Question about 300blk

[Mbaker78]

Is it possible to shoot .310-.311 bullets through this without damaging the rifle (or the shooter)?

If it's safe to do so then that would open up another set of bullet options for me.

Just wondering if anyone has done this safely and if so, what the results were.

Thanks.

[jebsca]

I'm just learning, so mostley, I would point you over to our friends at cast boolits, but I think you need more info before you go forward. Have you slugged your barrel? Is this a jacketed bullet or cast? Have you thought about trying to size the bullet down to what you need? I bet if you look around cast boolits, you will find someone who has tried this same thing, and maybe even with 300 blackout. I have found that they prefer for people to look around, at least at the stickies before asking questions, and this helps the chances if getting help from a wealth of know how. Having just picked up an upper in 300 blackout, I am still reading all I can on it, and will let you know if I find something that may help.

[Mbaker78]

I haven't checked the barrel or anything, I was just wondering if it was possible to have more options for bullets to use.

I'll most likely stick with .308" projectiles, as I've had plenty of luck with them, but I'll still look around for more input on the subject.

[DukeInFlorida]

Please don't use bullets that are too large in diameter.

Consult with your reloading data guide for bullet diameter recommendations. To use too large a bullet will cause a TREMENDOUS pressure spike. Keep in mind that the formula in the reloading guide is based on the exact components that they used in their testing. The powder is supposed to burn and turn to gas before the bullet leaves the brass case, and then push the bullet down the barrel. Too large a bullet will cause the pressure spike to stall in the chamber area, possibly destroying the gun, fingers, etc..... Even with a reduced powder load, the results will be catastrophic and unpredictable.

Leave the larger diameter bullets for what they were intended for, and use ONLY the proper sized bullets in the 300 blackout.

[Happyguy]

Buy yourself a Lee .308 Bullet Sizing Die and size the bullet down. To reiterate what Duke stated, you are just looking for problems. David

[Mbaker78]

Pretty much as I figured.. Better to ask and know though I guess

[Mbaker78]

Buy yourself a Lee .308 Bullet Sizing Die and size the bullet down. To reiterate what Duke stated, you are just looking for problems. David

You might be on to something with this... Anyone else have any input?

[jebsca]

Did a search on cast boolits and found this, http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?135426-Can-I-size-jacketed-bullets

Looks like some case lube and the right lee sizer should work. Worth a try anyhow.

[Happyguy]

I do it all of time with jacketed bullets. They also work great for sizing down 9mm cases for 30 caliber jackets although I had to have one specially made in .304 so that the jacket would fit in the swaging die.

I use Imperial sizing wax but just about any lube will work for sizing jacketed bullets. David

[Mbaker78]

Can this be done in a standard lee single stage press? Might be worth the ~$20 just to have the die around if that's the case...

[Happyguy]

It can. Are you talking the C press or the O press? It doesn't take much pressure to go from .311 to .308. David

[tawastom]

Ive done this myself, it works fine, I had a whole pile of pulled FMJ from Soviet 762x54R i sized them down for use in a 30-06 again worked fine.

[Mbaker78]

I have the newer O type press, challenger breech lock.

[Happyguy]

You should have no worries. David

[gandog56]

Hey, you guys are talking him INTO this! :p

[Mbaker78]

Hey, you guys are talking him INTO this! :p

Which side of the fence are you on? Good idea or bad idea?

[Mbaker78]

Well, I ordered a lee .308 sizing die and some .311 123gr FMJ (lead core) bullets to try out... Should be here Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully I don't blow my face off ;)

[jebsca]

Let us know if you blow your face off. Maybe we can pass the hat to get a new one.

As long as they check out at .308 after, I bet your face will be safe if you are using good load data. Do you have good load data for the then .308 123gr bullets?

Speaking of load data for 300, has anybody noticed that a lot if not all the subsonic loads start at max?

[Mbaker78]

I have good data for 125gr bullets, I'd start with that. As for buying a new face, well, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm no spring chicken ;)

[Mbaker78]

I got my .308 sizing die and some 123gr FMJ .310 bullets for 7.62x39 yesterday, ran them through the sizing die with standard case lube. My calipers said they were right at .308 afterward, so I should be good to go. I haven't loaded any up yet as I have to try to get the lube off of them, but at $17/100 they should be better than $23/100 I was paying for 150gr hornady .308 FMJs...

I'll report back after I've loaded and shot a few

[Happyguy]

Congrats on taking the plunge. David

[Mbaker78]

Congrats on taking the plunge. David

Thanks, but I fear how deep the rabbit hole goes ;)

[Mbaker78]

Update.

My face is just as ugly as it was before shooting the resized bullets. They were decent as far as accuracy too, I was able to hit a military silhouette a few times at 300y with only a red dot sight.

Had an issue with another rifle though. Long story short, is it safe to knock a loaded round out of the chamber by the nose? I tried tapping it out with a cleaning rod, but it didn't budge. I just want to make sure it won't go off from hammering the bullet with a cleaning rod or whatever

[Happyguy]

As long as you are going from the bullet end and not the primer end you should be good. What caused it to stick? David

[Mbaker78]

Neck sized one too many times I guess. I couldn't originally get the bolt to close and as I went to extract it it pulled a very small piece of the rim. Subsequent attempts to get the extractor to pull it out must've driven it in tighter...

I got it out, took more force than I liked, but it's out now. I just have to put the rifle back together...

[gandog56]

Have you tried them bullets I swapped you yet?

[DukeInFlorida]

Neck sizing is ONLY one part of the equation.

You MUST trim the brass to length after full length sizing. If you don't trim it, the brass becomes so long it gets wedged between the bullet and the beginning of the rifling, creating a blockage. If you fire that round, which would usually chamber with some effort, you will likely pull the end of the neck off the brass.

Bottom line, full length resize first (properly, the shoulder must be set to where it's supposed to be), and then trim the brass to length.

[Mbaker78]

All of my rifle brass gets measured at the very least, anything over max length gets trimmed, even after just neck sizing.

Haven't had a chance to try the bullets I got from you yet. I'm about to start a 7 day work week (12hour shifts) so it'll be a little bit yet. Is it safe to tumble pulled tracers in walnut media?

[gandog56]

All of my rifle brass gets measured at the very least, anything over max length gets trimmed, even after just neck sizing.

Haven't had a chance to try the bullets I got from you yet. I'm about to start a 7 day work week (12hour shifts) so it'll be a little bit yet. Is it safe to tumble pulled tracers in walnut media?
Can't see why not, except it would probably kill any chance for it to light off........which could be a GOOD thing.

[Mbaker78]

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure where I can shoot them around here either... Maybe this winter when there's a foot of snow...

[gandog56]

Neck sized one too many times I guess. I couldn't originally get the bolt to close and as I went to extract it it pulled a very small piece of the rim. Subsequent attempts to get the extractor to pull it out must've driven it in tighter...

I got it out, took more force than I liked, but it's out now. I just have to put the rifle back together...

Hmmmm. If you've been neck sizing only you know they say about every fifth reload they should still be full length resized. I bet the shoulder was creeping forward.

[Mbaker78]

That's my guess. Not sure if I mentioned that it's federal brass... I guess it's notorious for being excessively soft...

[Mbaker78]

Kindof along the same lines as the OP, has anyone tried sizing down .32cal pistol bullets (100gr gold dot, for example) and shooting them in a rifle?

My main questions about this are whether they would feed and if they would even hold up to the velocities (~2150fps) or if they would just shatter upon leaving the barrel... I'd imagine they'd be pretty explosive if they managed to stay intact and hit a target.

[62chevy]

Cast and sized the Lee TL314-90 SWC down to .311 but haven't loaded them yet. Doubt they would stand up to those velocities as they were made out of 50/50 COWW/lead.

[Happyguy]

I have done 32 Mag bullets down to 308 to try in a 30 carbine. David

[gandog56]

Kindof along the same lines as the OP, has anyone tried sizing down .32cal pistol bullets (100gr gold dot, for example) and shooting them in a rifle?

My main questions about this are whether they would feed and if they would even hold up to the velocities (~2150fps) or if they would just shatter upon leaving the barrel... I'd imagine they'd be pretty explosive if they managed to stay intact and hit a target.

I have two chamber adapters for my Mosin Nagants. One lets me fire .32 sized bullets (.32 ACP, .32 S&W Long, and .32 HR magnum), and the other one lets me fire 7.62X25 pistol bullets. Sort of like firing a .22 rifle on that big old heavy Mosin.

[Mbaker78]

I've seen those adapters, thought about getting one for 308 to 32acp ;)

[gandog56]

I've seen those adapters, thought about getting one for 308 to 32acp ;)

Ummmm, bad idea? A .32 ACP is sized to .3125".

[Mbaker78]

Yeah, I'd wondered about that.

[gandog56]

Just run them through your tumbler, that will remove the sizing gunk.

[Mbaker78]

Just run them through your tumbler, that will remove the sizing gunk.

That's what I've been doing, works pretty well. Even cleaned up some that I got in trade a while back too, they were a bit dulled with age.

[oldsagerat]

One thing you need to consider if you are working with bullets
for an AK or any military firearm. MOST of them have an jacket
that is Bi-metal. Under the copper on the bullet is a steel jacket.
Some testing has shown fast barrel wear from these bullets because the rifling penetrates the soft copper wash and rubs against the
inner steel jacket. The insides of the cut-away test barrels were
very ugly. I keep a magnet near my press and test for steel in
bullets. A steel core is not the problem, it is the steel jacket under
the nice copper outer jacket. If it sticks, I give the bullets to folks
that aren't concerned about barrel wear as much.

Its your choice, just a heads up.

[Mbaker78]

All of the bullets I resize for use are new production stuff, usually hornady, that I haven't found any steel in. I found a decent price on some .310 123gr Vmax so I bought a few hundred, I loaded a test set to check for accuracy and pressure and everything looked good so they'll probably be my go-to bullet for it.

A little footnote about the 100gr .312 gold dots. Though gold dots were sold out I did pick up some .312 100gr XTPs, sized a couple dozen down (came out of the sizing die at .3085"), tried to load them and immediately realized that it's hard to seat a handgun style HP bullet in an unbelled case with a spitzer style seating plug (Lee dies)... Crunched a couple cases before I decided that I need either a new seating plug and/or something to bell the case mouths...

[WarEagleEd]

Mbaker78, a Lyman M die will bell the mouth a little via a second step on the expander plug. They make one for 300 BLK.

Ed

[Mbaker78]

Hmm, I wonder if Lee makes a powder through expanding die for 300aac similar to the ones for pistol...

[62chevy]

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=88&osCsid=1gujcrurh5nes8it5asf2m4id0

NOE does Lee stuff now and makes powder through for pistol expanders similar to the Lyman M die. Also make them for the universal expander die rifle.

[Mbaker78]

I just made a deal for an expander die, might have to look into a sized plug.. .311 or .312 for 300aac?

[WarEagleEd]

Mbaker78,

What powder are you using for your 300 BLK loads? I can't find H110 anywhere, did find some Lil' Gun a couple of months ago, but I see that Accurate 4100 can be used, too.

Ed

[Mbaker78]

I got gouged on a couple pounds of H110 a few months ago and it lasted me pretty well. I have also used IMR4227.. I'm going to make a trip to my LGS this week and see what he has in stock. I have plenty of brass, bullets and primers, just need more powder...

As to your question, according to accurate powders load data you can use 1680, 5744, 4100 or ramshot enforcer. 4100 and enforcer look to get better velocities on paper, but as this point I'll take what I can get ;)

[Happyguy]

Most military bimetal bullets are a mixture of soft iron, not steel, and copper. Will they wear the lands faster than copper or brass? Probably but I don't think that I can shoot enough of them to see a difference. Do I shoot them through my long range 308s? No but I do use them in my 300 Blackout and I shoot a lot of them without seeing a difference in accuracy but I only shoot it to 200 yards. David

[Mbaker78]

I stick to copper, lead and maybe polymer... I occasionally shoot my 300 at a local indoor range and they get a bit upset when you shoot anything magnetic at their backstop, so I don't take any chances...