handi rifle 30/30 cast bullet problem

[rp85]

hello;

purchased a handi rifle in 30/30 to shoot cast bullets. the cast bullets are cast from a r.c.b.s mold, 180 grain round nose, bullets are sized to .310”. have seated bullets as deep as i dare, still the nose of the bullet will engage the rifling in the barrel. there is @ 1/8” of rifling marks on the bullet. what is the fix, different mold?

if a new mold which lee mold would you suggest? been spoiled by lee mold light weight and the high productivity of their 6 cavity mold.

don’t think it is safe to shoot these loads, have always assumed it is not safe to shoot even a cast bullet if it engages the rifling.

thanks for any input.

rp

[nanuk]

if your load is not near max, I don't think it unsafe, but perhaps you should download and work up?

engraving is not dangerous in itself, only if your load is near max.

remember, cast has lower pressure than j-words so even though it is engraving, it is not as "Pressure Raising" as a J-word.

what is your load?
someone on here will know if it is high pressure or not.

oh, can you close the action then open it and remove the loaded cartridge, without debulleting your cartridge?

[MT Gianni]

I have several loads that engrave and several guns that prefer them. It is safe if you work it up without changing OAL. Do they differ from OAL in a load handbook?

[rp85]

thanks for replys.

o.a.l. is shorter than book, base of bullet is below start of neck. load is 17.0 grain of 2400.

[geargnasher]

The rifle is telling you it wants to come live at my house!

Look for something more like 150-170 grains, Lee makes some round-nose boolits that are good for the two dimensional throats and single-shot .30-30s.

Gear

[tomme boy]

Does it eject fine when it is stuck out far? As long at it ejects the load fine without pulling the boolit out of the case, I would leave it long.

You should feel lucky that it has a short throat. Most of these Handi's have about a 1/2" long throat.

[runfiverun]

I work the jebus outta mine to make them engrave the rifling.
as long as you aren't pulling the bullet from the case, when you pull the round out of the chamber, you have the correct nose fit.
proceed.

[randyrat]

You can call it a nose rider, you won't have any nose slump and it may be your most accurate bullet. .........as stated above, good advice from all.....
My 180 grain in my Marlin engraves the nose for a good ways, but as noted it does not stick or push the bullet in any further when chambered. It shoots very accurately. I load mine out as far as possible yet able to chamber with a lever gun.

[spfd1903]

If you are looking at a Lee mold, I use two for .30-30. They make a 150 grain and 170 grain. Both are flat point nose and gas check base. Mine are two cavity, I don't think they make a six in these styles. They shoot well at 50 yds. in a Mossberg 464 SPX, 16 " barrel.

[DLCTEX]

I have a Lee 311-170 mould (no longer available) that engraves enough to pull the boolits if ejected unfired unless it is crimped well. It is very accurate and no pressure problems with any of the powders I have tried using ACWW and WDWW. Rifle is a Marlin 30.

[popper]

As others say, if it will eject without problems your OK. Plain base boolits with 17 gr 2400? With the base into the shoulder they may not be too accurate. Possibly use a nose sizer so you can seat less deep? I'm using a RD311170 that comes out 180 FB in a 336, works fine with 15 gr 2400. If they don't eject right I carry a brass rod to drop in the muzzle.

[BAGTIC]

This might be a good excuse to recut the throat/leade. Most commercial barrels are not optimized for lead bullets. If you intend to shoot mostly lead bullets might as well fix it for once and for all.

[curator]

Handi-rifles shoot best with cast boolits that engrave upon chambering. I shoot 180 grain gas-checked cast boolits with 25 grains of IMR3031 at 1850 fps with excellent accuacy and performance out to 200 yards. Slugs are cast of ACWW and sized .311.