Cast boolit, PC & diameter thickness with milsurp rifles

[Bikertrash]

Alright, kinda all over the board here. I'll try & make sense of it for you as I need some answers on .30 cal for .30/06 & 30/30

My Lee sizing die is .309, but actually sizing at. 307

My 2 .30 cal moulds drop at .307 to .308 on my 170fp & .312~ on my 190gr.

I have not slugged my bores on my rifles. ( 1917, 1903A3, Garand, & pre64 94 30/30)

.307 will not be acceptable in these rifles. I PC my boolits.

Please let me know if any of these methods are acceptable. I can either

1. send sizing die back to Lee & hope for the best,
2. try & increase inner diameter of Lee die
3. size with current die and add another coat or 2 of PC to increase diameter enough to shoot right (since my .30/30 mould drops at .307 to .308 the .309 sizing die would be useless)

I'm leaning towards #3. Anyone see any issues with that?

[Bikertrash]

Extra coats of PC didnt do what I needed. I had small tiangular file i slipped into the die and rotated a couple times. The die is now sizing @ .310. Perfect.

[koehn,jim]

You need to slug the bores so you know what the correct dia is otherwise you are guessing. You can use wet dry sandpaper and a wood dowel in a drill to enlarge the die, but go slow and check often. The correct finished diameter of the bullet is critical to accuracy and to prevent leading. Many military surplus weapons were produced under great stress and may have slightly oversize bores, plus they may have been fired a lot.

[Fishslayer]

You need to go get yerself a Mosin Nagant. A 190gr @ .312 boolit would likely shoot pretty nice.

[elk hunter]

I would have rolled up some emery paper to use inside of the sizer die a file can be pretty rough on them. A Lee mold usually throws bullets to the proper dia for the rifle maybe you got one that is to small. My Lee 173 gr FP is for my 30-30's and drops them at .311 depending on the mix I'm using. Size to .310 and they work in several guns. The Lee molds should drop bullets that don't need sizing, maybe they are getting sloppy at the place they are making them at. Slugging the barrel is the best way to figure out what dia you really need I always push the slug from one end to the other to get the tight spot. Once you have that the rule of thumb is 1-2 over the dia you got from slugging. Trivia: 30-30 jacketed bullets (Sierra) used to be .307 dia. I still have a box or two around here. HTH
elk hunter