Ranch Dog 115 FP-GC in .30 WCF?

[FergusonTO35]

Hey guys. I ordered one of Ranch Dog's molds, intending to use the same boolit in my .32 H&R magnum revolver and Mossberg 464. It casts a 115 grain gas check flat point .313 slug. I'm planning to resize it to .310 for the .30-30 and aim for 2,000 fps or so. Should make a dandy target and varmint load. Does this sound feasible? Should I go with a rifle powder or handgun powder? I'm intending to develop loads for the 115 grain and 150 grain boolits with the same POI.

[northmn]

30-30 will shoot about anything. Gas checks work better at faster speeds. I had Ok results shooting the Lee 120 grain out of the 30-30 but they are a bit short for feeding.

DP

[FergusonTO35]

I ordered the mold with half the cavities for plain base and half GC. The plain base I'm going to use in handguns, the GC's in rifles.

[Larry Gibson]

I'm planning to resize it to .310 for the .30-30 and aim for 2,000 fps or so. Should make a dandy target and varmint load. Does this sound feasible? Should I go with a rifle powder or handgun powder?

I size the 118 gr 311316 GC'd bullet at .311 for use in my .30s including the 30-30. It is an excellent magnum level bullet for my own 32 H&Rs so no reason the RD shouldn't do well. If your 30-30 has a 12" twist then very good accuracy is quite possible. With a 10" twist it may be difficult to get to 2000 fps with reasonable accuracy for varmints/small game. I find the 311316 gives the best accuracy in the 1850 1950 fps range with faster powders such as Unique and Blue Dot. Some of the newer powders in that burning range should do as well.

With that light a bullet I found a dacron filler necessary with 2400, 4227 & 4759 for consistent ignition but accuracy never equaled that with the faster burning powders.

Larry Gibson

[rintinglen]

I have shot a fair few hundreds of Lyman 311-316 GC boolits out of several 30-30's.

I get just shy of 2000 fps from a 26 inch barrel Winchester NRA commemorative using 17.5 grains of 2400.
It will group into 2 inches at 50 yards and was my chicken load for several years in Lever Action Rifle Silhouette competition. Others I shot with used the Lee version and Unique powder with equal success, but I do not have details.

[kbstenberg]

Is .003 about maximum to reduce a bullets dia. and still get quality accuracy?

[FergusonTO35]

Sounds good, I already have a .311 sizer. Any suggested loads for Unique and H110?

[rintinglen]

Check the lyman Cast Bullet Manual No. 3 for load info for the impossible-to-find 311-441. Those start loads are where I began when I was loading this boolit.

[Larry Gibson]

I have shot a fair few hundreds of Lyman 311-316 GC boolits out of several 30-30's.

I get just shy of 2000 fps from a 26 inch barrel Winchester NRA commemorative using 17.5 grains of 2400.
It will group into 2 inches at 50 yards and was my chicken load for several years in Lever Action Rifle Silhouette competition. Others I shot with used the Lee version and Unique powder with equal success, but I do not have details.

Something to be said for the 12" twist M94s:D

Larry Gibson

[Larry Gibson]

Is .003 about maximum to reduce a bullets dia. and still get quality accuracy?

Cast can be reduced more than that without reducing accuracy if done correctly, contrary to what is written in some manuals, mag articles and internet posts. I reduce .325 8mms down to .314. 316 and .318 and they shoot very well indeed. Trick for best accuracy is to reduce it just enough for the caliber. .311 is my "go to" sizing for all .30 cals except the .30 Carbine.

Larry Gibson

[Larry Gibson]

Check the lyman Cast Bullet Manual No. 3 for load info for the impossible-to-find 311-441. Those start loads are where I began when I was loading this boolit.

+1.
Larry Gibson

[jmsj]

I've had good success using Lyman's 311008. they weigh out at about 120 grains using wheel weights. I sized them to .311 and put a plain base gas check on them to get them to stop leading at higher velocity. I am using Unique and I got them up to 1800 fps before accuracy started to go away and that is where I stopped. At this velocity, I didn't have any leading using the plain base gas checks.
Good luck, jmsj

[FergusonTO35]

Hmm, so you guys are using .311 for all your cast boolit .30 caliber rifles?