Which cast boolit weight for cat sneeze 30-30 loads?
Long story short - I've always liked the 30-30 cartridge as I hunted with a Win. Model 94 many, many years ago. I recently lost out on a Win. 94 in 32 spl. but in the process, have run across several 30-30 that have caught my eye - a Savage bolt action, a Marlin plus I'm still looking.
I'm getting stuff together to reload 30-30 - have dies, 1X fired brass, etc. but am ready to order a bullet mold - decided to go with a Lee due to price and to try.
I don't hunt anymore but want to do some "light" plinking with the 30-30 - up to 100 yards probably. I will only be using cast and want to keep them slow enough so I don't have to use gas checks (although I might try them down the road).
So . . . what weight bullet do I want to go with for just light plinking rounds - usually at 25 and 50 yards but up to 100 yards?
Lee offers a C309-113-F flat nose (which I'd need if I go with a lever gun) that would probably drop around 113 gr. - they also offer a C309-150-F which should drop around 150 gr that is flat nose.
My goal is to load light and I'll probably never load up loads in what I would consider hotter hunting loads - I'll only be plinking.
My Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook #3 shows to size them .308. I have an old set of old Lyman All Americans I can full length size the 1X fired brass in and I also have a RCBS neck sizing die on the way - so I can either use my single stage to load or I also have a set of Lyman 310 tongs and 310 30-30 dies.
I currently only use the Lee push through sizers so I thought I'd order a .308 Lee push through sizer die - my expander is .308. Should I get a .309 push through sizer as well if I'm loading cast?
Suggestions of mold selection/bullet and sizer would be greatly appreciated.
As far as powders - I have Bulls Eye, Red Dot and Unique on hand. I've tried to get some 2400 but never seem to hit the store at the right time.
I know I'm kind of going about this in reverse since I don't have the rifle yet - still looking so I can't slug a bore that doesn't exist yet. Thanks for any help from those that load the 30-30 in "cat sneeze" loads.