Remember “Marathon Man?" Just think of Dustin Hoffman strapped in that dentist chair while with probe in hand the good doctor turns around and quietly ask, “Is it safe?" That's the question that is on my mind. I have with happy abandon been loading and firing Hunter's Supply 165 gr. hard cast bullets in my 03 Remington using 8 gr. of Unique. The rub is that I have just noticed these bullets are sized at .311 which seems a little large for my .30-06 barrel. Is it safe to use bullets of this size in a .30-06 rifle? Sincerely. Bruce.
Is It Safe?
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Plastic is the proper tern to describe lead. Malleable is also OK. Most metals, as well as a lot of other materials, spring back from deformation thus are “elastic".
Like putty, the spring back in lead is negligible thus “plastic” is the right engineering term.
A lot of polymers that we call plastics (HDPE, Nylon, Teflon etc.) are elastic.
We probably should have thought up another name for them before it was too late because their name doesn't describe their physical property.
Sort of like our bullet “lubes” that don't really lubricate at all but help seal in gas, soften fouling etc.
Hope this helps instead of confuses.
John
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Bruce
Back to basics...
If you slug your throat you will be able to see what size bullet you need to shoot for the best accuracy.. The older military guns usually have worn throats and a bullets sized to fill that will shoot well.
454 - Plastic?? You mean elastic right? I was trying to avoid “elastic” because that indicates that it bounces back. Maybe malleable would be a better term.
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...I have just noticed these bullets are sized at .311 which seems a little large for my .30-06 barrel. Is it safe to use bullets of this size in a .30-06 rifle?
If your '06 chamber is typical, you have ample clearance for a .311 bullet:
.30-'06 minimum chamber neck diameter is .3400" (yours may cast larger)
"Typical” unturned case neck wall thickness is usually 0.013” +/- 0.0005
Min. chamber .3400", minus twice the neck wall thickness (.026) = .3140"
Allow 0.0015” for safe neck chearance .3140 - .0015 = .3125” max. cast bullet
Your mileage may vary depending upon what a chamber cast of your rifle actually measures, and how uniform your case necks are.
If your sized bullet will freely enter a fired case without resistance, you are OK.
A “too-tight” bullet fit will raise pressure, may blow a primer and actually rip the case neck off its body, turning your “cast” bullet into a brass driving band bullet... BTW it does a nice job in de-leading the barrel, but that shot will be a “flier” out of your group...Don't ask me why I know this...
73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia
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Bruce Back to basics...
If you slug your throat you will be able to see what size bullet you need to shoot for the best accuracy.. The older military guns usually have worn throats and a bullets sized to fill that will shoot well.
454 - Plastic?? You mean elastic right?
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Bruce, seating depth and clearance within the chamber has more effect on pressure than a few thousandths in bullet diameter. Lead alloy bullets are much more plastic than jacketed bullets. One thing you want to watch for is an oversize bullet swelling the case neck enough to cause binding within the chamber. If you can chamber the round easily and then remove it unfired without any binding it has proper clearance in the neck area.
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I frankly admit to being a novice in shooting cast rifle bullets. I've no idea how much effort is required to size a bullet as at this point I've not yet gotten my own equipment. I hve been shooting 165 gr. FPBB hard cast bullets from Hunters Supply. I've had good success with these bullets but until Monday I had not noted the sized diameter. I though the norm was to size at .309 so I was concerned. I'm just glad it's not a problem. Sincerely. Bruce.
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Think about in this context.
How much effort does it take to run a .312 bullet through a .309 sizing die? Not much ah? Same in your chamber.
Cheers from New Zealand
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Thanks gentlemen for the answers. Most of my reloading experience has been with jacketed bullets. I have however loaded a good bit of lead bullets for my .45 ACP pistol and .38/.357 revolvers. It never occured to me that I needed to check the diameter of the bullets as I went by the markings on the boxes. The bullets I have been using from Hunters Supply are sized at .311 which I knew was a little bit larger than the nominally .308 bullets I normally load. I had hoped this was not a problem, but I figured it was better to go ahead and ask than to mess up my rifle. Again, thanks. Sincerely. Bruce.
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Bruce,
Sure. If the gun is safe to shoot go ahead and shoot those .311” bullets. I shoot that size in both my '03 Springfield and Win. Mod. 70. With a 200 gr. bullet, ahead of either 19.5 grs. of 4227 or 19.4 grs. of 4759. MV's are 1570 fps & 1625 fps respectively.
PETE
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I shoot the Lyman 311284 ahead of 11.5 grains of Unique in my 03-A3 with good results (ES < 1.0 inches, 5-shot groups, at 100 yards). My GUESS is your load is safe.
Velocity is about 1250 fps.
cityboy
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Hi Bruce,
Good to hear you're doing good in your club shoots.
I shoot #2 Alloy CBs sized .312” in my Springfield with similar powder charges with no problems. As a reloader, you know no one else can tell you that your load is safe. You need to watch for signs of high pressures, like a hard to open bolt, severely flatten primers, and swelled cases and make the judgements your way.
I've had high-power load data given to me by friends that I could never shoot in my rifle. Every rifle is different. CB shooting is a little safer as we are shooting reduced loads, but we still need to watch for signs. The problems I've seen and I think the closest I've ever had with pressure problems in cb shooting, is when the bore starts to lead badly from poor load decisions, restricting the bore and causing high pressures.................Dan
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