Never give up!

[flyingstick]

Well folks after a thousand rounds or so I finally got this gun to shoot cast, buuut it was'nt easy by a long shot. I first took my new microgroove barreled 30-30 marlin 336 and shot some j-bullets through it. Cleaned ALLLL the copper out and started trying to shoot cast boolits from my Lee 309-170F mold. I have been using straight wheel weight and lubing with LLA. Tryed every imaginable grain in 2400, Reloder7, imr3031. 60 yards would shoot some of the lighter loads and after that a 2' x 3' of poster board looked like buckshot. So after the good advice from this board I knew my boolit nose was too small for the microgroove barrel, it was throwing out an average nose of .298. So I beagled it with noses now .301 I was sure it would shoot.
Nope, just bigger holes:-D Back to the drawing board. Mixed up some Felix Lube and today I hit the mark. 100 yards 21 gr. of Reloder 7, 2" groups with a Williams peep sight! Boy am I Happy Camper:-D
I did get a bit of leading so I'm water quenching a load of boolits now. My only problem is that my mould is casting very inconsistant boolits. Anywhere from .299-.303 on the nose and anything over .302 won't chamber. I'm having to check every single boolit by sticking it in the muzzle and half are going back because their either too small or too big. I'm using a Lee bottom pour. Any idea why the variation in nose diameter?
Thanks guys for all your help, I can't wait to try the 2400 again.

[buck1]

I'm thinking its the alloy temp. My lee swings quite a bit. A scale may be usefull to cull the fat ones?? >>>>>>>>>>Buck

[Maven]

fs, I have a slightly heavier version of your Lee mold, but can't get it to shoot in my Marlin #336 MG either (also with an aperture sight). It's not you, the rifle, the powder (type or amount) or the lube, but probably the mold itself: Both its nose and body dimensions are too small (~.299" nose & .309" body? unbeagled of course) for the .30cals. in general and the .30-30Win. in particular. You may want to consider a mold that casts larger than the Lee, e.g., Saeco #315 or Lyman #311466. Sized to .310", both are very accurate in my Marlin. Btw, two of the classic .30-30 CB's, Ly. #311291 and #31141, didn't shoot worth a rat's patootie from the same rifle.

[leftiye]

FS, It might also be that the mold isn't closing correctly/ consistently. There have been other Lee molds that had burrs on the mold faces. Could also be lead or whatever sticking to the faces. Them six cavity(?) molds have a lot of surface to get together correctly. There are mold clamps to hold the halves tightly together too. And, heaven forbid, the cavities may not all be identical. Sorry to be the one to say that!