.309 dia. 160 gr mold

[John from the Cereal City]

I found a Lee .309 Dia, 160 gr. mold this weekend and was wondering if anyone has shot this in hard lead with gas checks in their Krags. What powder loads would work?

[madsenshooter]

Hi John, rather that me try to list them all, here's some suggested reading: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=13425 The first thing you'll want to do is to slug the bore of your Krag and hope that bullet casts at least .001 larger that your groove diameter, preferable .002. Otherwise, leading is almost a sure thing as gas blows by the bullet. I shot my first cast match over the weekend, up in Ysplanti. I won my class, cause everyone else was shooting benchrest rifles! I was able to keep all but one in the black at both 100 and 200 yards. I get very good results with the Lee 160gr Tumble Lube bullet designed for the 7.62x39. Fits right up in the rifling, and I size .311 for my .310 groove diameter rifles. 15gr of Blue Dot gave me this group with the one flier being my flinch. Velocity should be 1500-1600fps. It was shot at about 80yd with the 1901 sight. I am now mobile again, and if at all possible, will make your club's next Krag shoot, I don't do trigger finger mittens though!

[madsenshooter]

John, found another good thread for you, http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=48846&highlight=lee+160gr Buckshot is a very knowledgable fellow when it comes to cast.

[John from the Cereal City]

Thanks! Some good info here.

[Taco Frank]

I have shot my Krag with the Lee 170 grain flat nose gas check bullet mold with good luck. I use a moderate charge of 4198 at about 1650 fps. The same load with Lee's .312 185 grain (If I recall correctly) gas checked bullet size to .311 does well out to 500 yards. These old rifles really shoot lead bullets great. You just have to play with them. I really love my Krag.