.30-30 boolits More Q

[sigshooter]

I have come across a 180gr .312 mould and was wondering if this would be acceptable for a .30-30?

I have sizers that should be able to take it to .308 or .312 but nothing else right now. .308 was recommended by a local caster.

Questions are these.

I have a conventionally rifled .30-30 (Winchester)

Is .308 too big a leap to take a .312 as cast boolit? I have a Lyman 450 that I just picked up used, and I still have to figure out how it works.

The boolits are coming out light, 160gr instead of 180gr as the mould says, I am using something that is a lot harder than pure lead around 14.3 BHN likely has a lot of antimony in it. What kind of simple to make lube is recommended?

Lastly, Any suggestions for a load recipe would be helpful. I have only a limited selection of powder mostly pistol, so versatile powder recommendations would also be welcomed. I would also like to be able to share this powder with my .308 bolt gun.

Thanks for any input.
SIG

[HangFireW8]

Probably OK. Size to .311, and the long 30-30 neck is rather forgiving for boolit seating, just check if it fits the throat and feeds and ejects a dummy OK.

If you can post the mold details and/or pictures, chances are someone here has had experience with it.

HF

[sigshooter]

I just measured the boolits, and they are ,311 as cast.

The mold is a Lee C312-185R

It has a rounded tip similar to a 9MM (longish ogive) is this safe to run in a tubular magazine, or should I put this one up on the block, and look for something more flat faced?

Thanks,
SIG

[runfiverun]

you'll want 310.
the nose diameter is what is going to make or break you.

[rmatchell]

I have to agree with runfiverun the nose is always the problem I run into. I use the lyman 311291 that cast 184gr with a fat nose, but it shoots well in 336 marlins.

[RickinTN]

As mentioned it's the nose diameter that will make or break it's use. I've tried the smaller brother to this bullet, the 309-180rn. in 30-30. It's difficult to get this bullet to cycle in a lever rifle because of the cartridge overall length. It will chamber in my Marlin and Winchester rifles, but you can't unload the chamber in the Marlins without un-locking the extractor from the case rim. It won't load to short enough length to eject a loaded round without seating the bullet very deep (case mouth well above the crimp-groove). I'm thinking it would be the same situation in the model '94 but haven't tried it. If I remember correctly the maximum overall length for proper function is 2.550".
Good luck,
Rick

[btroj]

A local caster suggested .308? If true I would be cautious taking advice from him.

I size to .311 for my Marlin with no problems. Much depends on our rifle and it's chamber and throat.

[rintinglen]

If you are using a Lubrisizer, and have a flat nosed punch, you can flatten that nose a bit to prevent to prevent the possibility of a cartridge slam-firing in the magazine. Just drive the boolit deep into the die and set the stop so the nose punch travels another 32nd of an inch or so after the boolit is solidly against the bottom.

In more ordinary times, I'd say sell that mold and buy another, but these days, you may be hunting for a while, a long while before you find a proper replacement. I'd try to make what I have work first, but I'd be leary of a heavy recoiling boolit with that 2r nose. A small flat on the nose would be much more comforting.

[rexherring]

.311 should work just fine if they chamber o.k. my Marlin likes that size just fine.

[grouch]

I've used it with very good results in a bolt action 30 30. I use 15gr of H110 and hand lube with Canadian Tire Moly grease(Mobile, I think). The neck is long enough on my rifle to allow this bullet to chamber by adjusting the seating depth in spite of the .303 dia. nose.
Grouch

[geargnasher]

I usually size .312" for my .30-30s to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of them, but sometimes you run in to a case that has a neck just a fuzz too thick to chamber without touching, which is too tight. I check my necks when I prep the brass and turn necks as required, or just sort out the few thick ones, they're usually only thick in one place anyway and cause alignment issues.

John Ardito shot .314" boolits through a .3075" groove to very good effect. The sizing down, as long as the rifle's throat entrance is at least as large as the boolit diameter you're shooting, is not a problem. The problem is when the throat is too small and chamber neck too big, you get shaving and bore leading with boolits larger than throat diameter.

Gear

[cbrick]

A local caster suggested .308? If true I would be cautious taking advice from him.

No kiddin . . . He must have a warped sense of humor wanting you to spend your evenings scrubbing lead out of your barrel, .310" - .311" is what you want. If he doesn't know any better than to suggest a 30 caliber boolit be sized to .308" that would be the last advice I took from him.

As R5R said, it's the nose that will determine if you can use this boolit. Cast some and then see if the nose will enter the rifling at the muzzle with only a bit of engraving.

Rick

[sigshooter]

No kiddin . . . He must have a warped sense of humor wanting you to spend your evenings scrubbing lead out of your barrel, .310" - .311" is what you want. If he doesn't know any better than to suggest a 30 caliber boolit be sized to .308" that would be the last advice I took from him.

As R5R said, it's the nose that will determine if you can use this boolit. Cast some and then see if the nose will enter the rifling at the muzzle with only a bit of engraving.

Rick
Ok, I am fairly new to this, so you guys are going to have to type slowly for me to understand.

Let me see if I got this right.
1) the longer nose on the boolit may not allow me to unchamber and eject a live round to unload it from the rifle.
2) seeing that right now I have a 308 and a 312 sizer, it sounds like to err on the side of a bit larger might be wise for accuracy and leading issues
3) The top punch idea is a good one, and I thnk That I might be able to generate the force required, but these are pretty hard boolits (14.3 BHN)
4) I have some of these casted, and the nose measures to .3015 and the cylindrical part of the nose of the boolit will not get to the rifling without some hefty force that I was not willing to impart.

Should I continue my search for another boolit mould for this piece? and of course, pick up a couple new sizes of sizers.

In case my first comment was mistook, I was not being snotty, it's from an old joke..."I gotta write slow, Jonny cant read too fast."

Thanks for all the comments I will keep up as best I can.

Regards,
SIG

[RickinTN]

I'll address #1. I think, although I don't have a sample of one of your bullets, that a loaded round with the mouth of the case anywhere near the crimp groove on the bullet you are going to be too long to function in a lever rifle. My marlin rifles are pretty picky and won't eject a round much longer than 2.550". I just looked at my Winchester model 94 and it has a little more forgiveness. The ejector travels with the bolt on the Winchester, where it is fixed to the receiver in the Marlin. Your Winchester may eject the loaded round but functioning from magazine to chamber may be a different story.
Good Luck and keep us posted on what you find,
Rick

[btroj]

Did you make a dummy round? No primer or powder, bullet sized and seared to crimp groove?
If it feeds and chambers then all is good. If it is too snug in the throat then a lower antimony alloy could help, might make the nose a bit skinnier.

[cbrick]

First, as was suggested, make a dummy round. Size & bell the case & seat the boolit just as you would if you were going to shoot the round except no powder or primer. Load this round in the magazine and cycle the action to see if it chambers. If it won't chamber examine the boolit to see where it was too large to chamber, the boolit will have marks on it where it's too large. I.e. the bore riding nose, the driving bands etc.

Next you need a good bore slug to know the actual groove diameter to know for sure what sizing die you need. My Winnie 30-30 has a great bore from one end to the other EXCEPT it's .310" groove diameter. You could also do a chamber impact slug, as with the bore slug using SOFT lead tap an un-sized boolit into the throat just until it's starting into the rifling, then from the muzzle tap it back out. Measuring this will give you max boolit diameter.

Ok, took 15 minutes to type this, I can't type any slower. :mrgreen:

Rick