Testing the Lee C324-175-1R Cast Bullet in 8mm Mauser

[@Possumliving]

I like that mold and load. It might not be a tack driver, but it gets the job done especially for a cheap load. Someone mentioned the "Max" mold. For those who don't know, that is one of two limited production group buy 8mm molds put up by a forum, several years ago. The other one is called "Karabiner." Both are flat nose hunting bullets that weigh well over 200 grains. Midsouth Shooter's Supply carried them, but they have been out of stock for awhile. Hopefully they will come back at some point. I'm fortunate enough to have both of them. They are designed for the long leade that some military Mausers have; if your rifle doesn't have a long enough leade you can still shoot them but you have to seat them so the gas check is below the neck.

[@englishrupe01]

Excellent point there, Possum, about those unusual Lee molds. I, too, am lucky enough to own both of those and had forgotten about them. I must have owned them for over 5 years and never even tried them yet, i am ashamed to say. Thanks for reminding me. Hope i get to try them one day.

[@314299]

This being a commercial rifle with what is probably a "low mileage" barrel seems to have a pretty short throat. The resistance you can see when I close the bolt is the bullet being pushed into the leade, something that would certainly be a no-no with jacketed bullets but has never caused me issues when shooting lead bullets.

[@michaeld9731]

Thanks for an interesting review! 👍

[@314299]

No problem, thanks for the comment.

[@JerryRussell-cv6ng]

I shoot. 30 cal cast lead through my converted lee-enfield. Cast with lee moulds. I have 8mm semi auto, will Not shoot cast bullets through it. 8mm brass hard to find ,if not expensive. So I'm converting 30'06 brass to 8mm. Enjoyed the video. Thank you

[@314299]

At one time I converted some 270 Win to 8x57, it worked fine but was a considerable amount of work and left me with brass with the wrong head stamp. I came across sufficient proper 8mm brass after that so I have not done any more.

[@hithereon]

Looks like a nice, mild & fun plinking load. That rifle may perform a bit better if you (if you haven't already) glass bed the action & chamber areas, lay a single layer of wide masking tape ahead of the chamber area to provide a free-floated but sealed barrel channel when you do your bedding job. You won't harm the old Husky at all, it can only help.

[@314299]

It might help, but then again it might not. Glass bedding and free floating often help accuracy, but I have encountered the opposite outcome. I once glass bedded and free floated a Rem 700 .222 and the result was a rifle that shot worse. Eventually I replaced that stock with an unaltered factory one which had the fore end bearing and the rifle once again shot great.

[@jamespollard1670]

I've switched up the Ed Harris load to 14 gr of Green Dot . I find it does a tad better accuracy wise .

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

I just happened upon 8 pounds of green dot. It’s fairly similar to 700x as far a the shape of the granular design. Green dot is what 19 on the burn rate chart and 700x is 12 so there’s that. Been reading the forums about green dot and 1 forum post explains that it’s not good for 9mm loads. Apparently in that guy’s testing he was seeing dangerous pressures. Idk I have the Lyman pistol & revolver reloading handbook second edition copyright 1994. And it has 4 different loads for 4 different castings. Currently I’m trying out Lymans #356242 and it seems to be working well. My brass doesn’t show any signs of over pressure. Idk so far I seem to like green dot it’s been treating me well. But I’ll definitely keep your suggestion of 14.0 in mind James.

[@314299]

I do believe I have used 14 grains of Green Dot in cast loads in the 308 Win with good results.

[@cmasailor]

Some people cam make them work ok but I never did like the reddot loads as much as 2400, the seal of the deal for me was when I had unburnt blowback into my face with a cast bullet 8x56r load.

[@314299]

I've shot a lot of similar loads with the 13 grain Red Dot charge and have never experienced any unburned blowback of powder. I do prefer the 16 grain of 2400 load but 2400 is a lot less common around here than Red Dot is. Also the Red Dot responds better with these mild Dominion/Murom Berdan primers.

[@kencurtis508]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Just picked up a brick of large rifle primers a Shooter Den in Sudbury for $165.00 plus tax. Yikes!

[@314299]

Ouch! I think the "Dominion" brand Berdan primers used for this ammo cost $30/1000 tax included. But that was nine or ten years ago....

[@slowhand1198]

Never have used Red Dot. Some Blue Dot, but mostly Unique.

[@314299]

Red dot was always a commonly used 12 gauge target powder around here, but Unique is certainly more versatile.

[@thorsaxe5881]

I don't know why, however, whenever I write in the comments, it does not get printed in the comments, I have to try again for some reason. anyway, accuracy wasn't that bad, as you said, it wasn't earth shattering with the Lee mold. I enjoy whatever videos you do on Cast bullets though. it's fun to watch someone using something that they made in their garage just to see the results. Keep up the good work. (Btw, I f/b your channel, I left you a message so I could give you my email. Peace dude - Dave

[@314299]

Not sure why you are having problems posting comments. YT is just weird sometimes. Many of my cast bullet loads are just fair performers, mostly that is because I dont focus enough on working up specific loads for specific rifles as much as I should. Too many different ones to try!

[@thorsaxe5881]

@@314299 That is true, seems as though Lee has a Target loading for best accuracy with their molds, as you stated, it's about spending the time to find out what that is. and there are published data on other mold designs from other manufactures that already prove to work. I'm currently working with the 314299 casting from a NOE mold I recently perched, I have IMR-4227 and I'm going with that powder, we will see the results. anyway, good casting and loading to you - Dave

[@boozeandbullets2084]

its a good load, just have to migrate away from alliant powders as they are starting to disappear from the market

[@314299]

Yes, there are fewer and fewer of them to be found on the shelves.

[@WilliamCChapin]

That’s a respectable performance and nicely recorded data in the notebook. Have you tried the LEE made 225 grain “8mm MAX” mold? I haven’t cast any bullets with it yet.

[@314299]

No, I don't have that particular mold.

[@KClO3]

Can you make 8mm Mauser rounds using 8mm copper water pipe for the outer jacket, should work great

[@314299]

The problem with using any sort of pipe/tube for bullet jackets is that you can end up shooting the lead core out of them and leave the "jacket" stuck in the bore.

[@KClO3]

@@314299 sure, but don't you have many dies to make it pointed?

[@bennyyu9470]

#45 and #46 bases? I have a very similar rifle, eventually putting glass on it

[@314299]

Sounds like the correct bases. I got mine at a local shop, they came in a set of two for large ring 98 action Mauser rifles.

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

When are you going give powder coating a shot.

[@314299]

I already have.

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

@@314299interesting what’s your thoughts on it. You don’t have any content on powder coated loading. Just the standard cast a lube with gas check.

[@ResonanceDental]

Do you suppose these loads would work with large pistol primers? Shout if you want to run them through my Tikka. Should make for an interesting comparison.

[@englishrupe01]

Pretty sure they would work fine as they are such low pressure.

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

I have been using large pistol primers in place of large rifle primers. Gotta be careful I noticed that the pistol primer sits deeper in the rifle case. And if the charge is stout enough it will indeed push the primer out of the pocket and flatten out. Looking like a over pressure situation otherwise they have worked just fine for me in 7.62x39,308,30/06,35rem

[@314299]

I have tried large pistol primers in these sorts of loads and they seemed to work OK. As others have mentioned the pressures involved are not huge and should be in the range of what pistol primers will tolerate.

[@STMwoodturning]

What about the Lyman design makes it shoot better than the Lee?

[@314299]

The Lyman 323470 is a Lovern style mold and with the multiple rings and short nose is quite good at centering it self in the bore and has hardly any unsupported nose to "slump" if bullet fit is not perfect, this seems to make it perform well in a variety of barrels.

[@joshpriest1503]

What size does that mold actually drop? Iv seen bores slug out as big as .325. Always avoided that mold because its listed at .323.

[@314299]

I ran these thru a .325" sizing die to crimp on gas checks and apply lube, the die barely touches the bullet so I would say they are .324 to .325 diameter.

[@leighrate]

I'd be a bit concerned about the extraction and feeding. The rifle didn't seem happy about it and your shots were stringing vertically. Which suggests to me that either the cases are slightly out on the neck or the bullets aren't seating correctly. The Lyman caste bullets produced the sort of grouping (which I could see under the patches) I'd expect.

[@314299]

These are seated long as I dont like having the gas check below the neck of the case. They are long enough that they are into the leade when seated, as you can tell by the final effort require when chambering the rounds. While this is a no-no with jacketed bullets it generally works just fine with cast.

[@junkcollector93]

I just realized something, is your channel named after a Lyman 200gr bullet mold? 🤔

[@314299]

Yes it is. Not everyone gets that connection.

[@junkcollector93]

Yeah I bet not, it took me awhile to put that together. I've been watching your videos since the Stevens 87b video(that seems deleted)

[@SAArch82]

Do you ever get better than 4" groups with the Ed Harris load?

[@314299]

Yes, I've had the 13 gr Red dot load shoot into sub 2", it depends on the rifle and the cast bullet shot. These loads are harder to shoot good groups with than higher velocity loads as the bullet spends more time in the barrel which amplifies any problems with trigger press and follow thru.

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

@@314299isn’t that the truth I personally had to lay prone and when i say prone I mean as flat and as close to the ground as I could get. Just to eliminate any follow through issues. However when I did that I was stacking shot after shot into a dime size group at 75 yards. I also will try to keep the powder at the back of the case. Seems red dot and any fast burning powder has issues with powder position in the case.

[@314299]

@@Johnny-jr2lq There is where the "16 grains of 2400" load shines, it does not care if the powder is against the primer or not. Unfortunately it seems that 2400 is not currently available on the market.

[@svernwarunos546]

Maybe a better hotter primer might work better

[@314299]

It might but the objective is to do some shooting and use the Berdan primers that I have no other use for.