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Thread: 30-30 Mold suggestions?

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
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    30-30 Mold suggestions?

    Ok… after asking for suggestions about a rifle to start casting for… I think I have settled on the 30-30. Reason, I had one as a kid… and I loved it. (45-70 will be added later).

    So, my question to the group is: What bullet mold(s) would you recommend ? I’d like one for plinking (light load) I think someone called them "rabbit fart" loads… and one for hunting… maybe 130-160gr ish???

    Also, any favorite load data? Alloy used?

    I did use the search and know there is tons of info out there… but if you don’t mind sharing a favorite load it would be great.

    Thanks in advance.
    USAF Veteran - NRA Certified Pistol Instructor - 1911 Junky

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Harter66's Avatar
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    Probably not a lot of help .
    Attachment 225511
    The 230 is just too much of a good thing .
    The little 97 gr bullet is a fun little 22LR/mag replacement .
    The 165 gr Ranch Dog is a nice bullet and with IMR 4350 will reach jacketed full power load levels .
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  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
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    The Lee C309-170-F is very accurate. The mold also only costs $22, with handles.

    https://www.midwayusa.com/product/57...nose-gas-check

  4. #4
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    I'm going to get a pencil and take notes .

  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    The one that I have finally settled on and love dearly in all of my 30 caliber fun rifles is the Lyman 31141 or 311041 as they now call it. Powder I use the most often for any of them... 4895 shortcut. I load the 30-30 with 25.5 grains! I do only use the SC (short cut) version for 30-30. Not sure if the standard 4895 would be the same data or not.
    Last edited by mattw; 08-14-2018 at 12:17 PM. Reason: did not make sense.

  6. #6
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    NOE Ranch Dog
    Do not know what gun you are using but this will work well.
    Will not argue the the point as to "the best" but this will work real good
    http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=30_348

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Either that ranch dog mold or get the equiv bullet in the htc version off noe site which makes a 170ish gr bullet. Htc 310-170 fn

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    My favorite is the RCBS 180 gr. Silouet. With my alloy it comes out at about 192 grs. I have a 1925 25" octagon barreled Winchester, the bore is kinda dark but it will hold that boolet in a 2 1/2" group. I tried that boolit in my Super 14 Contender and the group was all over the target and some of them key holed.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master

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    I rolled the dice on the Lee C309-150-RF. It works great for me in a Mossberg 464 and no regrets.
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  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    I use the Lee 309-170GC and really like it. Also the Lyman 311410, which is supposedly for 30 M1-- its about 130 grains and makes a nice plinking bullet. Only drawback for me is the Lyman is plain based so I have to keep the velocity down a little-- but its very accurate.
    Hick: Iron sights!

  11. #11
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    I also like the Lyman 130 gr plain base as a plinker and varmint killer. Using Trail Boss with the case 85% full, it gives enough velocity and accuracy to keep the 200 yard gong ringing and ruin the day for coyotes out to 150 yards. When I first started casting and reloading the 30/30, for some reason I can't recall, I ordered a RCBS Cowboy action seating die. To my surprise, that die put a nice 1/8" meplat on the 160 gr. round nose bullets I was casting as well as the 130 Gr. Lyman making it safe for a tubular magazine especially with the light loads I was using. As an all around boolit, it is hard to go wrong with either the 150 gr or 170 gr RFGC at an MV of 17-1800 FPS.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    I'm on 2 group buys from MP, Got 6 at this time. Very nice molds

  13. #13
    Boolit Master RU shooter's Avatar
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    I'll second or third the Lee 150 fn . Alloy is just simple ww alloy , powders take your pick there are lots that work good from mild plinker to full speed jacketed levels . For plinker a I use Bullseye , unique and 2400 for full power 4895
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  14. #14
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    Be sure to get a Lee C309113F because they are a lot of fun in a 30 caliber anyting.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    My favorite is the Lee .312 185 gr gas check. Size to suit your barrel.

    Second favorite is the little .314 90 gr tumble lubed Truncated Cone by lee. This is an awesome plinking or small game round. Over 4-5 grains of Red Dot it is quiet, and shot to same point as rifle was sighted in at, just at 25 yards vs 100.

    This load would easily pop a grouse, rabbit or squirrel without disturbing every animal within a mile.
    Or dispatch a noisy crow.

  16. #16
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    I also would recommend the Lee 309113F. A light, gas check boolit great for plinking and doesn't send much lead downrange. I shot it for a couple years about 10 years ago for fun- think I loaded it over 5744 and dacron. I stopped using it because I got tired of re-zeroing my scope for the LY 311041. The boolit was accurate but the POI was much different than the 311041.

  17. #17
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    I ordered the Lee 113 & 150 today... the 170 was out of stock. I'll start out with them ( small investment at $22 each ). I still need to find a 30-30... I guess I could play around with my .308 or 30-06... but i want a lever action to plink with. Thanks for all the suggestions... I'm sure I'll buy more mold as I grow into this hobby.

    Please keep sharing the load data... I'm taking notes!!
    USAF Veteran - NRA Certified Pistol Instructor - 1911 Junky

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    If you want ACCURATE .30-30 loads over the full range of velocities possible in the .30-30, correct bullet FIT is crucial.

    While you could go through a succession of inexpensive mass production molds and perhaps find one by sheer accident which may fit your rifle and shoots well, you would be money ahead in the long run to do a pound cast and to order a custom mold which fits your rifle and casts of the correct diameter from your alloy, as-cast from the mold, NOT requiring sizing, other than to seat and crimp a GC, if needed.

    Hard alloy is neither necessary, nor desired. Soft 8-10 BHN is suitable for plainbased loads to 1300 fps in the rifle. Somewhat harder 12-13 BHN alloy will perform well on game at full jacketed velocity using gaschecked bullets in suitable loads about 85% of the maximum published load for a jacketed bullet of the same weight.

    If your bullet "fits" correctly as it should, with "hard" alloy such as common 92-6-2 "hardball" metal at 16 BHN, you probably will not be able to chamber the round, jamming the forepart into the throat. So you must seat the bullet deeper, so that it "jumps" some distance into the rifling during initial shot-start, defeating the whole purpose of the custom mold and destroying proper bullet fit. With softer alloy you will feel resistance as the bolt closes and locks, but the effort requires does not impair rapid repeat shots, and unfired rounds may be extracted without de-bulleting or having been pushed deeper into the case. They will be marked by the origin of rifling as shown in the photo below.

    In the normal 12-inch twist of rifling I have found that a 150-grain plainbased bullet is more accurate and feeds more reliably in older rifles than the short, light "soup can" ones and light .32 pistol slugs which are commonly recommended. A bullet which fits the throat and has firm contact with the rifling is the difference between a 25-yard can plinker or a 100-yard turkey and deer load. The flat nose is effective on game and the subsonic loads are very useful.

    The lightest charge which exits the barrel reliably with 31-155D or a similar lubricated lead cast bullet is 3 grains of Bullseye. This is nearly silent, a true "Cat Sneeze" load having energy approximating a .38 Special wadcutter. A charge of 5 grains of Bullseye is still subsonic and good for use with a "can" approximating .38 Special +P 158-grain lead load energy, with outstanding penetration. If you really need higher velocity for 100-yard game shooting, plain-based bullets will shoot accurately up to about 1300-1400 fps and perform much like the .32-20 Winchester black powder load using 15-16 grains of 3031, 4895, 4064, RL15 or Varget.

    If your rifle is zeroed to provide point of aim= point of impact at 200 yards (about 4" high at 100 yards) with factory soft-points using iron sights, the subsonic loads will be on at about 25 yards and the ".32-40 Equivalent" loads on at 100, being useful for woods work without re-zeroing.

    The Accurate 31-155D and 31-171D have tapered noses which fit the SAAMI-dimensioned throat of pre-1964 Winchester Model 94 rifles, in which the nose is engraved upon chambering, just like closing the bolt on a round of Eley Tenex in a close-chambered .22 match rifle. The gaschecked 31-171D bullet cast 1:20 or 1:25 tin-lead, or 50-50 COWW and plumber's lead with 2% tin added can reach full factory velocity with charges about 85% of published maximums for 170-grain jacketed bullets, using the same powders, loading a 1 grain tuft of Dacron fiber loosely under the bullet, NOT pushed down upon the powder charge.

    Attachment 225562Attachment 225563Attachment 225564
    Last edited by Outpost75; 08-15-2018 at 03:32 PM.
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  19. #19
    Boolit Bub
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    Outpost 75,
    Thanks for all the great information. I am still on the hunt for a rifle... I wish I had the old Marlin I shot as a kid... Once I get my hands on one... I'll be sure to "slug" and find out when size bullet the rifle needs. I'll have to do some research, because I have no idea how to "slug" a barrel.
    USAF Veteran - NRA Certified Pistol Instructor - 1911 Junky

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hotrod99 View Post
    Outpost 75,
    Thanks...I'll be sure to "slug" and find out when size bullet the rifle needs. I'll have to do some research, because I have no idea how to "slug" a barrel.
    There was a "sticky" but I cannot find it, so it must have been deleted. A condensed version which applies to your .30-30:

    To determine the correct cast bullet diameter for a rifle, the groove diameter of the barrel DOES NOT MATTER.

    INSTEAD of slugging the barrel, you want to measure the diameter of the "ball seat", or unrifled portion of the barrel forcing cone ahead of the case mouth, before the rifling starts. The easiest easy way to do this is disassemble the rifle, removing the bolt, then take a soft lead 158-grain .38 Special roundnosed lead slug, driving it into the chamber neck using a Brownell's .38/9mm Squibb rod, until the squibb rod comes to a hard stop against the shoulder of the chamber. Then use a cleaning rod to tap the slug back out from the muzzle. The slug should then provide for you the diameter of the chamber neck, which determines maximum bullet diameter for safe release clearance, the transition from the case mouth of the chamber to the ball seat, plus the ball seat diameter and the origin of rifling.

    Knowing these dimensions you can send the upset slug to Tom Ellis at Accurate Molds and he can cut your custom mold to fit your rifle, EXACTLY!

    If you don't have any lead roundn nosed .38 Special rounds to pull, then to upset a throat slug, make a "pound cast."

    Start with a sized case having a DEAD primer in its pocket. Heat your lead pot, then fill the sized case with DEAD primer plugging the flash hole, and generously overflow the case. After the lead cools, clean all spilled lead off the case exterior, then file the exposed lead FLUSH to the case mouth.

    Next take a piece of PURE lead single-O buckshot, or 3/4" piece of lead wire, drop it into the EMPTY chamber, letting it fall into the throat of its own weight. (With long throats you can a SOFT bullet with long bore-riding nose, not a long grooved section).

    Insert your lead-filled dummy case into the chamber and tap it in using a piece of brass rod until you can close the breech. You are using the lead filled dummy case to force the lead slug into the ORIGIN of rifling. In short throated barrels, like the .30-30 it helps to drive buckshot or slug first into the origin of rifling, far enough to chamber the lead dummy behind it, then close the bolt and upset the slug against the lead dummy using a Brownell Squibb Rod threaded onto the end of your cleaning rod.

    In upsetting the slug you don't need to use a hammer, just let the weight of the rod make many light taps of the squibb rod against the slug until you get a clear "ringing" sound. It need go no farther!

    Extract the dummy and GENTLY tap the lead slug out and measure it. The diameter of the smooth portion of the ball seat BEFORE THE RIFLING STARTS is the diameter you want to size your bullets to! The upset pure, dead-lead slug is exact and straight forward!

    If you forget EVERYTHING you ever read about slugging barrels and simply cast chambers from now on, and get bullets to FIT THE THROAT you will be far happier in the long run.

    THE limiting factor in safe bullet diameter is neck release clearance. In most cases the best result is with the largest bullet diameter which will chamber and extract without excessive effort upon bolt closure, and without de-bulleting upon extraction.
    It is best to measure the neck diameter of your chamber on a chamber cast. But most factory chambers have enough clearance ahead of a fired case mouth that you can determine fit by trials using dummy round assembled with bullets of different diameters.
    The loaded cartridge neck diameter must not be larger than 0.0015" SMALLER than the chamber cast as measured at the case mouth.

    For instance a .30-30 Minimum chamber has a .3305 neck, but a common sporting chamber may be as large as .335".
    Maximum bullet diameter is determined by"

    [neck (Mean .30-30 sporting chamber=.333")-2(neck wall thickness 0.010)] - 0.0015 = 0.3115" for a .30-30 sporting chamber of average dimensions. If your chamber is tighter, or your brass thicker, adjust accordingly. If you must guess at bullet size without measuring, a bullet diameter of .310" works in most .30-30 rifles. If using the Lee push-through sizers I would try both .309 and .311 and see which shoots best.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check