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I tried some "2400' , the books say 20-30 grains max, (potentially best load) but thats not enough to cycle the action on the remington7400 , and not acurate at all, for me anyway. [smilie=1: I used a lee 155 grain bullet, out of Lee 155, 175 and 180 grain bullets which would you guys choose for a good bullet for 30-06 ?...accuracy and hunting load
I've done some limited work with 2400 and the Lee 175 -- 20.0 was very accurate out of my M77 Mk1. Sized .309 and lubed with RCBS green, pure WW. Can't remember OAL as I sit here - to what ever the crimp groove is.
The Lee 170 has the flatest meplate and that would be what I would chose. 16 grains works as an accurate load in my 30's and i wouldn't hesitate to shoot a whitetail with a flat pointed bullet with that load at under 150 yards. gianni
Before you do anything else, go buy a Lyman reloading manual, or better yet buy Lyman's Cast bullet reloading manual and read what it says regarding cast bullet loads.
13 grains of Red Dot or 16-18 grains of 2400 with a properly fitting 150gr to 180gr cast lead gas checked bullet should shoot well. There has been a lot written on what constitutes a properly fitting lead bullet. It is much more than a bullet with a base just over groove diameter. Rifling design will largely determine what the fore-part of the bullet should look like. The Search function will help you, but one article I think will help you is this one:
http://p223.ezboard.com/fcurioandrel...icID=933.topic
Cast Lead bullets can not take as much pressure as Jacketed, so performance is not as high as Jacketed bullets. Little bits of Lead get stripped off the bullet and plated on pistons and gas cylinders, so if you do not know how to clean such on your rifle, using Lead bullets is not a good idea.
If you want to cycle a gas-operated semi-auto .30-06, you are probably going to need to look at a load using a powder such as 4895. It would be nice to be able to use really slow powders with cast bullets, but something called Secondary Explosion Effect shows up with reduced loads of powders slower than about 4895. There is considerable published data on reducing loads with 4895 and faster powders.
I've never owned a 7400, and never shot Lead bullets in a semi-auto .30-'06. I have shot a lot of cast Lead in bolt-action .30-'06 rifles. I usually was trying for 1400 or 2000+ fps. At velocities above about 1400 fps, Leading will be terrible without a gas check on the base of the bullet. Leading will also be terrible if bullets are not cast really hard, and have a good lubricant on them. For the loads in the 1400 fps range, I use SR 4759 or 2400. For the higher velocity loads, I used something such as 4895.
I have 6 reloading books, all the major ones, thats where I got the 2400 load from. no way 18 grains will cycle it....I may try the slower powders, see what happens..I been using gas checks too, and lee alox, seems to never lead anything I have shot so far, good stuff, also I use WW's water quenched bullets for most of my cast loads.
2400 is fine for bolt guns.
My buddy's M-1 likes the Lyman 311644 at 1650-1700 fps with
SR 4759. Great accuracy, won't cycle. He needs 2000 fps to cycle but accuracy is mediocre.:(
Shiloh :castmine:
The Garand is NOT just another .30-06, and it requires some different techniques to get its best out of it.
Do a search HERE (up on the toolbar) for "Garand" and "M1". Pay particular note to BobS' writings on slow-burning powders in the Garand, specifically and prominently including H4831, because they DO work well in the rifle. There are loads of other data on this site, as well. Remember that the hoary old "rules" for jacketed bullets do NOT, repeat NOT, necessarily apply to cast bullets.
I've never seen much point to loading such rifles as the M1 to NOT function correctly. There are no problems with "leading" the piston or gas cylinder if we do it right, and thus no point in using ammo that doesn't function the rifle. I have other rifles that are designed for manual operation, and much of the charm of the M1 lies in its semi-auto functioning. Stay away from the fast-burners, as they give peak pressures at a point in the bore where the Garand cannot function properly due to insufficient pressure at the gasport. 2000 fps with 4759 is giving rather high chamber pressures, and yet with not enough pressure remaining at the gasport.
35 grains of 4895 with mid-weight bullets (170-180 grains) will usually function properly in the M1, and if not, that charge has lots of room for increases, at least to the 42-grain area if not more.
Note too that dacron fill works great in the M1, without any contamination of the working parts.
Do the search, and read everything!
I'm not familiar with the Remington 7400, but it appears to be a gas operated design. My only experience with cast in semi-auto rifles has been with my Garand. My experience mirrors that of BruceB, with the exception that I need at least 40 grains of IMR-4895 under my Lyman #311332 before it'll function reliably. I wholeheartedly concur with the lack of leading of the piston or gas cylinder, and I shoot far more air-cooled wheel weight alloy than anything else. I've NEVER seen any leading in my Garand except for very light leading in the bore, and that only when I push air-cooled wheel weight bullets with greater than 40 grains of 4895.
I haven't tried anything other than #311332 in the Garand, but I suspect the heaviest bullets will work best, something around 200 to 210 grains. I also want to try a slower powder than 4895, more like 4350.
Mike
I think the only way you are going to get that 7400 to work semi auto with cast is to go with a heavy (200+) bullet and push it with either 4895 or 3031. The 7400 was designed for loads in the 48,000+ pressure range and sometimes even 130 gr loads don't do the job in some guns. This is like trying to run your car on kerosene, it might work a little but it won't race. Better to use a reduced load and work the action by hand.
I'm with KCSO.
I shoot 208 grain cast bullets out of a Winchester 95 in 30-06 using surplus 4895.
I cannot recall the powder charge, but it's a case full.
Jim
The best I do with my M-1 is with IMR4895 and a 170-180g Lyman boolit and 36-41g powder. I have tried WC872 full case but not to my satification.
Don't kid yourselves about how heavy a boolit needs to be to function an automatic rifle. The 116gr 311316 flat nosed 32-20 boolit will even do it. read this completely http://hgmould.gunloads.com/casting/m1garandcast.htm ....Geo