Simple 336 cast bullet advice needed

[gnoahhh]

A kid I know bought himself a very nice Marlin 336, probably 1970's vintage. He came to me on bended knee to help him with cast bullet shooting in it. Since I never messed with with a Marlin Micro-groove, I'm stumped where to start. (I've always been a Savage and Winchester man) I have seen articles and forum debates concerning what to do with microgrooves and cast, but I always glossed over them or ignored them entirely.

What are the very basic precepts- enough to get me on the right track. Hard/soft? Assume that the basics of sizing for throat diameter, etc. will be adhered to.

Plinking rounds (probably with 311241s cast soft)? Hunting rounds (probably with 180-190 grain)?

In my personal .30-30 and .303 Savage Savages, I load 28 gr. 3031 and a 190 flat nosed soft cast bullet (10-12bhn) for a hunting load. Sound ok for a Marlin with a microgroove barrel? (Knowing I'll have to crimp for this one, not like I do for Savages.)

[shooting on a shoestring]

My experience with my 71 336 30/30 micro groove, it needs fatter than average boolits. I use 0.312" boolits in mine.

Alloy I most use is half and half WWs /pure lead, water quenched from mould.

Moulds, 150 and 170 Lee worked great after lapping to get enough size. Sacco 315 does great.

Fit it to the throat and micro groove will give excellent results with boolits.

[TXGunNut]

RD 311-165 is a pretty awesome boolit for the 336 in 30-30. NOE makes a version of it that I'm starting to like almost as well as the original. Could get a mould with mixed PB and GC cavities and cover the plinking and hunting chores with one mould.

[TCFAN]

I have 2 Marlin 336's. For a light plinking load I like the lyman 311241 or the Lee plain base group buy version of the 311041 with either Bullseye or Unique.
For a all around load my choice is the NOE version of the 311440 using home made gas checks with 2400 powder for a velocity of about 1600 to 1700fps. All boolits are sized at .311 using wheel weights................ ........Terry

[rosst]

i use the RCBS 30-180-FN GC, 50/50 - 15.7grns SR4759 with dacron filler for 1625fps - sized .310 with beeswax/lithium lube - its crazy accurate in my 336.

i am a late convert to marlins and microgroove . . .. good luck

[Slow Elk 45/70]

You can't go wrong with the Ranch Dog mold, it was made for the Marlin...and it is a great boolit...in my humble openion

[gnoahhh]

Thanks, fellas.

[pls1911]

First a big salute to you for taking a kid under your wing. Your mentoring will stay with him for a lifetime, and perhaps be passed by him to future generations.

Ranch Dog 165 or SAECO 315 as mentioned above, both gas checked. both cast 165-170 grain
Use one load for everything, plinking, hunting, cowchip busting, whatever... especially for a kid in training. Recoil is negligible anyway.
The benefit of consistent performance far outweighs the whatever small price difference there may be...which I'm sure would be less than five cents a shot.
Marlin casters need to follow simple rules:
#1.) Big enough (at least .310),
#2.) Hard enough (12-14 bhn, but IMHO harder via heat treat is better).
I've never found lube to be that much of an issue, so long as it's good quality. I also finish off with a tumble of LLA/JPW/MSpirits.
With these techniques I've never experienced leading in micro groove or standard Ballard groove barrels.
Both bullets are wonerfully accurate, and deadly on deer, pigs, rocks, dirt clods, coyotes, and cow pies.