Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting .30-06 bullet mould?

I am about to purchase a bullet mould for my .30-06 and I am curious to get some feed back on what has worked for a few of you guys.

Primary purpose will be practice and MAYBE a deer or two in the thick woods.

I initially had the idea that I would try a 200gr spitzer (can't drive it too fast so why not drive a heavy bullet, right??). Then I started thinking about dropping down in weight--a 150gr would recoil even less and use less lead in the process. We casters are a stingy lot. Depending on the nose profile, the 150gr would be compatible with my .30-30 giving me a dual purpose. I see a lot of lighter weight moulds too--like the 113gr "Soupcan" moulds and such. So I am starting to get a little confused on what may work best for my application.

Would the longer bearing surface of the 190/200gr bullets maybe help with accuracy? Should I just pick a 150gr design that is compatible with the .30-30 and the .30-06 and just call it good?

Twas me I'd go with the 170 grain Lyman #311041 [formerly the Ideal #31141 mold].

Lee makes a similar mold (and weight) if you want a cheaper mold than the Lyman.

With that boolit you can use it in a multitude of .308 caliber rounds (even .300 mag's) from the .30-30/.303Sav/.30Remington to .300Sav to .30-40Krag to .308/.307Winchesters to .30/06 to .300Tinchester or weatherlee.

Of course Lyman makes other molds and configurations for heavier boolits (and even Saeco-Redding, Lee, RCBS and others do as well) but that 170 grain .30-30-style boolit has a meplat (for using in tubular magazines) that also flattens/expands even when the cast boolits are water-quenched from wheelweights.

Of course the .30-40Krag originally made its reputation for deeply penetrating elk or moose with 220 grain boolits, and no doubt the .30/06 would too (at moderate velocities).

I have molds from Lee and Lyman (Ideal) in the 113, 150 and 170 grain weights (that will ALL use the same top punch and sizer dies - to help minimize parts and costs!).

Those mold choices should serve a multitude of purposes, even if our handlers make store-bought or jacketed bullets too rare or extinct.

311284 is approx a 200gr RN bullet that will take deer and shoot well for target practice too.

Here is a 311284 loaded in a 30-06


Here is what one will do to a deer at 150 yds.



here is what it does for me at target practice at 100yds (the squares are 1/2 inch squares, so 4 of them make an inch square

If you want a projectile that will work well in BOTH the 30-30 and the 30-06 look no further than the 311041.

Excellent Blammer.

What powder did you use? Amt?

with the 311284 mould I use 30 gr of IMR3031 in the 30-06 with the 225gr cast lead bullet.
Rem 700 pencil 22" barrel gets 1850 fps

noebulletmolds.com will have some 311041 moulds for sale in a day or so, better be fast if you want one! They go quick!

He has a "no questions asked warrenty" you don't like it, send it back you get your money back, generally shipping is not refundable.

Should the mold be bought with a gas check or as a flat base, for use in centerfire 30 calibers?

No doubt with a gas check. A plain base would be lots of fun for very reduced velocity accuracy work, but for serious business the gas check would be needed.

I would recommend a GC. For rifles it's easier to get good results.

A Plain Base can be shot faster than most think but it takes a bit of skill and knowledge not common to a beginner.

Jump on the NOE mold - they are fantastic! I use a 311299 in my .30-06, mine didn't care for the 311284, but I didn't spend a lot of time with it, just had some samples.

The thing with cast bullets (and this may be an oversimplification but will serve to get the idea across) is in general the heavier the bullet you use, the more energy you impart to the target and the better it'll kill. Everything you learned about jacketed bullet performance is not necessarily transferable to cast bullet performance. First off, a spitzer is a poorer expander on soft tissue than a blunt round nose or better yet, a wide flat nose or a hollow point. Secondly, there are limits as to how fast you can drive a bullet which is soft enough to reliably expand on soft tissue. To overcome that, again bigger gets you the desired kinetic energy. (Naturally there are exceptions to that rule that many experienced casters know about. I speak of basic introductory info for a newbie.)

In short, were it me selecting a mold for a do-it-all application in a .30/06 (deer hunting and target shooting), I would settle on a 180-200 grain gas checked bullet with either a blunt round nose or a wide flat nose. For strictly playing at the range, a 150 probably- the lead pot level doesn't go down as fast with one of those.

Picking a diameter and body design for said bullet is a whole 'nother topic.

Thanks for all the help guys.

I ended up PM'ing a member for more advice and it ended up with me agreeing to buy more stuff...THANKS