30-30 Contender barrel what size bullet?

[woody402]

What do you shoot for size bullets in your 30-30 contenders? I slugged my barrel and it is .3085. Was going to start with .309 Should perform well? Thanks.

[Horace]

Measuring the ID of a fired case will give you the largest diameter to use.

Horace

[cbrick]

I would prefer .310" if your mold casts that large.

I see you are a three year member & 8 posts, your spending way too much time on the computer. :mrgreen:

Rick

[Ben]

Measuring the ID of a fired case will give you the largest diameter to use.

Horace

A very good suggestion.

[Iowa Fox]

In my Contenders I tried 310 & 311 and could not tell a lot of difference in the way they shoot. Pretty much settled on the 310 because in the 30-06 Encore I size to 310 so the sizer just stays in the luber rather than mess around changing it.

[woody402]

Thanks for the ideas. My .309 sizer actually is closer to.310 so I'm going to start there. Thanks.

[detox]

Off topic: Using a shoulder stock with your Thompson would really help in load development, but it may not be legal. I have one chambered in 300 Whisper that I will soon cast for.

[Shiloh]

A very good suggestion.

Is it Thompson Barrel, Bullberry, or other vendor??

SHiloh

[woody402]

Thompson.

[williamwaco]

You are going to wind up with .311. If you have not already bought the .310, go ahead and get the .311.

[stubshaft]

I sized my 180's to .310 when I used it for sillywett.

[kir_kenix]

I usually size all of my .30 caliber boolits .310 to start off with. If that attempt is unsatisfactory, I'll slug the bore and go from there. I've found that 90% of the time or better, .310 has worked fine for me.

[MaineJim]

I size the RCBS 165 SIL to .310 for my 10" contender.Ive owned this barrel for only a couple of months and so far ive been doing all the load development shooting at 50 yds.9 grains unique usualy shoots in .3-.4 inch for 5 shots,15 grains of 2400 just under an inch.All my cast loads use dacron filler,havent chronoed any loads yet.

[dale2242]

I size 311291 cast from 50/50 lino/WWs to .309 for my Tenders 14" 30/30 barrel.
It shoots great with 10 gr. Unique for my light load or 32 gr. BLC2 for my heavy load......dale

[Larry Gibson]

You are going to wind up with .311. If you have not already bought the .310, go ahead and get the .311.

+1......exactly what I use in my Contender Carbine barrel and all my other 30-30s. It's also my "go to" sizing for any .308 caliber. I only go smaller if a .311 sized bullet won't chamber (as in a couple .30 Carbines I've dealt with) or the bullet has a less than .311 "as cast" diameter.

Larry Gibson

[cbrick]

I only go smaller if a .311 sized bullet won't chamber (as in a couple .30 Carbines I've dealt with) or the bullet has a less than .311 "as cast" diameter. Larry Gibson

Yep, less than .311" as cast is the key. I have 17 30 caliber molds and exactly one that drops at .311" (NOE) and two that do drop at .310" (both RCBS). I have had Erik Ohlen open up the driving bands on three other of my 30's because as nice a bore as my Winnie 30-30 has it measures .310".

I've not found it easy to get 30 caliber molds that drop .311".

Rick

[woody402]

I also have a .311 and .313 sizing die. I will try a few of both of those also. They came with a bunch of .32 casting stuff I inherited.

[fredd.sss]

I just bought a 30-30 TC Contender Barrel 23 inch, working up a few jacketed loads, so far 150 sierra SPBT, 35.0 grains of BLc2 shoots great. I have a Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C309-150-F 30 Caliber (309 Diameter) 150 Grain Flat Nose Gas Check and a friend has a Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C312-155-2R 7.62x39mm (312 Diameter) 155 Grain 2 Ogive Radius Gas Check. I have some boolits from both molds, cast from WWs. I plan on casting using both molds for my 30-30 barrel. From what I read on Cast Boolits, unique, green dot, and 2400 is good powders to start with. I have Lee Alox Hor GCs. I used to cast back in the 70’s pistol boolits, no GCs. I read that some use filler and some don’t. I bought a package of polyester batting. With unique, green dot, and 2400 do I need to use filler? I plan on adding tin to my WWs. I have 3 or 4 1 LB spools of solder, 97 percent tin. How much tin solder should I add to 10 lBs of WWs? I use a larger bore brush to clean the lead out of my pistol barrels. How do you boolit casters clean the lead out of your bores? Thanks. Fred

[kir_kenix]

I just bought a 30-30 TC Contender Barrel 23 inch, working up a few jacketed loads, so far 150 sierra SPBT, 35.0 grains of BLc2 shoots great. I have a Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C309-150-F 30 Caliber (309 Diameter) 150 Grain Flat Nose Gas Check and a friend has a Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C312-155-2R 7.62x39mm (312 Diameter) 155 Grain 2 Ogive Radius Gas Check. I have some boolits from both molds, cast from WWs. I plan on casting using both molds for my 30-30 barrel. From what I read on Cast Boolits, unique, green dot, and 2400 is good powders to start with. I have Lee Alox Hor GCs. I used to cast back in the 70’s pistol boolits, no GCs. I read that some use filler and some don’t. I bought a package of polyester batting. With unique, green dot, and 2400 do I need to use filler? I plan on adding tin to my WWs. I have 3 or 4 1 LB spools of solder, 97 percent tin. How much tin solder should I add to 10 lBs of WWs? I use a larger bore brush to clean the lead out of my pistol barrels. How do you boolit casters clean the lead out of your bores? Thanks. Fred

If you start with a low charge and work up, use good lube, and progress slowly I doubt you'll have a problem with leading. The C312-155-2r is a good place to start. If your c309-150-30 drops at least .310, then you are probably going to be ok. Use just enough tin to get the boolits to drop nicely at a reasonable temp. I tend to do the math, and add tin in .5-1% incriments.

8-10 gr of Unique will make a nice, mild load that is fun to plink with. I like the Lee 113 soupcan for my casual beer can ventilating, personally. A few grains of Red Dot does nicely as well. 2400 is a versatile powder as well, and you will find a million suggestions for other powders as well. I'm not a fan of fillers myself, but my opinion is worth what you paid for it lol.

Good luck and have fun with your project.

[leadman]

You should not need any filler with those powders. Adding tin will depend on how the boolits cast from those molds. If you get driving bands not filled out add 1/2% of tin and try it , add an additional 1/2% of tin if you still have fill out problems.
That barrel should shoot very well for you. You will want to load the boolit just short of the rifling so the action will close properly.

[fredd.sss]

Thanks kir_kenix and thanks leadman, I will try your recommendations, thanks again for all your help..fred