Universal+30-30=:) ???

[Leverboy]

I'm very much a rookie caster. Have had awesome luck in my .357 with a tumble lube Lee mold. Just picked up the Lee C309-120-R because the local store happened to have one in. I'm hoping to shoot these in my '67 winchester carbine. Just pondering powder and what a starting point might be, as I have never loaded cast bullets in a rifle. My goal for this combination is a load for small varmint/target/plinking type shooting. I'm aiming for low recoil so my 8 year old can also enjoy shooting Dad's "big" levergun!

I've been searching around here and have found tons of loads listed with Unique powder. I use Universal in my pistol, and I'm thinking that it should work fine for a reduced load in my 30-30, but I'm wondering if anybody can tell me where I should start. Can I make a light load of Universal without filler? Any ideas greatly appreciated!

[excess650]

It is less bulky, and finer grained than Unique, but can be used without filler. I use it in my Marlin 30-30 with plainbase bullets. Start at 6.0gr and work up looking for accuracy, or where groups become patterns or worse. If single loading into the rifle, you won't need to crimp at all.

My plainbase load is 6.0gr with a WLP primer.

IIRC, my C309-120R drops 'em closer to 135gr than the nominal 120gr. Cast some and see how large or small it casts and then make a dummy round with the boolit unsized, and see if it will chamber. My 30-30s like .311", but Winchesters may have tighter necks. The C309-150F is a good boolit for the 30-30. Mine drop close to 155gr.

[Baja_Traveler]

I use a 115gr PB cast bullet over 8.2gr Universal Clays (Note: this is a different powder than Universal, and more closely approximates Unique) as my Chicken load for silhouette matches. This load has virtually zero recoil out of my 30-30 and is accurate as all heck.

[Leverboy]

Thanks for the info guys. I should have specified it is Universal Clays that I'm using. My mold is dropping a little out of round (size varies from .308 to .310 as I turn the bullet) I still don't have it filling out properly, so more tweaking required :) I also don't have any gas checks yet, so I haven't really gotten this project going. For the low velocities I'm going for, a plain base would be fine, and I'm tempted to convert this mold to plain base. I did load and shoot a couple with 6.0 grains and they were just what I'm after - very little recoil and still plenty of punch for the gophers and beavers and tin cans. Once I get the mold and sizing sorted out, I can start working with groups for accuracy.

[excess650]

Your mold probably just needs a thorough cleaning with dishwashing liquid and water. Wrinkles will go away once the mold and alloy are hot enough provided there isn't any residual oil in the cavity.