I clean the inside of the necks with a bronze rifle brush before I run them through the dies. That tends to eliminate the button pulling excessively on the inside of the neck.
I clean the inside of the necks with a bronze rifle brush before I run them through the dies. That tends to eliminate the button pulling excessively on the inside of the neck.
Death to every foe and traitor and hurrah, my boys, for freedom !
I posted some time ago about the same issue and other issues, too.
After much reading and fooling around, I got a NOE expander plug
that measures .313 x .309. First, the boolit sits in the stepped up portion
nice and straight. Second, a .310 boolit, while being seated still has neck tension,
but seems to stay straight as it eases down to its final position.
The frosting on the cake comes with the Redding Taper Crimp Die !!!
These 2 tools, along with Outpost 75's advice to get a more suitable
boolit mold, have resolved most of my issues with 6 different 30-30's.
One of these days I'll finish my report about this 2 year journey.
If the Lee neck sizing improves things but you still need to set the shoulder back, look around for a 32WCF sizing die without the expander. That will reset the shoulder, but will not affect the neck. Then you can run it into the Lee neck die.
Hmmm,
The front barrel band seems to be major culprit with the carbines - thin barrel - heavy magazine tube - its all tied together way too tight up front - the couple I had shot side to side ok - (maybe 2inches) but strung shots vertical eight to ten inches at 100yards - 30/30 was worse than the 375/BB.
I bought a project gun off a blanket at a ML shoot one time - pre 64 action and some bits with a heavy stubby barrel from a 308 target rifle fitted - I finished it up as a trapper length short rifle with no front attachment at all - that one didnt walk its shots but I never fitted it with good enough sights to really wring it out either.
I have a commemmorative 38/55 now (24inch barrel rifle) that is a really nice shooter and the magazine attachment up front is quite loose - the front dovetail is not a dovetail at all just a straight slot that functions as a recoil lug, the magazine cap pin into the barrel stops mag from wobbling side to side too much - it looks "cheap" compared to the older guns but works a treat.
Built a 38/40 model 92 two years ago, 26 inch half octagon barrel - I used cheap chinese curtain rod for the magazine tube - it comes plastic coated, correct inside dia for a 44/40 or 30/30 but very, very thin wall - that one is a good shooter cold to hot too.
Look forward to your writeup some time .
I've been getting rid of expander balls, or using minimal sized ones (that barely kiss the neck) for this reason - runout.
For 30/30 I had a custom button size die made out of a regular die, that's essentially a Redding "S" Full Size die. I also bought a Redding FL body die to get along with it, since the custom die didn't leave a nicely shaped shoulder. Then I finish it off with a NOE expander in a Lee expander die.
Runout problems solved.
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
Some time ago in a wildcat I was playing with, the expander / depriming stem got loose and screwed itself longer and longer, to the point that it hit the case web and got bent. THAT will cause nasty runout, as in 20 degrees or 30 degrees. OOPS! Fortunately I could fix those easily enough before fire forming time and they worked well, but dang that was an annoying lesson to learn. Also did break the depriming pin, if that happens please DO check your expander / depriming stem for straightness (If it looks like a dog's hind leg, you have a problem.) Doubt it's the problem here as multiple expanders cause the issue; Someone may not have hit this yet though.
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 |