That looks great, what crimping grove are you using?

That's a firm crimp. Necessary with H-110.

I crimp just a hair less.

No more of those stretched out words in your posts please, yes it's screaming also. (even if you don't think it is)

If you can't express your opinions in a polite manner, then please post elsewhere.

You normally have informative posts and not the heavy satire like the above post.

You may indeed know it all, but if you can't express it in a positive narrative it's unwanted. dryflash3

I wouldn't shorten a mold for rifle bullets. Pistol, yes.

My lube and alox are sitting on a shelf.

Got one of the molds incoming, and plan on shaving it to just the top of the GC section to leave some of the base taper for easy loading into the case/to mirror the lee 358-158-rf bullet design.


So with H110/296 and the bullet being around 280gr with PC, looks like somewhere around 20gr should put me about 1175fps with PC coating out of a 8" barrel with a little more head room is needed, but did you find another powder that may be better suited for longer yardages instead?

No worries and since I'm both knee deep in 8lb kegs of both 296 and universal for shotgun reloading, will be the two powders that I start to play with first.

On the 296, will first try to figure out the max load I can run without signs of over pressure, see how the bullet prints, then start backing done the 296 if the bullet will not print tight to see if slowing it down helps.  As for using reduced loads of 296 (less than about a 85% case volume of what the bullet is not taking up), not a problem since I have a .429" wad punch and can make fiber wads to take up the unused case volume to keep the power tight on ignition.

So best guess with the 280 bullet PC coated out of a 8" barrel, should be able to hit somewhere around 1300fps safely, but it still comes back to no reason to scream a bullet down range and not find its mark once it get there.

With universal, guessing I going to hit max pressure around 1050fps, but the positive thing on this, will be using about half the powder that I do with 296 instead. So again, find the max pressure mark, see how the load does for tight groups, then back it down to see if the groups get any better.

As for if the bullet shortened just does not want to print, then will remove the grease groove from the mold to cast the bullet with more rear contact area to the rifling. Again, PC coating, so no grease groove is needed in the bullet design.

If it will print with the two powders above, then will work in Lil gun and Blue dot (and what every else I have on hand) to see if I can can better the speeds and still get the bullet to print.  Hell, I still have a few lbs of 571 (hs7 and has a burn rate just slightly slower than blue dot) left over from decades ago that I never burnt up, so maybe it might be a good powder to try as well for that slightly reduced speed load that still have it close too the 1k mark.


Again, the only reason that I'm starting with the Lee 310 mold, is that I can mill off just short of the top of the GC section to bring the weight down to run it through a 629 quickly (read in a few mins in the mill), and end up with the bottom of the bullet edge tapered for easy self centering in the case.

Trust me, if lee offered a mold in the FP design 240gr (mirror of the 38 mold I listed above, but in 430-240-FP), would be all over it like a fat kid on a chocolate bar isntead.

If in the end, I still can't get the bullet to print correctly, them just out $20 for the mold that I can turn it to something else later when I have more time on my hands (something in a .433" for the marlin micro grooved carbine that needs that large OD of a cast bullet to print correctly), and some fun time spent at the reloading bench and at the range that if I was not working on this, then would be working on something else to keep me busy in my off time.

Little update since I have been slammed with work.

faced the   mold to minic the 158gr 358 bullet base,  mold polished and lapped, it's dropping 270gr bullets at .430".
Note PC and sizing to .431 since it going to be shot through a 629 and Marlin 94 production barrel that has been hand lead lapped.

Better yet, with the New Remlin 1894 in 44 mag that I am still exorcising the demons out for a few days now, with the bullet seated in the lower groove, ends up being .472" to end up with about a .003" jump to lands in the remlin, and the gun will cycle these lenght round out of the tube.    Why I bring this up, with Rainer 240gr plated, ended up at .705" for a .003" jump and would need to mod the lifter to try to get them to cycle in the rifle for the short jump instead.  So for both the 629 and 1894, can run the bullet on the bottom crimping groove for both, ending up with half the work of developing a load that will run in both.

Also a quick note, but tried to use my Hornday flat tip bullet seater for the powder coated bullets, and the entrance tapered side walls of the seating dies was way to narrow (leaving rings on the tips).  Do having a back up set of RCBS, pulled the flat nose seater on it (same problem as well to begin with) and lathed it for these powder coated flat nose bullets instead. Hence the standard flat nose bullet seater you get with your dies, will work great for say HP and rainier that the flat tip is a lot narrower, but the flat nose on the casted lee bullet will require either mod'g a bullet seater, or checking around to find a store bought unit instead.

Once I finish the wood on the Remin and get it back together, will start working up loads to see if I can get the gas check section nurtured PC bullets to print out out of the two at longer yardages.