Saeco molds that make me go hmmmm

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  • Last Post 23 February 2022
Waleone posted this 19 February 2022

I have the two molds pictured above that are marked Saeco 313;

  • Anyone have any info they can share on this mold number?
  • Notice the different bullet logos surrounding the Saeco name. I have no other Saeco molds with the logo on the left mold.
  • Notice the difference in the two bullets, the one on the left has a smaller meplat, shorter truncated nose and longer gas check shank

Next is my trio of Saeco 315 molds;

  • Nothing remarkable on the two left bullet molds or their bullets
  • Notice the longer gas check shank and greater weight of the bullet on the right. I call this one my 315H because it weighs more than the others (H = heavy) and because it has an H stamped below 315 on the mold. It shot awesome in my .30 Kern.

Since I cast these bullets from an alloy I usually use for handgun bullets (it was already in my pot), I did not bother taking diameter measurements. 

If anyone has any info/history on these molds they can share it would be greatly appreciated. 

Wayne

saeco-313

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RicinYakima posted this 19 February 2022

The moulds with the short gas check shanks were designed around the Ideal/Lyman press on check and later Sierra press on check. At some point in the last 30 years, they were redesigned for the popular Hornady crimp on check. These require a longer shank and do not require a specific angle. I don't know of any current press on checks. 

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Waleone posted this 20 February 2022

I thought of that, but Hornady checks seat just fine on all five of these bullets. Also, aren't the three molds stamped with Saeco inside the bullet logo pre-Redding? If that is so, wouldn't they be well over 30 years old, more like >35 years old? And that still leaves me wondering why the 315 bullet with the long gas check shank is longer in overall length and ~10 grains heavier. And the current Saeco catalog shows the 315 with the shorter gas check shank. The curiosity is killing me, good thing I'm not a cat!

Wayne

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RicinYakima posted this 20 February 2022

Oh yes, I don't have any exact information of how many moulds Redding got when they bought out SAECO after the owner's death. FYI, Lyman bullet mould charts from the 1930's through the 1960's have the pictures of Keith's 452423 and 454424 mis-labeled in all their reloading manuals. Whoever did the layouts, wasn't a bullet caster or would have noted that at some point and corrected it, you would think. 

Some of my early Ideal 30 caliber moulds will not allow the crimp on checks to work, but Cramer and early SAECO's I have will. Cherries don't last that long, so new ones are made all the time. 

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Bud Hyett posted this 20 February 2022

In the 1980's, the molds were hit-and-miss for seating Hornady gaschecks. When RCBS starting making molds that always fit Hornady gaschecks, the other manufacturers quickly followed. 

I talked to former SAECO employees at a Pomona Gun Show after SAECO sold out, They had a variety of experimental molds for sale including a 107 gain 6mm mold that I bought and later traded to Jesse Miller. My 1:9 twist 6mm Remington would not stabilize it, he had a 1:8 twist barrel to try. I also bought a 7mm mold without vent lines they had never finished that shoots well.

We talked of gaschecks and they said they had done a study of all gaschecks when making the #315. They felt the Hornady crimp-on was the coming scenario and they were making sure all their molds would fit the Hornady when the sellout came.

I am glad Redding has kept the quality of SAECO in their offerings. I am slowly selling my excess molds that I no longer use. I have several molds that work well in several rifles and over three dozen that I no longer cast. No Redding molds are included as they shoot well, but there are several Hoch molds. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Eutectic posted this 23 February 2022

The #315 I have is a tapered bullet, the mold is like your middle one. It would be of interest to know the band diameters on these molds. Do they all have the same taper?

Each time a new cherry is made the differences in design and diameter can be quite large. The diameters will get smaller as the cherry is used. Yes, the illustrations in the catalog may not be precise.

My #315 has given me useful accuracy in four 30 caliber rifles. The meplat is large enough for good effect on game. For hunting I only lube the grooves covered by the cartridge neck, with little loss of accuracy. The only negative is the meplat on mine is not large enough for safe use in lever actions.

Steve

Steve

 

 

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Waleone posted this 23 February 2022

I never bothered measuring them. For all of these molds except the 315H, the first time using them was for these pics. I mainly created this post to see if anyone out there has heard of a 313 or the 315H which is longer and heavier than the typical 315.

When I first bought my 40X in 30 Kern, I had also obtained a quantity of already cast 313 bullets but the mold was already gone. Now that I bought these two 313 molds, I wish I would have kept a few bullets to see which mold they came from instead of shooting them. I'm pretty sure it was from one of these two molds. One additional thing about the 313 molds I forgot to mention in my original post is that the lube grooves on the left 313 bullet are much shallower, especially toward the tip.

When I first started casting my own bullets for benchrest, the only one of these molds I had was the 315H. I copied the number of grooves lubed on the bullets I received with the rifle, using 50/50. One lesson I learned quick when I switched to LBT Blue Soft was to lube less grooves, like 1/2 the number!

The only game I have taken, thus far, with a 315 is a squirrel and it was quite effective!

Wayne

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