30-30 Winchester bullets sticking.

[Chainsaw.]

So I have a lyman mold, 311291, 17X grain, round nose bullet. Ive been using it in my 30-30 on a mellow charge. Shoots real nice, plenty accurate but Im running into an issue with my powder coated bullets. Just below the round nose of the bullet where it gets straight, on a non coated bullet, the diameter is .303, this just ever so slightly touches the groves of the rifling, goes in about 1/8”. Heres the problem, when I powder coat that adds up to 5 thou, the powder coat then engages the rifling pretty hard, enough that today when I tried to jack out a loaded round it actually pulled the bullet out of the case and stuck it in the bore. So I need to change something.

So, the way I see it these are my options.

Dont powder coat. But I’d rather not due this due to all the benefits of PC.

Make some type of board where I can shove the nose of the bullets in so they do catch powder, but this means Ill have to spray powder coat. This would mean no coat on the nose of the bullet and no sticking.

Ream the throat a bit??

Buy a different mold.

Only use J-words. Terrible idea.

Anyone delt with this issue? Your thoughts?

[Bazoo]

I had some powder coated lee 309-150-fn that was sent me. I loaded up some and had one stick and pull the bullet. Powder rainbow is pretty ain't it? Ha. I didn't coat them, but I had the mould and they fit fine lubed so I just use those.

Personally, Unless the accuracy is spectacular, I'd open up the throat some. I'd like to have mine opened up but I'm feared it won't shoot as good.

[richhodg66]

Me personally, I'd skip powder coating altogether and just do traditional sizing and lubing. That bullet, or the flat nosed version of it, the 311041, have been getting it done in the .30-30 darn near forever before anybody thought up powder coating.

[Bazoo]

The 311291 is older than the 31141, I don't remember how much but decades. The 311291 won't chamber in my winchester but the 31141 does no problem. It has a mild ogive where as the 311291 is more straight on the nose. You might be able to PC the 31141 if you're intent to PC. I vote run them with grease however.

[richhodg66]

I never have powder coated and I'm not really interested in it, but you mention that it adds five thousandths diameter to the bullet nose? Is that normal? Wow that's a big diameter increase.

[Chainsaw.]

Rich, in this case yes, thats with a healthy spray of coating. You could shake n bake and get a thinner coating, but I would still have an issue being even my raw bullets just barely drag the rifling.

[Bazoo]

Looks like you're either going to have to figure a way to coat just the rear section of bullet, or get a mould that's more skinny in the nose. No reason that traditional lubed bullet won't work excellently in a 30-30 though, it works at a perfect pressure and velocity for cast. Least by my way of thinking.

[bmortell]

If your really into getting it right you could take note of what the dimension changes should be to have the perfect bullet after PC'ing then order one from accurate molds with the proper dimensions. Me i wouldnt modify the gun to make one bullet work cause you cant unmodify it if theres unforseen negatives and you might want a different bullet in the future. If the load is appropriate that you could use dacron fluff filler that will make it so you dont dump powder when one gets pulled. My paper patched bullets stick in bore but im using filler and it shoots good so i just accept that and treat it like a muzzle loader where i shoot every chambered one or drop a rod down the barrel if i need to empty the gun without firing, thats a no money option. Or as others said you could drill shallow holes in a board that holds the first bit of the nose and spray what sticks out.

[alfloyd]

I had the same problem.
I built a sizing die for my RCBS sizer that had a dia of 0.300 inch.
I then size just the bore riding part of the slug to 0.300 dia inch.
It is an extra step, but it works.

Lafaun

[Rcmaveric]

You can order a nose sizing die or have one made if you have machinist friend. NoE has one you can order.

Funny how no one mentioned to remeasure your seating depth with a dowel rod. Thats what I do. I only nose size if pushes the bullet to deep in the case. I dont mind a little bit of bullet base bellow the neck.

I would imagine PC is like paper patching and you would only need to coat what is going to contact the barrel, so just past the first driving band.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[popper]

I reamed a fender washer to the correct dia. and size the ogive down. Only sizes 1/10" and works. Tap the coated to remove excess powder 5 thou. is thick. Another choice is high temp paint the nose of the cavity.
edit: when I was ESPC I drilled holes in a steel plate used for spraying, kept the nose clean. Not worth the effort now.
Agree, the NOE nose sizer doesn't work very well.

[waco]

Those NOE nose sizing dies are not worth the time of day. Garbage and a waste of money. This is why sometimes PC is NOT the way to go.

[Thin Man]

If this were my project and I was committed to spray-on PC, I would create a platform from thin plywood with holes bored through it just large enough to allow the nose (but not the driving bands) of my casts to pass through the holes. Think about - a loading block that is drilled completely through. Station your casts in those holes with the noses DOWN to protect them from the spray and then PC the driving bands. This way you can have lube-free bodies inside the cartridge case and naked (blush!) noses to fit the chamber and bore. Might not be what you want but it may give you what you need.

[waksupi]

Resize after PC, seat the bullet slightly deeper.

[gwpercle]

I do option #1 ..... No powder coating.
A gas check and good bullet lubricant works for me .
Gary

[bedbugbilly]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong or misunderstanding? An u pc'd just engages the rifling but your pc engages more due to your pc - you say you're using moderate loads - can't you just seat your pc'd a tad deeper in the case and thereby move the one back a tad?

[fastdadio]

Maybe trim the case neck a tad shorter so you can still crimp into the groove, but set the boolit back from the throat some.

[beagle]

It's not a matter of the bullet design but a matter of what that specific mould casts. I've owned about three 311291s over the years. My first one was for a .30/06 that had a worn throat and didn't matter The second had a nose do big it wouldn't chamber in my .30/30 without a great effort and bullet setback sometimes. The last one I bought chambers all right. Just a matter of finding one that will. The nose on my present one measures a hair over .300. The one that chambered hard was almost .302"./beagle

The 311291 is older than the 31141, I don't remember how much but decades. The 311291 won't chamber in my winchester but the 31141 does no problem. It has a mild ogive where as the 311291 is more straight on the nose. You might be able to PC the 31141 if you're intent to PC. I vote run them with grease however.

[Chainsaw.]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong or misunderstanding? An u pc'd just engages the rifling but your pc engages more due to your pc - you say you're using moderate loads - can't you just seat your pc'd a tad deeper in the case and thereby move the one back a tad?

I may have explained poorly, the nose of the bullet engages the rifling from where the bullets round nose end and then becomes straight (imagine a capsule pill shape), where the side become straight is whats engaging. I mic-ed it, the bullet is going ~1/8” into the rifling. Ive thought about seatimg the bullet back another 1/8” but that would be awfully short, so much so I wouldn’t be suprized if it lead to feeding issues.

[Chainsaw.]

It's not a matter of the bullet design but a matter of what that specific mould casts. I've owned about three 311291s over the years. My first one was for a .30/06 that had a worn throat and didn't matter The second had a nose do big it wouldn't chamber in my .30/30 without a great effort and bullet setback sometimes. The last one I bought chambers all right. Just a matter of finding one that will. The nose on my present one measures a hair over .300. The one that chambered hard was almost .302"./beagle

Beag.
That’s interesting to hear. Thats quite a wide margin it seems. Definitely a part of my issue.



I did find I actually have some of the same cast bullets that I pan lubed and gas checked. Ill try them to see if the lead or not. Its not really the direction I want to go but it’ll at least answer the question.
One question though, can lube be to hard? Mine is 50/50 alox and beeswax, it has turned quite hard/dry.