Would Lee C309-160-R work in 30-30 lever action?

[LeadPoisonTX]

Looking to hear from all of you Trail Blazers that have been there, done that with Lee's round nose boolit in a 30-30. My main concern is: Is it safe to load in a tubular magazine? I ask because these look a little pointy to me.
Knowing that Flat or Round nosed boolits are safe to load in a tubular magazine, I have loaded a few cartridges with Lyman's 311041 to try at the range tomorrow and begin load development.
But those purdy brick red Hi Tek coated 160's RN from Lee keep winking at me as if to say: "come on, give us a try in that lever rifle."
Of course, I know I can always load the Lee 160's one at a time, but that just ain't right in a cowboy gun!

If these (Lee C309-160-R) worked for you in a 30-30, could you please share which powder, load weight, seating oal, and other important details were the winning formula for you?

Thank you for sharing your valuable insights.

[Shiloh]

Yes it does.
Another forum member said he used to a number of years ago, so I tried it. I an neither recommending or discourageing. Just saying is functioned fime in my sons 30-30. The 311291 works also.

Shiloh

[runfiverun]

load a dummy round.
lay it on the table.
put another round in front of it.
now see if there is some weird way one can set off the other.

try it in the rifle and see if it feeds.

[quilbilly]

My Mossberg 30/30 likes that boolit a lot as well as the Lyman 130 gr plain base boolit. Neither have a flat nose but my seating die is a "cowboy action" style seating die that puts an 1/8" flat spot on the nose of both so both are safe in the tube magazine. Both feed well in my rifle and are quite accurate. My load for the 160 gr is 19.5 gr of RE-7 (1720 fps) and the load for the 130 gr is 85% load density of Trail Boss (1320 fps). Both keep the gong ringing at 200 yards when my old eyes are fresh for the iron sights early in the day. The local coyote population is down a bit as a result of that 130 gr boolit.

[Hick]

I read a good article some time ago by someone who did the physics calculations and concluded the concern about tubular magazines was unfounded and really traced to concerns about certain very sensitive primers used in the late 1800's. Generally, when I load spitzer bullets I don't put them in the magazine because they are just too darn long to cycle. But, I do regularly use round nose bullets intended for the M1 30 Carbine, and I do load those in the magazine. So far so good. I worked up to this slowly, putting a few in the magazine, firing one, then looking at the others for dents in the primers. Never found any hint of a dent. These are FMJ bullets- which I would think have harder tips than anything we might cast. YMMV

[dondiego]

I read a good article some time ago by someone who did the physics calculations and concluded the concern about tubular magazines was unfounded and really traced to concerns about certain very sensitive primers used in the late 1800's. Generally, when I load spitzer bullets I don't put them in the magazine because they are just too darn long to cycle. But, I do regularly use round nose bullets intended for the M1 30 Carbine, and I do load those in the magazine. So far so good. I worked up to this slowly, putting a few in the magazine, firing one, then looking at the others for dents in the primers. Never found any hint of a dent. These are FMJ bullets- which I would think have harder tips than anything we might cast. YMMV

This has been my experience as well. The LEE 160 RN works for me.

[LeadPoisonTX]

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions. I will give these a try and post my findings for posterity.
I might have to get my hands on some of those Lyman 130 gr plain base (311410) quilbilly mentioned, and give them a try - let's see how our Texas coyotes like it ;)

[Mohawk Daddy]

While not having experience with this specific boolit, I have used the Lee CTL312-160-2R sized to .311 for a Marlin micro groove, and I believe that one is more pointy than yours. Caveat: I only load two at a time, one in the chamber and one in the magazine in deference to the 100+ year old warning. Have used with 8.3 grains PB and 9.2 grains Unique. These are "just for fun" loads for paper punching. I believe this boolit could be a successful deer killer with more substantial powder charges behind it, but I have not attempted to road test it. (2.555" OAL)

[marlin1889]

How about using military style primers,that helps keep from slam firing?

[Coopaloop86]

I have used the 155gr version of Lees 7.62x39 boolit sized to .311 in my Marlin and got excellent results. I have never been brave enough to try any in the tube but I would be curious to see how the experiment turns out with my hands not on the line ;)

[webfoot10]

Just put a flat top punch in your lubersizer and it will flatten the round nose of the boolit and
it will be safe to use in your lever gun.

[RU shooter]

A few swipes of a file across the nose would be all that's needed it your still concerned . Myself I used them as it without issue .

Tim

[GhostHawk]

I needed a larger bullet for an older Win 94 in .30-30. I have the .312 160 gr 6 cavity lee mold but they have points.

So I simply took a block of plastic (Recycled HDPE) a bit thicker than the length of the bullet. Drilled a hole in it just a hair larger than the bullet. Reversed the drill so the flat end of the drill was pointed down. Slip a bullet into the hole, pull the press down (Motor off) and give it a pull.

Violla, flat nose bullet larger than the primer.

You can crank 50 of these out in 40 minutes or less once you are setup.

I did cheat slightly and slipped a piece of 1/2" pvc pipe over the down handle for a bit more leverage. Also as it retracts up the pipe hits the back wall of my bench so I did not have to spin the wheel 2 or 3 times.

Call it redneck sorta swaging if you will.