30-30 Cast bullets

Using the lyman cast bullet handbook I cast some 30-30 150g bullets using the Lee #C309-150-F mold. I found the bullet enters the rifling and some would not allow the action to close. Any ideas what mold to use to prevent this?

Jim

Your statement here raises a hole lot of question's ???

Seat the bullet deeper, simple fix.

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That bullet, seated to the crimp groove, has worked in every 30-30 I’ve owned in the past 30 years.


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Maybe - maybe not : .30-30 brass is pretty thin and has an easy time of it compressing when bullet seating. If adjustments are not correct, it's not too hard to budge it at the shoulder. Check the case with your dial caliper to see.

That boolit engages the rifling on my 1988 microgroove Marlin too. Not sure how you can make a boolit body smaller. Mine I just give the lever a squeeze and it closes. The engraved boolits don’t pull if I have to unload the rifle.

Any particular question comes to mind?

Are the brass cases all the the same length-you said “some” would not allow the action to close?

You could trim them all shorter to keep the bullets seated to the crimp groove. The 30-30 has some neck to spare.

Did the bullets get sized to the same diameter and are they all the same length.?

The throat on my post 64 1894 is very short. I seat a Saeco 315 to the crimp groove and I have no problems.

What did you set the oal to? I've been seating those boolits plus a few others (120 grn lyman, and from unknown molds 165 grain fp, 173 and 185 grn fp) and not run into a similar issue yet in my pre 64 mod 94. TBH it's my favorite boolit, rather my gun's favorite.
It may be worth checking the nose diameter as maybe but unlikely you have a duff mold.

Please tell us what rifle you are using. The throat in the Marlin's I have tinkered with was tight. Cast boolits have a different profile and are usually larger than jacketed bullets and can engage the rifling and prevent going onto battery.

First make sure that a sized and empty case will chamber freely or if it needs trimming. Check to see if the crimp on the loaded case has bulged the case. Look for rifling marks on the boolit. Don't force anything and bend or break your lever.

The neck of the chambers are sometimes tight. A boolit sized too large can expand the neck and cause chambering problems. My 30-30 has a .309 bore will not chamber a boolit sized .311. I turn the neck slightly to ease things up and shoot a .310.

If it is the boolit the easiest fix is to seat deeper or try another mold. Seating deeper will not hurt anything, seat till the boolit just touches the rifling.

Watch what is going on and take one step at the time. The 30-30 is a great cast boolit cartridge but sometimes the rifles can be a bit finicky.

The Lee 309-150-F fits in my Winchester 94 when lubed, but when PCed it is too large. So I don't have as tight a throat as you do. I couldn't get the RCBS 30-180-FN to work at all, or the lyman 311291. I finally settled on the lyman 31141, and it works great. I haven't tried it PCed yet, though I have some PCed NOE 311041 that BrassMagnet sent me to try that a while back.

I've tried nose sizing with the NOE gear - it works
but is a pita.
The fussy rifles get the NOE 127 gr RF or the
Lyman 3118 (311008). Work just fine here for
close range groundhog and other pest work.

Make sure to size boolits .309" ... even if powder coated .
Have all cases trimmed below maximum length to a consistent length .
Seat all to the crimp groove and give a light crimp . Too much or a longish case will bulge the case and stop it from chambering ...watch this carefully .

I use this boolit in a 1980's vintage model 94 Winchester and have no trouble chambering ... the boolit does not touch the rifling when chambered and can be extracted easily ... But I don't use powder coated boolits just Lithi-Bee lubricant .
If you are using powder coated maybe the coating is causing the problems .

Gary

Make some dummy loads and seat to chamber easily. Don't need to use the crimp groove. Taper crimp or Lee FCD. Give a little extra room if PC as ogive can grow. No need to jam bullets into a levergun.

My Winchester has a very tight throat and I had to go with a Lyman 311041. Slug your bbl and see what you have to work with. Measure the nose of the Lee and if it is bigger than .300 you may need a different mold.

Good point. Will do

Jim

Thanks beemer. I have two Winchester 94's. One 1953 and the other 1972. The 72 rifle is more forgiving than the 53.All cases are trimmed to 2.040 and the oal is 2.439. You are correct about the cast profile and it does engage the rifling. Factory jacked rounds chamber without a problem. all bullets have been sized .309. I will seat some bullets a little deeper and see what happens. Jim