LRN in tublar magazines?

[Drill Sergeant]

A friend has told me to only use RNFP boolits in lever actions. He said not to use RN boolits in tubular magazines because they would either jam or set off primers and this is why Cowboy Action Shooters use only RNFP in competition. Any truth for either of these reasons?

Thanks.

[revwitha9]

No experience; but that's what's recommended and for that reason.

[DLCTEX]

There are documented magazine discharges in tubular magazine rifles with round nose lead bullets as far back as the 1800's. The recoil with the inertia of loaded rounds combined with the spring slamming back against primers is the culprit.

[Shuz]

I lean toward using RNFP boolits in my lever actions for the reasons mentioned. However, I understand when Lyman designed the 311291, which is a round nose, it was intended for use in the .30-30 Winchester 94! I have also used the 311466 in the .30-30 as well as the 311465HP. I think a lot depends on the power of the cartridge being used and the velocity and therefore re-coil of the gun and ammo in the tube.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

How round is the nose? How hard is the bullet? How much recoil? Remington factory ammunition - Core-Lokt are round noses in the .30-30, .32 Winchester Special, and .35 Remington; Hornady produces round nose bullets for the .30-30 (150gr) and .35 Rem (200gr). The Marlin 1895 had magazine detonations with the 500 grain round nose in Govt tests and magazine detonations have been and can be induced in the lab. Again there is no hard rule, how pointy, how hard is the point? There are many round nose bullets designed and used in tubular centerfire magazines, but there are also plenty of good flatnose designs if it really bothers you. Most cowboy leverguns are happiest with round flatnoses. I will continue to use my Hornady and Remington Core-Lokts in my Marlin .35 Remington along with the RCBS 35-200. That Lyman 311291 has been around a very long time.

[jmort]

"There are documented magazine discharges in tubular magazine rifles with round nose lead bullets as far back as the 1800's"

I have never been able to find a single report but still follow accepted practices just in case.

[Artful]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?230553-Cast-Round-Nose-Bullets-OK-in-Lever-Action&highlight=tubular

[DLCTEX]

The US army tested lever actions in the 1880's and during testing had more than one (don't remember how many) magazine detonations. This caused them to lose interest. This is from memory of an article in American Rifleman years ago.

[Outpost75]

With soft lead bullets and low recoil cartridges such as standard velocity .38 Special, there is no issue, but with heavier recoil cartridges and harder bullets, I'd want a meplat at least 1/2 of the bullet diameter, or 0.15" as in factory Winchester. 30-30 Silvertip loads.

[Airman Basic]

102202 Hmm, been loading this in my Marlin 44 for years. Lucky, I guess.

[rintinglen]

I am inclined to call "shenanigans" on the round nosed nonsense, at least as far as the 30-30 goes.

Perhaps, and only perhaps, one might be able set off a 45-70 or 450 Marlin in the tube with a heavily-loaded, round-nosed cast boolit cartridge, but I ain't buying it in the 30-30. A max load of 35 grains of Ww-748 under a 170 grain boolit in a 6 lb. carbine only generates a shade over 15 foot/pounds free recoil. Remington factory bullets are far more "pointy" than a 311-291 or a 311-466. They have sold many, many millions of these, and I have never heard nor read of a factory R-P round causing a blow up. I personally have fired thousands of the afore mentioned Lyman boolits, with no adverse consequences and continue to do so.

[alamogunr]

I vaguely recall a fairly involved test in either Precision Shooting or The Accurate Rifle to examine the premise that various tipped bullets would cause discharges in tubular magazines. I don't remember the results except that discharges were not easily caused. If I find time(I know, I'm retired) I will try to find the issue. I've got quite a stack of those magazines so I may get discouraged before I find the article.

[fecmech]

I tried to set off primers in .38 spl cases held in a vise using a cast RN bullet (H&G#39). I held the bullets with a pliers and smacked the back of each one with a hammer against the primed case. I tried a few cases with a fresh bullet each time but no primers fired. I then smacked them some more with the bullets till the primers were battered but did not get any to fire. Not exactly a "be all" "end all" test but I don't worry much about loading RN's in my .357 levers.

[Zymurgy50]

I remember shooting up several boxes of Remington Accelerator's in a Win 94 30-30. 22cal bullet in a plastic sabot, pointy lil thing. Never had as much as a hiccup.

[badguybuster]

I'd be that one guy who it happened to

[hickstick_10]

102202 Hmm, been loading this in my Marlin 44 for years. Lucky, I guess.

I use that same Lee mold but for a 357 marlin.

The roundnose phobia needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

[sandman228]

I load a .358- 195 lrn bullet in my 35 marlin with no issues . I have had jamming issues in my r92 357 with rn bullets in 357 cases but they run fine in 38 cases .so I mostly stick with a swc bullet in that rifle .I have heard of the tube feed detonation but have never seen or had it happen personally

[Drill Sergeant]

I was thinking primarily of the possibility of using a 230gr. round nose bullet in a .45 Colt lever action Winchester 94. Since factory 30-30 rounds have, what appears to be, a more pointed round nose design than the 230 gr. round nose .45 bullet, my curiosity was aroused. Seemed as if it would work without a problem, however I felt that I needed to ask those with experience.

[jlchucker]

102202 Hmm, been loading this in my Marlin 44 for years. Lucky, I guess.

Check the nose on the Lyman 358315 mold and its boolits. That mold came out decades ago and so did the rifles it was originally intended for. It's still in Lyman's catalog. There's been lots of "lucky" 35 Remington shooters using that boolit in pumps and Marlin leverguns over the years, too.

[MT Gianni]

I witnessed a 357 Mod 92 that had one in the gunsmiths shop. Doug Wells, Huson, MT. and he thought it could have been a high primer couples with an angled cartridge. Loads were mixed swc and rn, two detonated IIRC.

[Four Fingers of Death]

When my late wife was ill, I wasn't in a position to reload for a year or so, but kept shooting cowboy matches. I fired some 1600 Federal American Eagle LRN factory loads and a box of 1000 Geco LRN factory loads (all 38Specials) in my 357 Rossi 92. All LRN and all very snappy recoil compared to normal reloads. They never missed a beat. I had also used up a thousand or so commercial cast LRN bullets in reloads as well previous to that.