30 WCF cast load suggestions.

[Bazoo]

I've cast and loaded for pistol calibers, 38, 357 magnum, 45 automatic, But never for 30-30. I've never loaded any rifle calibers for that matter. I've always stuck with pistol caliber, and pistol caliber rifles because thats what I like.

I recently acquired a winchester 94 in 30-30. I shouldnt have a problem transitioning to 30-30 as its a lower pressure cartridge and from what i gather, easy to load and cast for.

bdicki was kind enough to send me a lee 90366 (309-150-F) gas check mould. I know i can use unique and 2400 powder in 30-30, and im cool with that as im familiar with those.

Id like some suggestions for rifle caliber powders that i can use for both cast and jacketed bullets as well as more pistol powder loads. I prefer more common powders i can run into instead of something hard to find. I'll want to make light, medium, and heavy loads for various purposes.

I have a load books usa 30-30 manual, but id like to hear some members suggestions as where to start from.

[MT Chambers]

I use Lyman's light load for their #311041, 18 grs. IMR 4198 for 1600+ fps, in my Marlin and think that .312" is optimal.

[GoodOlBoy]

myself I also like IMR 3031 in the 30-30. Real accurate performer. But 4198, or 4895 are nothing to sneeze at in it either.

GoodOlBoy

[Larry Gibson]

........bdicki was kind enough to send me a lee 90366 gas check mould. I know i can use unique and 2400 powder in 30-30, and im cool with that as im familiar with those.

Id like some suggestions for rifle caliber powders that i can use for both cast and jacketed bullets as well as more pistol powder loads. I prefer more common powders i can run into instead of something hard to find. I'll want to make light, medium, and heavy loads for various purposes.

I have a load books usa 30-30 manual, but id like to hear some members suggestions as where to start from.

IMR or H4227, H4198, SR4759, H322 and RL7 would be good with the Lee C30-150-FN (hint; more helpful to use the mould's bullet designation than the product number) and 3031 along with H4895 would be about the slowest burners to use.

I use the same weight/style bullet but of a different mould make cast soft over Bullseye for a very nice small game/plinking load that runs 1150 fps out of my M94 Carbine and is very accurate. I have been using 4759 under it for medium power loads in the 1900 fps range. I use the 311041 for full power loads over H4895 or more recently LeveRevoltion powder.

Larry Gibson

[kungfustyle]

one thing you will need to get is a Lee universal neck expander to fair the neck of the brass. Other than that works just like a pistol.

[725]

3031 & 4198 are my top choices.

[John Boy]

...myself I also like IMR 3031 in the 30-30
Add me for the 3031 as the Go To powder for 30WCF reloads. And you might want to try Ideal 311413 bullets.
I use these reloads for our 200-500 meter lever action matches in a '94 Winchester

[runfiverun]

if you find a powder that don't work I'd like to hear about it.
the only way the 311041 shoots remotely well for me is when I put it on top of 34 grs of 4831.
this gives me 1800 fps.

the rcbs 30-150 I use is similar to your LEE boolit, I size/check to 310 and use powders from AA-2230 speed through 4064 speed if I want to match jacketed velocity's.
I simply reduce the powder amount to adjust velocity.
my main load with the 150 is 24.5grs of AA-2230, same load I use in my 223's.

[curator]

Lyman #311291 (BHN 15 and sized .311) and IMR 3031 gives near factory ammo performance in my Marlin 336

[Mk42gunner]

The beauty of shooting cast in the .30-30 is that you can pretty much load it to full power with the same powders as when using jacketed, with the right alloy, lube and sizing diameter of course. It can also be downloaded to small game or backyard plinking levels easily.

Robert

[avogunner]

3031 for me but yes, do remember to flair/expand the neck as kungfu brought up. I use the Lyman 'M' die.

[gnoahhh]

Reading these responses leaves me with nothing to add, other than have fun! If you acquire more molds, I would suggest getting heavier ones. I shoot mostly 180-190 grain stuff in my .30-30s anymore when concocting hunting loads. Charge weights in the mid to-upper 20's handle deer size game with aplomb, with flat nose/round nose relatively soft bullets- 10-12bhn. If I were limited to one cartridge for cast bullet experimenting/hunting it would be the .30-30 (as long as I could make it my .30-30 Winchester M54 bolt gun).

Edit: Mid to upper 20's charge weight of 3031 that is. My personal favorite hunting load is 28 grains/190 FN cast bullet, in both the .30-30 and .303 Savage.

[rintinglen]

My two favorite loads are the RCBS 30-180 FN over 30 grains of WW-748 and 17.5 grains of 2400 under a 311-466. I have also used a great many 311-316 115 grainers over 8.0 grains of Unique. My daughter's 30-30 loved the little 311-419 over 8.0 grains of Unique. Our guns were all Winchesters, save my bolt action Savage, and I found sizing to .310 best, because the Savage had issues chambering anything larger.

[dualsport]

For a lot of top end hunting type 30-30 loads look for "Ranch Dog Outdoors". It's still available somewhere out there, I think. He took it to the limit.

[Bazoo]

I do appreciate the advice thus far. I do plan to get a heavier mould at some point.

[Camba]

I had been experimenting some loads with my Marlin 336 in 30-30 and one of my favorite loads is the Lee 30C-150 FN, GC, sized at .311 (using Lee sizer), lubed with the Lee liquid alox, over 18 gr of Blue Dot and 2400.
144415144416
Camba

[Bazoo]

I had some limited choice with the powders available in my area. I ended up choosing w748. I had a few other choices, no 3031 though or i'd have went with that. I appreciate all the advice on how to get started for this caliber.

[Gunnut 45/454]

The Lee 150 GC shoots well in my Marlin 336W but the Lee 170 gr GC is the one I prefer. Very accurate and a thumper on game. I've used mostly IMR 4895 but have recently got an 8lb jug of 3031. My Marlin really likes this powder under the 170 gr. The 150 gr shoots a tad better with it as well.

[DrCaveman]

For a light load, i am really liking 6-7 grains fast pistol powder behind the lee 150. I drilled out the gas check shank so it weighs about 160 now, but it shoots lights out up to 50 yds at velocities around 1100-1250 fps. I use ramshot competition

Medium loads, i sure liked rl7 but havent seen any in a while, and already burned up all i had. Imr 4227 was a close second...very close. About 18 grains (if i recall correct) with a tuft of dacron behind the lee 170 was as good as ive ever done with the imr 4227, any load any gun

Heavy load is an rcbs 30-180-fn, a bunch of h414 behind it. Clocked near 2000 fps but for some reason my forend screw sheared during load development...not sure if there was a connection between the load and the breakage... Otherwise, the gun seemed no worse for the wear

Have fun, it is an awesome round, fun fun fun

[Lead Fred]

Squib loads make rifles go boom

Use the right powder, when you get reckless, you can blow your ship up

[gnoahhh]

Squib loads are low velocity target loads. How the word morphed into a definition for a bullet stuck in the barrel is beyond me! :)

[Bazoo]

For a light load, i am really liking 6-7 grains fast pistol powder behind the lee 150. I drilled out the gas check shank so it weighs about 160 now, but it shoots lights out up to 50 yds at velocities around 1100-1250 fps. I use ramshot competition

Medium loads, i sure liked rl7 but havent seen any in a while, and already burned up all i had. Imr 4227 was a close second...very close. About 18 grains (if i recall correct) with a tuft of dacron behind the lee 170 was as good as ive ever done with the imr 4227, any load any gun

Heavy load is an rcbs 30-180-fn, a bunch of h414 behind it. Clocked near 2000 fps but for some reason my forend screw sheared during load development...not sure if there was a connection between the load and the breakage... Otherwise, the gun seemed no worse for the wear

Have fun, it is an awesome round, fun fun fun

Shearing off the forend screw is not uncommon on a carbine lever action with a forend band. It is more prevalent on marlins i believe as the forend is not as secure on some. I had a marlin 1894c 357, which i sheared the forend screw running 15 grains of 2400 under a 158 grain bullet.

[fecmech]

I'm using the Lee 312-155-2r with no GC over 8 grs of Steel(to use it up). It clocks right at 1300 fps and is consistently less than 2 moa@100 yds. I'm shooting these out of a Savage 340 bolt gun so the profile is no problem. A very accurate bullet in my gun that doesn't seem to care what pistol or shotgun powder is behind it as long as I run it 1200-1400 fps without the GC.

[greenwart]

I am using a little heavier bullet with the Lee 309-170-FN. I have found 18g 2400 or 29.5g R-15 seem to work best. These work best for my Savage. Lighter loads had very similar accuracy. I like using R-15 since it almost fills the case so there is no position sensitivity.

[Bazoo]

I like 2400 for heavy 357 loads.

[jlchucker]

30-30 was the very first caliber that I loaded for. I read somewhere that 3031 powder was developed with the 30-30 in mind. I don't go back that far, but 3031 and Winchester 748 were the powders for me back then, and pretty much still are. AA5744 when you can find it works really well with cast boolits, too.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I use 27 grains of 3031 with Lyman 311291. Started with 25 grains and worked up. Max is around 30 grains anyway if you need to go that high. Size of the grouping was my determining factor. Feeds well, burns clean and recoil is light to moderate in two 94's. LLS

[Bazoo]

I will definitaly be looking for some 3031 in my travels. Staying traditional is something i'd really like to do with this caliber.

[blixen]

I've just started using 3031 because my go-to powders have disappeared, but 3031 has turned up in quantity. I really like it so far in my 300 savages (rem722, sav99). This discussion is helpful because I plan to shoot it in my 30wcf levers. I use the lee 170 FP and the lee 185 Enfield, sized to .311. (2 shots in my levers with the round nose bullets). I'm also experimenting with the AK 150 mold.

[Geezer in NH]

I like 2400 for heavy 357 loads.Whatsn that got to do with 30/30 loads??

[Bazoo]

Whatsn that got to do with 30/30 loads?? 2400 was mentioned for 30wcf cast loads. I like the powder for 357, so, i may like it for 30wcf.

[atr]

146277using a savage 340

[OnHoPr]

What I seem to have noticed in this thread are a bunch of the general suggestions which are good for many. But, with the different powder and charge weights bore and boolit dimensions along with each boolits hardness were not addressed. Now, I am no eckspert and still basically in the freshman class, but one thing I have noticed is from a general content of this forum is that the correlation with the faster powders and the slower powders and the hardness of the boolit. If you have soft boolit you need to keep the faster powders charges on the lower side, if you harden the boolit you can jack up the grains a bit more and still maintain accuracy. This same concept goes with the medium loads. Actual chamber pressure and boolit hardness goes hand in hand. The more ecksperiened casters can push their soft boolits faster with the mid range fast powders well enough. But, for the utmost heavy loads with the softer boolits the slower mid range powders work well for the 30-30, 170 grs @ 2100 -2200 fps or more. My gun shoots well with 32 gr of AC 4064 at the higher 30-30 velocities. 4007 ssc works well for me as well. Those powders in the rel 15, 4007 ssc, and leverevelution would probably give the optimum heavy loads with a general softer alloy, something like Larry Gibson suggest in many of his post, basically 90 to 100% capacity loadings. But, depending on your gun these mileages may vary. Take what fiverunfive mentioned of 34 grs of 4831 @ 1800 fps, there is not enough 30-30 case to fill with 4831, so his velocity is down, but I am also assuming that it is a very malleable alloy and probably very good shooter or maybe even PB with his ecksperience.

[FergusonTO35]

Both my Marlins really like 28 grains of 4895 (either version) under the Lee C309-150-RF, and the Lee C309-113-RF over 19 grains 4227. I size 'em to .310 and dip in LLA.

[popper]

I like the LeverE with 170-180gr boolits in 30/30 but it works my 308W gas gun too.

[olafhardt]

My special 3031 load for Handyrifles. Powder charge- 31 grains of 3031 thus changing the caliber to 30-31. Bullet - Hornady 150 grain spire point interlock which is their catalog number 3031. This load is magic. I used it on a hippo cull in Topeka , Kansas with outstanding results. It accounted for the last legal Bangal tiger. I took a record alligator gar from the Arkansas river at Little Rock. This is the load that ended the careers of Bonnie and Clyde.