C309- 170 F seating depth in Win 94 30 - 30

[MKN]

If I seat them to 2.53 coal the nose enters the rifling by apx .16 on a Win 94

To keep if off or just touching, I would have to have coal of 2.37

Does anyone else have this issue ? It seems the boolit design is not tapered enough to allow "normal coal"

I can't seem to locate information on this boolit and COAL. Setting it in that deep would increase the pressure and puts the GC past the shoulder.

If 2.37 is the seating depth, I should back off the load by 10% and work back up to a speed of 1900 fps.

Thanks Matt

[RickinTN]

I'm not sure what your load is but in a 30-30 that little a difference probably doesn't make a pressure difference worth worrying about. The gas check below the neck is not something I like to do but sometimes is unavoidable. Is the whole gas check below the neck or just the bottom of it. I don't remember the height of a 30 cal check but that gives a little wiggle room. What is the overall length with the bullet seated to the crimp groove? Gentle engraving of the throat is a good thing for accuracy but not so much that chambering the round seats the bullet deeper. There are lots of variations in 30-30 throats and yours may just be a little snug. It may work to your benefit.
Good Luck,
Rick

[MKN]

Thanks Rick, I'm using 30g of LVR, Seating at the crimp grove is 2.53, at that length chambering seats the bullet deeper.
At the 2.37 , the GC will be out of the neck, I have a tight GC, so that might not be an issue.

I have loaded jacketed round nose at the 2.53 - 2.55 no problems, but that bullet is tapered more than this lee boolit mold. I like the looks of the Ranch Dog taper, it would probably allow the 2.53 length.

[RickinTN]

The original Ranch Dog 165 will probably not fit. It has a large nose and will need to be seated deeper than the Lee bullet to work. The "other" Ranch Dog bullet will probably work well. It's the 170. Tom at Accurate molds has it cataloged as 312-170S I believe.
Good Luck,
Rick

[MKN]

Ah, good to know, I was looking at the 170. I just checked the 165 and see the larger nose. I'll try shorter COAL with the Lee, and see how the works before I look at a new mold.

[popper]

Load it so the nose just doesn't hit the rifling. My moulds don't have a crimp groove and work fine. I've heard that Marlin MG doesn't like bore-riders but playing with nose sizing, iI se a substantial increase in accuracy by getting 0.10" into the lands.

[Hick]

I'm a little surprised by your numbers. I have a Win 94 30-30 built in 1968, but it only has a couple thousand rounds through it-- very good barrel, and I seat my 309-170F at 2.605 COL with no chambering issues-- they drop right in.

[MKN]

Yes Hick,
I was surprised as well, I had loaded many round nose jacketed at 2.55, no issue, but it seems the lack of sufficient taper on the lee is causing the rifling to engage the boolit for apx 3/16 of an inch when seated at that 2.53 length.
one rifle is around 1 million serial number and the other is the 1976 NRA commemorative.
I'll try the shorter COAL, but it looks odd at that depth, and I'll be cautious with pressure starting low.

Popper :
At .1 into the rifling, does the bullet tend to get pulled when de-chambering? I know that even with a good crimp in the jacketed cranuler , the bullets will start to push in from repeated loading and unloading during hunting season.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

Tried seating the same bullet for my .308 Rem 700. These have a generous throat as well and I had to seat the gas check below the neck too or the bolt refused to close. They still gave me good accuracy so as long as your sizer crimps the checks on tightly, I think you are fine. My avatar actually has my .308 load for a comparison. You can actually interpolate from it partially or get an idea of depth.

shoe

[GooseGestapo]

I have same issue with two M94's and my Glenfield M30.
I prefer the .309-150fngc for this reason.

[earlmck]

Hodgdon's max load for a 170 grain jacketed is 36 grains of the LVR and around 2400 fps. So at 30 grains of LVR you are a looong way from high pressure problems whatever COAL you use; you need have no concern on that front. I am impressed that LVR is working for you at what must be a rather low (for that type powder) pressure. So seat your bullet whatever length you need to make it work.

[rond]

Use the crimp groove, if that makes it to long then trim your case.