lyman # 314299

[beerbelly]

            Is anybody using this mold? it is advertised at .314. I bought the lee mold that is supposed to be .314, but it only has a driving ring at the back of the bullet that is .314.
    The body of the bullet is only .305. It shoots key holes out of my .303 Enfield.
The gun shoots hornady 174 grain, .314 flat based bullets very well.
  I don't want to drop another fifty some thing bucks on a new mold that will shoot the same. What I am trying to find out is if the body of the Lyman bullet is .314.
                                         Beerbelly                           

[curator]

Beerbelly,

 Lyman #314299 can shoot very well in most .303 british rifles. The forward part is supposed to ride on the lands of the rifling. If you are getting keyholes you may have a much larger bore, worn throat, or muzzle/crown problems. I have also found that my 2-groove Enfields don't usually like this bullet either. Check out this web sit for good tips on getting cast bullets to shoot in these rifles
http://www.303british.com/id37.html

[BCall]

As far as the 314299 casting at 314, it is supposed to with #2 alloy. But, recent reports no Lyman molds suggest you may get anywhere form .312 to .315. While larger would be good, there have been a bunch of reports of undersized molds lately. You would just have to get one and try. If it is undersized, you would have to send it back to Lyman.

Which Lee mold do you have that is supposed to cast at .314? The mold they list for the 303 Brit is listed at .312. I have had 2, one cast at .312, the other cast at .314. I still have the one that casts at .314, and it works fine in my gun. Not as well as the 314299, but decent. You say the body is at .305, where is that measured? If it is on the bands, it is seriously undersized and needs to go back to Lee. At .007 under, I'm not sure how it would stay seated in the case. It would drop right through the neck on my cases. Billy

[beerbelly]

Call, I was mistaken, the mold says .312. The only place it casts .312 is on the bands at the back of the bullet. The flat in front of the bands out to where it goes to the point or round nose, is .305.
  I wonder if when seating the bullets , it is shaving off those bands. They key hole in my gun. But it won't shoot the .311 boat tails either. Like I said it shoots the .312 flat based Hornady's fine.
                                            Beerbelly

[BCall]

I would say you need something a bit fatter. I shoot alot of the 314299, but mine do measure .315. I size to .314 and they shoot good. The Lee mold can be a bit thin, unless you get one like mine that casts at .315. Unfortunately, unless you buy a used one someone can verify the size as cast, it seems to be the luck of the draw. Usually, most would size cast to .001 over bore diameter. have you slugged the bore to find out how big it is? It might be even bigger than you think. Both of mine slug to just over .313. Mine size to just over .314 and the work well. Mine will shoot the .312 jacketed ones fine as well. You might measure the .312 jacketed bullets too, as they might actually be bigger than .312. HTH, Billy

[ron haralson]

     If you're new to cast bullet shooting, my 1st question is "what load are you using?" If you're trying to use jacketted bullet loads, that's probably the problem. If that's the case,try about 16gr of 2400 or H110.

     I've seen key holing with suitable loads, but not often and only with terribly worn bores. They did just what you're saying; keyholed with cast loads and shot much better with jacketted. The bullet sizes you quoted should shoot decently in most .303's.

[ron haralson]

     And my 314299 is.303 on the nose portion and .316 on the driving bands.

[Larry Gibson]

Call, I was mistaken, the mold says .312.

Beerbelly

Lyman makes 311299 and 314299 moulds.  Yours says ".312"?  Where does it say that? 

If you actually have a 311299 then the as cast driving bands should be close to .312.

Larry Gibson

[BCall]

The .312 was in reference to the Lee mold he currently has.

[leadman]

The Lee mold can be lapped out to increase the diameter easily.

Cast a bullet in each cavity and cut the sprue off. Using a drill bit that fits easily thru the sprue holes, by hand turn it to mark the base of the bullet.
Remove the bullets from the mold, use a drill to make a pilot hole and turn in a phillips screw into each base. Make a paste out of scouring powder and water and coat a bullet with it. Put one bullet back in the cavity, then use a cordless screwdriver to turn the bullet in the cavity while putting gentle pressure the handles closing the mold around the bullet. You may have to do this several times to each cavity to get the diameter you need.

[beerbelly]

Leadman, that sounds like some thing to try! As I already have the mould, there won't be aty expence to gyve it a try. Thanks
                                       Beerbelly

[jsh]

The comment above on jacketed data for CB's is not really a correct statment. I have used starting loads for CB's for several years with good to excellent results. A higher velocity will usually be seen with CB's than a jacketd projectile. Thus you will top out what the alloy will stand way before a max load for jacketed.
Start at a start load or 10% below and work up.
jeff