome shot! What's your powder charge and velocity if known?

31gr of IMR3031 and about 1900 fps.

through front leg bone
through this..



out other side.

Excellent! 311284 (and the "other guys" clones) is an all time great .30 bullet. I was gifted a 311284 single cavity Ideal mold 45 years ago and God only knows how many bullets have been cast from it. Back when I used a Krag for my "daily bread" it was my go-to bullet. It doesn't get much use nowadays - for no good reason other than it's a single cavity mold - that pic inspires me to correct that (and fire up the Krags some more)!