Lyman 314299 mold

Please help. New member, I have recently started casting for an enfield with a barrel that slugs at .314, I purchased a lyman 314299 mold my bullets cast first with straight ww cast at .312, so I added some 50/50 bar solder to the mix and they still cast out at .312 maybe a touch bigger(using digital calipers of the cheap variety). What to do next I do not have any linotype, I do have some lead that is extremely hard I expect may be linotype. Please help went to all the trouble to get the right mold and pay the extra money for it and I am disappointed in the results.:neutral:

tpic402, first thing...welcome! This is a good site with lots of knowledgeable people. Hopefully someone will give you the right answer.
I can suggest 2 solutions. First, contact Lyman and ask them to fix your problem. Your mould should cast .314 boolits. I bought one a couple years ago and mine drops them at just over that. 2nd, you can "Beagle" the mould. There are instructions around here somewhere. Lots of guys have done it with good results, but if it were my mould, I'd be calling Lyman.

http://ktsammo.250x.com/castboolits/cst3.html

There is the link to "beagleing"

E-mail sent to Lyman awaiting response Thank you Maineboy

You might consider returning the mould to Lyman, or simply lap it out to a larger size on your own. (that would be my preference) Before you get too carried away it would be a good idea to slug the throat on your rifle. Reason is that throat diameter is more important than groove diameter. I like to have my .303 cast boolits one-half thousandths under throat diameter. Often this is two or three thousandths more than groove diameter. Certainly the "bore ride" section should lightly engrave on the top of the lands too.

Most Lee Enfields have generous throats, particularly if they have seen much shooting with cordite loads. Matching the boolit and throat diameters will give you a better shot at real accuracy particularly if you push the velocity over 1600fps. Hardening the alloy by water drop quenching or oven tempering is also a good idea. Long, slightly soft boolits like Lyman 314299 can bend on their way into the rifling with a long worn throat. Hardening guards agains that. Fillers like PSB can provide other advantages, as well as preventing leading.

I have lapped and Beagled my 314299 to get 0.305" nose and 0.315" driving bands.

Lapping made it slightly oval (apparently not uncommon) and Beagling brought it back to round. I didn't want to lap any more anyway.

Mine started out at 0.303" nose and 0.313" driving bands. Previously I borrowed a 314299 and it cast at about 0.312".

My barrel also slugs at 0.314 " groove and I didn't get decent accuracy until the boolits got bigger. Still working but making progress. Next step is oven heat treating to get the boolits as hard as possible.

Lots of info here: http://www.303british.com/

Good luck,
Longbow

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Originally Posted by tpic402

Please help. New member, I have recently started casting for an enfield with a barrel that slugs at .314, I purchased a lyman 314299 mold my bullets cast first with straight ww cast at .312, so I added some 50/50 bar solder to the mix and they still cast out at .312 maybe a touch bigger(using digital calipers of the cheap variety). What to do next I do not have any linotype, I do have some lead that is extremely hard I expect may be linotype. Please help went to all the trouble to get the right mold and pay the extra money for it and I am disappointed in the results.:neutral:

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allso welcome to the forum

Hi tpic402 , it's two or five grooves barrel?

daniel

Sub - sized Lyman molds, Gee, things at Lyman just don't seem to change.

Interesting that when you buy a Lyman mold that you have to go through all this........Isn't it interesting that because of their poor quality control that the buyer has to send the mold back and wait months for the mold to be recut. Something about all that isn't right.

Simple fix. Pay a few dollars more, buy an NOE mold and avoid all this.

Ben

One problem you run into with Beagaling a gas check mould is fat check shanks afterward.
Then .002" is a whole lot to try lapping out. I'd Beagal it so you can cast up a few hundred to hold you over then send the mould back to Lyman. They are after all using you as there quality control inspector.
I've sent a few back and they always came back recut to Ideal specifications. They may take a couple months to return the mould thus I'd cast up enough bullets to hold you over until winter.
On Lyman website there is a mailing address for returns. Click the contact button then warranty and repair policy button. Or his link http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/c...nty-policy.php

I wish they'd just raise prices and do a little better work. Problem is if they raised prices quality may just stay the same. It isn't easy.

GabbyM :

It is about pride in the finished product. Lyman seems to have lost theirs.

After reading the link below, it seems that NEI is heading down a dangerous road or has already reached the same point with their business.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...151#post986151

When you've got a problem this big at both of these businesses, the people at the top are most certainly well aware of their problems, but have lost their concern for quality control and making an A + product. They have placed their emphasis on sales and profit structure only. That won't net them anything in the long term however ! !

There are a few Lyman moulds still manufactured that I would like a copy of. I was going to buy new but after reading many negative experiences I will not buy from them. Like has been said, buy from one of the mold makers here and get what you ordered.
Jay

Jay :

I really don't have a dog in this fight. , but I do think that your odds of getting bullets from a mold that meet specs are many times higher with one of our vendors here on this site than with Lyman. NOE comes to mind, Swede will make you a nice mold and his prices are reasonable.

Just a suggestion but i would return it as defective and buy a better one there is a group buy still open for a 311365 that can be bought in 311-314-316 .Slug the barrel and buy the larger mold. Life is to short to screw around if you dont have to.