Cast bullets in .30-30

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A pause for the COZ

New member
So far my best performing 30-30 bullet is the LEE C-309-150-F

NRA formula lube, gas checked, sized to .310.

These shoot excellent ahead of 16gr of 2400. Little more than 1700 fps.
8 gr of Unique seems to shoot well. about 1500 fps
9 gr of trail boss 1100 fps
9 gr of Herco. 1600 fps

Also RL-7 seems to work well with 170gr hard cast. Haven t finished my load yet though.


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Unclenick

Staff
You might find you could just apply Lee tumble lube and skip the gas check for that Trail Boss load. As long as they aren't coming out of the mold fat enough to prevent chambering, skipping sizing should then work out, too. It would be a good candidate for a suppressed load with your barrel length.
 
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Hammerhead

New member
I've been shooting the 100 gr LFP and the 115 LRN from Magnus in my 30-30 Handi rifle. 6 grains of Trail Boss gives about 1150 fps for the 115 LRN and 1215 fps for the 100 LFP.

I give them all a bath in liquid alox.

The 115 LRN (M1 Carbine bullet) is the most accurate for me, shooting under 2" at 100 yards with a bench rest and 4X scope. Very quiet, lot's o' fun.
 
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Old Grump

Member in memoriam
Don't have a clue as to mold number but my old mold drops 165 gr flat nose bullets and I shoot them in front of 36 grains of 4350. Not exactly the new load you were looking for but it's accurate for me, 3" at 100 yards with an aperture sight. I get about 1900 fps out of it at a guess. I never chronoed it, just stopped experimenting when my group got as tight as it was going to get.
 
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dahermit

New member
I'm after fun, not top accuracy.
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How much fun are you going to have with a rifle and bullet that shoots groups measured in feet instead of inches? In my early cast rifle bullet years, I had that happen with a '98 Mauser re barreled to 7MM Mauser and a circa early 70's Lyman 135 grain design that was not the modern bore riding design. You may find that you have to adopt at least one of the current target-accuracy techniques to get much fun out of your 30-30. Or, you could get lucky and hit on a reasonably accurate load right away.
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
Did I say anywhere that I wouldn't employ practices necessary to arrive at at least passably accurate loads?

No, I didn't.

But if I find that I'm having to put a lot of effort into getting it to shoot even marginally well, it's very likely that it's going to be bored out and rechambered to .38-55.
 
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dahermit

New member
But if I find that I'm having to put a lot of effort into getting it to shoot even marginally well, it's very likely that it's going to be bored out and rechambered to .38-55.
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I think your best bet then, would be to concentrate on bullet nose fit. If the bullet nose falls in under its own weight, it is too loose. If you have difficutly or it will not enter the muzzel at all, it is too tight. If it will go in with resistance to thumb pressure, it is just right. My favorite and best shooting bullet in my 30-06 was a Saeco 301. But that bullet nose was way too loose in my 30-30...had to find one with a larger diameter nose.
If you can get some samples of the bullet you are considering before buying and see how the noses fit the muzzle (slight press fit), of your rifle, and you find a bullet that has that press fit, it most likely would result in acceptable accuracy.
Being that you wish to buy your bullets instead of casting them yourself, indexing them is out of the question anyway.
A single-shot, bolt action 30-30 re bored to .38-55 would be disconcerting to Cast Lead Bullet Rifle Shooters, inasmuch as they seek them out for target competitions and guns could not be re-bored and still shoot in the Factory Sporter class. A re-bore would represent a yet smaller pool of 30-30's from which to seek a good Cast Lead rifle shooter.
 
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F

Fatelvis

New member
I cast the Lyman 311041 (was designed originally for the 30-30), from straight wheelweights, add GC, size it to .310", use Speedgreen lube, and 16 grns 2400 for a light load, or a heavy charge of IMR8208 for long distance work (silhouettes). Great shooting caliber with cast boolits!
 
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Sure Shot Mc Gee

New member
Since I was young and all throughout my working years. I've had the ability to buy decent models of 1894-94s here and there in my travels. All are pre 64 built. Most came in either 30 WCF or 32 caliber. Since I started casting for my 32s recently. I have yet been able to purchase a Lyman or MOE 311041 mold for my 30-30. (So that's where I'm stuck for the time being until things loosen up in the market place.) Both the 30-30 and 32 Special are pretty much the same in ballistics. Equally fun rifles to shoot. But when shooting jacketed verses cast. It would be unfair of me to form an opinion just quite yet on which would be my preference in my 30-30.
When one has 100lbs or better of wheel weight material ready for the casting pot out in their garage. "You know you just hate to think you may have to buy some store bought cast bullets some day." __Winter ending now. As said by many throughout history: I may just have too bite the bullet on this one._:(

S/S
 
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jaguarxk120

New member
The nice thing about the Savage 219 is the barrel-- it's 26 inches long , not like the short ones put on the 94's and H & R rifles.

And since it is a break open rifle you can use any style bullet in it.
 
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reloader28

New member
One thing I aint seen mentioned is that you do have to flare the case mouth when loading the cast bullets.
Lee sells a universal flaring tool for $15 but I just made one. But for best results, you do need to flare the mouth.
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
Not a problem. I realized I hadn't identified it, so my bad. :)

Yep, I know about flaring the case mouths, just as I have to do when I'm loading lead in my handguns, and just as I did when I loaded lead in my .300 Savage years ago.
 
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kostner

New member
So far my best performing 30-30 bullet is the LEE C-309-150-F

Mine too and that is my favorite fun round can shoot it all day long.;)
 
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dahermit

New member
The best is the Lyman "M" die, it expands the case mouth just enough for cast bullet seating.
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Have a Lyman "M" die, a RCBS .309 cast bullet expanding die, and a Lee cast bullet expanding die. The advantage of the Lee is that it can be used to expand many different cases with only one die.
 
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Unclenick

Staff
It can, and I have one, but it's tapered so doesn't cause bullets to start in straight, the way the little step made by the Lyman M die does. Unfortunately you need a different diameter step for each caliber. But once you have it, in pistol ammo you can see the slight bullet base location bulge on the surface of the case becomes more even all around. With rifle bullets, assuming you started with a straight neck, measured runout is reduced. A number of people are using the M die for loading jacketed rifle bullets now, because of that.
 
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57K

Moderator
They'll cost you a bit more but the TrueCast 170 gr. gas check from LaserCast is very good and probably the hardest cast bullet on the market. No leading problems at around 2000 FPS. I loaded them with Ramshot X-Terminator and got very good accuracy. Now I buy my cast bullets from Missouri Bullet Co. and wouldn't hesitate to try their gas checked bullet. ;)
 
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