Bob A wrote:
John,
I have not tried the Lyman 311041 from Montana Bullet Works because they only offer sizing to 308 or 309.
I find my 336 prefers .310 or .311. My bore slugs to .309.
I have found very few commercial casters offer .311 and those that do "offer" .311 never ship
(like Beartooth Bullets and Penn Bullets)
What size are you using?
I will be very interested in your range results because I have been working on the same goal but using
SR4759 powder. Promising results so far using 14.5 gr with the 311041 sized to .311.
50 yd groups under 2" consistenly and lately coming down to sub 1.5" as I work with COL to get closer to the lands
Please let us know how you do with "THE LOAD"
Bob A
Bob, I consulted with Dave and Marcie at
Montana Bullet Works
7730 Hesper Road
Billings, MT 59106
406-655-8163
Dave told me that, given what I was trying to do with the Marlin 336, he believed that I should definitely use the .309 - which is what he shipped to me. So far, I am very happy with this hard cast bullet; but more testing is indeed in order. Like other good family owned companies, Dave and Marcie thanked me for the order and stated in an e-mail that they would do everything possible to accommodate my needs. You might give them a call to see if they can size up for you.
As you pointed out (and as I neglected to do so), this is merely a well cast Lyman 311041, my chosen favorite all-use projectile for the thutty-thutty; so if they cannot size it properly, there are other good quality loaders, too. For the reason you noted, since some local reloader friends have had a similar problem (with Beartooth in particular, and others) in getting a timely response to their order, I always contact the company by e-mail AND phone before placing an order, to see when they will indeed put the order together.
Dave, at Montana (for instance) apologized for his schedule, and told me that he can't get the order out for a couple of days, but that he would get to work right away. That wasn't from any pressured requests, just good ol' Montana courtesy. The order still came back quicker than with the large retail outlets, and I received what appears to be high quality merchandise at a fair price. I have similar stories for all of the suppliers mentioned below.
I have had excellent response, service and product (cast bullets of various calibers) from:
Magnus Bullets (makes dead-on cast bullets for my .44 Mag target rounds)
Montana Bullet Works
Oregon Trail / LaserCast and TrueShot
LTD Custom (not reloading for the moment, per their website)
Mt. Baldy
Midway (I think that their search engine is the best in the business)
I have heard great things from some reloader friends in my part of the country regarding Cast Performance, so I will try to find a niche for them, since they are now sponsoring this, my favorite gun site. They sent me some good looking samples a while back, so I owe them some business, anyway. They are another company that I would go to for the round in question.
They have all, at one time or another, given me courteous, prompt and accurate advice on how to select and use their products. There are others, of course, and many I have not tried, because I am very satisfied with the above. In fact, there is just something about true shooting/loading enthusiasts that reveals most of them to be high caliber people (pun intended, I guess).