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tomfuller
I have the NOE .311-180 RF mould and NOE gas checks. Best I can measure the inside of the gas check with my Midway calipers is .282. The shank on the bullet measured with my Mititoyo mike is .285-6. I can’t “balance” the GC on the shank in order to run it through my Lee .311 sizing die. Am I doing something wrong? Do I need a gas check expander? If so, which one? BTW, this batch of bullets is straight WW and I’m shooting for accuracy, not max velocity. Thank you.
tomfuller
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Mike B.
From your description your problem it appears that your cast gas check shanks are a bit too large for the gc’s that you have.
Therefore you will need a GC expander and the GC expander die for your press that is needed for your GC expander to press against.
The NOE link to the GC expander die is:
https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/gas-checks-tools/gas-check-expander/gc-expander-die/
The NOE website appears to say at this instance that there are 7 in stock at this moment in time…Your mould number is 311-XXX which is basically a 30 caliber bullet.
The NOE link to that GC expander is:
https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/gas-checks-tools/gas-check-expander/308cal-gc-expander-ram/
The NOE website appears to indicate that at the moment the 30 caliber GC expander rams are Out of Stock, so it might be a good idea to call Al and request that NOE make a production run to fill the out of stock shortage.I seem to remember that the GC expander die comes with instructions as to how to set the two halves of the tool up so that at the top of the press stroke the GC itself which is basically sitting upside down on the GC ram so that it has its cup expanded ever so slightly to fit on your GC shank.
You will need both halves of the equation to expand the GC cups so that they will basically sit flat on your cast bullets.NOTE You may also need a bullet base chamfer tool if your cast bullet shanks happen to have any flashing left on them at all from the casting process…
The NOE link to the manual GC chamfer tool is:
https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/tools/bullet-base-chamfer-tool-manual/
The NOE website store appears to say that at the moment there are three manual tools in stock.
The power tool version link is:
https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/tools/bullet-base-chamfer-tool-power-tool/
Unfortunately the NOE website appears to indicate at the moment that the power tool too is also Out of Stock.I trust that this intel should basically answer your question.
Thank you, Mike! I will order the parts by the end of January when the quid rolls in.
2nd question: I looked in the catalog and couldn’t find my .311-180 RF. Is it discontinued or under another #? I previously had the .311-299 PB and looked for the GC version but couldn’t find it. Thank you.Have you looked in NOE’s “Reading our Bullet Dimensions?”
It most probably will be either there or on the store website under the 308 category.
Here is the link to the 308 category of those bullet dimensions.
https://noebulletmolds.com/site/bullet-dimensions2/308-2/If it is located in the bullet dimensions but not shown in the store then the drawing that was used to make the cherry has been made and the cartridge dimensions will be there.
If someone finds something in the dimensions that is not currently listed in the store then it will need (According to Al’s forum entries in the past) at least five individuals to request a new production run of the mould in question.
However there will be no cast bullet image drawing located in the bullet sketches dimensional archive shown under the Reading our Dimensions files. Just the cast bullet sketches. It is what it is…Are you completely sure that you are reading the exact engraved description on the NOE mould correctly?
I sometimes in my mould inventory archive files… put down what i believe the mould number references or is used for,… in addition to what NOE actually engraved into the side of the mould as its identification number.
Or what it actually throws with the lead alloy that I might be using at the moment that is different from the designed cast bullet alloy of wheelweights that NOE uses on its mould sketch drawings program.
A harder alloy will throw a somewhat lighter cast bullet and slightly larger diameter cast bullet. While a softer lead alloy will throw a somewhat heavier cast lead bullet that is also a tiny bit smaller in cast bullet diameter… It all depends basically on the amount of tin in your particular lead alloy.
So if the mould in question has been made before it should be either in the store or the sketch for that particular mould, it should be under the 308 category in the reading the NOE mould dimensions portion of the store.There is a discontinued products section for the store but I have never actually seen anything listed in that section of the store website.
Wish I could be of more help to you.
Please when you get a chance… Look at the side of the mould, & be sure of the number engraved into the mould or if you can post a close up snap of the bullet maybe that will help locate it for the forum members.Take Care & Stay Safe…
I believe that I found why you possibly did not find your original 311-180 cast bullet mould drawing.
NOE basically around the mid 20 teens basically revised — changed its mould designations, to apparently help minimize the confusion on the duplicated mould nomenclature designations.Thus the 311-180 FN apparently became the 311-195 RF bullet mould.
The later cast bullet mould designation is still available on the NOE store under the 311-195 designation.Is this the cast bullet mould and image that you could not originally locate?
Al in 2104 setup the NOE drawing file which listed the older mould drawings in the NOE mould drawings section of the forum… From there it was a simple visual comparison to find the new NOE mould drawing number.
Attached is the link to that basically locked forum page… http://noebulletmolds.com/smf/index.php/board,15.100.htmlPlease see the attached jpg showing the old and new drawings that I pulled from the NOE website just a short while ago & put together a collage of the old and new images & bullet dimensional sketch drawings.
Please NOTE: I tend to think that the second 311-299 cast bullet designator that you referenced in your second question may possibly be a typo? on your part…?
I tend to think that NOE never offered a 30 caliber in a 299 gr cast bullet… weight. At least Al did not reference that older mould of that extremely heavy cast bullet weight in that older mould number index… that I could find.
A 30 caliber bullet of that extremely heavy cast bullet weight in 30 caliber would tend to be very long indeed.
I also tend to doubt that it would cycle through any magazine and if seated to allow it to fit into and cycle would most probably tend to take up most all the powder space in the cartridge utilized.Take Care, & Be Safe…
harm
https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop/308-311/311-206-rn-k2/311-206-rn-k2-3-cavity-gc-311299/
I believe the 311-206 is the NOE version of the Lyman/ideal 311299.
You are correct in your belief.
if you look at the fine print in the description area below the bullet image & dimensional sketch attached below… the description says exactly that.
I have both the NOE version and the original Lyman 311299 version, & tend to use them both equally as the situation arises.
The same GC expander and other tools for the original GC seating question are also applicable for the GC version of this mould design.
The only difference will be that you basically I believe will want & need the appropriate top punch as the nose of 311-206 cast bullet is different from the 311-195 mould design.
Those two cast bullet images are also attached below.
Mike B.
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