Marlin 336 and Lee 170gr GC and new powder

[Gunnut 45/454]

I got my hands on a keg of IMR 3031. Always wanted to give it a try just never bought any in all my years of loading. Seen many here and on other boards sing there praise of this powder with cast loads. So the first to get it was the dirty thirty. Always liked shooting the Lee 170 gr in it , the lighter 150 gr shoots well but the 170gr just shines in this gun. According to my cast manual Start load was 21 gr for 170 gr so I went with 22 gr as I wanted a light load for fun shooting /practice around 1600 fps . Put the target up at 50 yards to see where it would shoot Shot ten rounds and was more then please with a group of 6 I could cover with a quarter! The others I consider shooter induced flyers -kind of chilly -cold fingers. Next I'm going the load up some rounds for the Rem 7400 as it shoots the 170 gr very well If I can drop its groups down to less then 1" at 100 Ill be happy as a pig in you know what. Then the 8x57mm will be next after that.:smile:

[Tatume]

Sounds like you're off to a great start. At one time IMR 3031 was considered a wonder powder, and was one of the slowest powders available. Nowadays we think of it as relatively fast. It's very versatile, and gives good results in many cartridges, as you have found.