.308 or 30-06 for cast??

[Jeffery8mm]

I have a .308 Handi that is giving me fits with cast.  Got me thinking about a 30-06.  My son in law has a 30-06 handi that we load cast for and it does well.  My daughters .308 Howa shoots cast beautifully!!  This .308 of mine is mind boggling .  It will put 2 rounds in basically the SAME hole at 50 yards.  Then it will put the third shot low or high or out in left field!!  Then the next one will [may] be in the group with the first two.  I have tried the Lee 150 and 170 grain GC bullets with varying powder charges.
Which one of these two calibers have you had the best luck with cast bullets??
Thanks
Jeff

[quickdtoo]

Bad/loose scope, mount or rings? You wouldn't be the first to overlook them. 

Tim

[Lefty Dude]

What kinda primers ya using ?

I had a similar problem with my 1895 Browning/30-06. I was using standard LRP's. Switched to Federal match primers. Problem solved.
To this day, I always use match primers for Cast bullet loading.
If it's not the scope, might be worth a try.

[gcrank1]

You should check out 'The Cast Bullet Association'. We shoot cast in 'everything' with success.
The real key is to not use your jacketed bullet reloading experience and assumptions to choose what dia. bullet to use. For either of these calibers mentioned there have been lots of people for lots of years getting great accuracy, though of late, the .308 c/w 1:12 twist is often favored and winning in competition.
I use .310, .311 and .312 dia bullets in my '.30s'. The .308 is just too small. In each case, the largest dia bullets that will fit in a fully fire-formed case neck 'comfortably' and still chamber up and extract cleanly has given better and consistant accuracy. This also means NOT full length sizing of a fired case in the conventional sense. I use the FL sizer to ready new/used brass, but after fire forming almost always everafter use the Lee Collet Neck Sizing Die to give just enough grip to the lead bullet so it holds and no crimp. This has the added advantage of being less messy (no case lube), quick, easy and efficient.
I shoot basically wheel weight alloy bullets at about 1450fps, but others use harder alloys to almost jacketed velocities. You WILL find a combination that works. My experience is that once you get the bullet dia right (remember: 'throat dia, not bore/groove dia is key) it is hard to find a load that doesnt work in a '.30'.

[OBXPilgrim]

Both should work just as well.  I get good accuracy with a 30-06 Handi using 311041 Lymans pushed to 1800 fps.  Kills deer just as dead as anything else I've used. 

What gcrank1 said is good info - go large for bullet size.

It sounds like you have more going on with your 308 than you should have.  Does it do the same stringing & throwing shots with jacketed bullets?  Have you looked through the FAQs?  Does it throw shots if you shoot it with the fore-end off?

It sounds alot like my 22 Hornet a couple years ago.  I couldn't get it to shoot anything good - cast or jacketed.  I finally realized how much effect that little bit of latch engagement that was just on one side of the shelf had on accuracy. 

One more thing, for my 30-06, I use a .303 british expander ball to size it slightly larger - Lyman makes an "M" die that will basically do the same thing.

[Mac11700]

I'll second the Lyman "M" die for any cast bullets. Works like a charm and is much better than any other type of belling die.If you have it set up correctly,you won't shave any lead from the bullet..

If it will consistently put two touching..throw out the next and then put the next one with the first 2..then you need to go over your loading procedure and check your brass to make sure it is flush with the breech rim..then make sure you have the action locked completely each and every time...then make sure you are following the trigger completely..

Mac