Thank you. I have used cast bullets in pistols for some time, but I have just recently begun to mess around with them in rifles. I wish I had discovered this earlier, because I have been having a lot of fun experimenting with them! A Krag has been on my wish list for some time now. Finding one in decent shape - and at a decent price - has been a bit of a challenge!

@@johnzx6r Hang on to your wish and search They are so smooth. Mine unfortunately was sporterized in the 1930's (shortened barrel and fore stock, front sight replaced with a front sight and ring from '06 Springfield, and top handguard removed. No longer a military collectable but a family treasure none the less. My father bought it in Pennsylvania in1940 to go deer hunting (he never did get one) : ( It still has a minty bore and is very accurate . I did learn that .303 British brass can be easily converted to 30/40 just by running it through 30.40 sizing die. The OAL of the brass is just a little short but the works well. So if you find one youl'll have brass for converting : )

Just shows the versatility of these rifles with hand loaded ammo. From light cast loads for rabbit, to full power loads for large game, they will do anything you need them to do.

Get your *Hassenpfeffer* on! First reloading I did back in 1987 was hand-cast 100 grain lead bullets driven by five grains of Unique in .308.

Thank you! It is a pretty nice rifle. The really good thing about these sporterized rifles is that they can usually be found at very nice prices!

I like the simplicity and low profile of the "L" flip sight, but it is just not practical with the looping trajectory of the cast bullets I prefer using, now. I'll have to replace it with the adjustable sight at some point. I looked up that mold from Accurate you mentioned, and I like the looks of it! I might have to put that on my Christmas list!

@@johnzx6r Merry Christmas to you! You'll love it! I also use it, as cast, in my .30-30 and my .308

@@steveh4962 Sounds like a winner! It's definitely on the list!

@@johnzx6r John, am hoping you were able to order a 31-134D mold. Currently my best loads are with 7.5 grs. Unique and 8.0 grs. Red Dot. Also a good thing to have in your kit is a .303 British broken shell extractor. I keep mine in the butt trap with a homemade pull-thru "bore snake".

Nice work! I use the bullet molds from 32 cal pistol. 60gr to 90 gr. Depends on the metal mixture. Heavy with pewter, the bullets are much lighter. Pewter is much harder and never leads the bore. But it is expensive unless you can trap your bullets and recast them. Also - any 311 to 314 Dia jacket or cast bullet of commercial manufacture work well too. I always replace the flip rear sight with a screw adjustable ladder. Ànd then I massage the load to print consistent with full power loads. So your seeing the same sight picture - whether gallery loads or full ones. That way we don't have to change the sights when changing ammo.

I could probably do something along those lines.

I've been on the hunt for Trail Boss for the better part of a year now. It is completely non-existent right now. Luckily, I have enough primers to get me by, for a little while, at least.

Head to Castboolits there is more information there then you could read. I've been at it about ten years, its addictive. I've had much success with tightgroup and a few others, I have no cronie so I can only guess at velocity. I use from 123gr right to 220gr.

@@icky_mack youre the guy i've been looking for. How many grains of titegroup are you using? Thats still available in 2023.

@@michaelkaiser1864 I use from 5.5 to 6.5 grains. As long I don't get any blow back, not much need to go higher.

the thought of loading these with blackpowder had crossed my mind. The .303 started life as a blackpowder round, after all! As you stated, I also think it will work better with bullet heavier than this one. I have a few molds for the .303 that cast a heavy bullet. I might try some with some nice, soft lead and see what this thing will do with black!

@@johnzx6r yes like I need more test subjects, but have re added a TC contender to my collection. This time specifically to test varieties of black powder loads. Before when I had one the barrels was .35 Remington. 375 JFK, and 45-70. This time I have .45 colt , .44 magnum, and seeking a reasonable priced. 357 maximum for pushing the limits of of burn rate and velocities in black powder in a 10" barrel. All this while I have 20 different cap and ball bullets I'm still testing.

Wow I really dislike spell check voice to text. JDJ changed to JFK, or sporter changed to spotter 🙄

@@StevenMMan Certainly sounds like you have some interesting projects ahead of you! As I've gotten older, I've found that tinkering around with different ideas is just as fun as the shooting - if not more so. I think I get more enjoyment from going to the range and shooting 10 -20 rounds just testing different load combinations than these people you see at the range blasting through 500 rounds at a time. They're just turning money into noise, and that doesn't interest me at all. Black powder is still a passion of mine, of course, but lately I've become enamored again with old military surplus rifles, like the Enfield and such. Now that I've been diving deeper into cast bullets, I've been having a great time using these old war horses with cast bullets and finding out what they can do.

@@johnzx6r still willing to send some samples of cap and ball bullets with 20th century applications in mind when you're ready. Also have a. 54 cal smooth bore flintlock coming for test into Turkey loads. Mountain man

I was using 4 grains of Bullseye here.

Sorry, I've never tried doing it on the Enfields.

I'm not using gas checks with this bullet, and I have not experienced any leading at all.

@@johnzx6r thanks for the great info.

Hey there, Jimmy... I've pretty much thrown lubing bullets into the dustbin of history since about ten years ago when some genius decided to try powder coating bullets via shake 'n then bake in the oven. The benchrest casters are still lube whores, but the vast majority of the cast bullet world has moved to powder coating. And at these velocities, saving themselves the expense of the gas check. You really shouldn't get leading at velocities like that, even if you don't properly fit fit your bullets. If you want serious hunting loads, then tuning your casting sizing to produce bullets that are a very tight fit in the ball seat/leade does more to eliminate leading than even powder coating/lube plus gas checks. Don't worry about that "two thou over bore diameter" BS - when the bright light appears behind the bullet in the case, just like a mortar shell, the lead bullet will obdurate to fill the lands and grooves. I would suggest you think about ordering a custom mould from Accurate Moulds. Pick the bullet that you think is what you are looking for (my best results have been those that are somewhat like WFN designs and staying away from bore riding designs, keeping it around the 180 grain weight range). Slug/Cerrosafe cast your chamber and ball seat/leade and measure those areas. Then have Accurate modify those areas of the mould to closely conform to those measurements as cast. If you're going to powder coat to make your life simpler, subtract approximately .002" for the thickness that the powder coating will add to the as-cast bullet. It isn't terribly different in price from a factory mould off the shelf, and you can have him cut two different mould designs in one set of blocks.

Many people have experimented with powders similar in burn rate to Bullseye. Some powders that have had good results are Winchester 231/HP38, AA#2, Red Dot, Herco and other fast powders. Doesn't take much with these fast powders. 4 to 5 grains would be a good place to start. Pressures can build quickly as you increase powder charges, so be careful. Keep the powder charges small and you shouldn't have any issues.

@@johnzx6r Thanks for your time. I'm used to using unique up to 15gr. Guessing these others would be way to much? Called Hodgdon for any info for titegroup (I'm hearing good stuff on it). They werent/arent interested in doing any studies it seems.

WTF???? Just asking, as I've been trying to wear out a 1950 Long Branch No. 4 Mk1 for 50 years now, both military ball and reloads in Service Rifle competition, and about a ton of lead via cast bullets since the mid 1970's. The rifle is doing just fine (or was, as of two weeks ago). Never seen a "bent rear locking bolt" either at matches or on the range. Sounds like an urban legend to me.