Anyone got a receipe for .30 cal?

[docone31]

I am still awaiting to get my sizer for my .303. I got the paper, even an old cartridge holder for 38spl to set my wrapped bullets untill they dry.
What is a good formula for .30 cal?
My mold puts out .312, and I have five .30 cal. rifles. I thought I might try for .310 wrapped.
Anyone got a sweet formula?

[jhalcott]

You will find that EACH gun is a law unto itself. I do not believe there is ONE universal load for any caliber. Even "THE LOAD" of 16 grains of reddot needs to be tweaked for different rifles. It will work but best accuracy will need a bit of fiddling on your part.

[docone31]

I know there is no Grail. I also know each barrel "talks" a little different. I am just wondering, where to begin.
My 03-A2 has robust 2 land rifling, my .308 has hammer rifling, my wife's G63 is cut rifling.
Having never fired a non-jacketed in any .30 cal, I have no clue where to start.
Lead only seems to foul more if it is too loose. At least from what I have read. I have read, on this forum somewhere, paper jackets to .314 in a .30 cal work. I have an hard time with that one, as I do not really know a lot on lead properties in a rifle, either paper jacketed, or plain.
I can seem to cast them, as listed size wise for each mold.
This thread is for me to absorb as much information as I can.
I use surplus 4895 powder. I like it. It seems a little softer than my old favourite, 3031. Leaves no unburned grains. Measures great.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

First step is to slug your bore. Presumably you want to patch a moderately hard booletto groove size plus 1/1000 or so. Check dimensions on a finished dry douple wrapped boolitte to see what you have. I like a snug fit in the case neck but don't care to swage the case neck down in chambering. You may have to "m" die the neck up if sized or possibly use a fired case without neck sizing. 2-Groove barrels are nice for lead or patched. Lube the dry patched part of the boulito with your favorite or Lee case lube. I like a mild rifle primer. 2400 at 12 grains works nicely, AA5744 is good, Unique, AA2495 at 28 grains is good too. Adjust one thing at a time, Favor continuing things that seem to work. BvT

[docone31]

I appreciate the powder stats. I use 4895 almost exclusively for my rifles. I like it a lot better than the 3031 I used to swear by.
What I am looking for,
I use Lee products. I have a mold that casts .312 at 185gns. I am going to size my .303 to .308 and two wraps of Meade tracing paper. That should give .314.
What size should I start with with the .30 cals. I would like to end up at .310, I think. I had read .304 with 10lb 25% rag with two wraps.
Any suggestions?

[beemer]

The Lee 180 sized to .308 and meade combo works out close to .314,works good in the 303 and Nagant.I have sized those in a Lee .311 die and shot them in my 4 groove Springfield 30-06 without any problems. The boolits were lubed with LLA before sizing. I got a 1 3/4 in. group at 100 yds. for 5 shots. I only shot 1 group with that boolit so it will be tried again. Several were sized a little smaller but the .311 did best. The load was 46 grs. of Win 760.

My Springfield has been sporterized, but has an original barrel in mint condition that slugs close to .309.

beemer

[docone31]

Beemer, are you using the Meade tracing paper for the .30?
If that is the case, it almost seems too good to be true. I had figuired I would have to have Lee make me a sizer.
If .308 is a good sizing to start with the Meade paper, that means I should be able to use the same start point for both my .303, and -o6, and .308.
That is exciting to me.

[beemer]

I use the Meade tracing paper from Wal-Mart, it is .0015 thick. The Lee 180 is sized to .308 and wraped with two layers of paper making it .314 or very close to it. For the 303 or Mosin I lube with LLA and shoot as is. For the 30-06 it was lubed and sized in the .311. I am also new to paper patching and felt that I was lucky to find that combo. It can probably be improved on but it got me shooting fairly well in short order. I will probably not be so lucky next time.

When patching I let the paper extend about 1/16 in. in front of the driving bands, this as well as the seating depth can be adjusted to seat the boolit into the throat. Be sure you flare the neck so it will not cut the paper. I have shot the Mosin up to 2450 fps with about the same accuracy as J-bullets,about 2.5 or so at 100 yds. It seems the more I shoot this stuff the less use I have for copper.

Let us know how it works.
beemer

[docone31]

Beemer,
I just have to get a die for .308 and I am off to the races. I am chomping at the bit to try this out.
Thanks for getting me a start point. It kinda sounds like the start point will be the good point.
I appreciate it.

[docone31]

I went to the races and here is what happened.
I sized the bullet to .308. Next time, I will size to .309, then .308. Too hard on equipment.
I used Lee Lube lightly to do the sizing. It washed directly off after sizing.
Next, I used Meade tracing paper, cut 1". I then took a piece, after checking for grain, it is the short way, and rolled it around the sized bullet dry. This I cut to length. Wrong first time. After cutting the 30* angle, I was half a turn short. I did another one, and cut the angles the wrong way. Again, too short. Next time I rolled one up, cut and did it correctly.
I used a rolling machine. A plastic two roller machine like the Top one. I had to figuire out which way to put the base, and ogive.
That took two trys. I got one with saliva to test. Came out ok and mikes at .3135. I can live with that.
The length of the paper was 2 3/8" there is enough of a gap so it does not overextend the beginning wrap.
I twisted the end, and put it in a 9mm case. Good fit.
Now to wait untill it drys, trim the end. I have no cases for the rig, so I have to go to the range and test my castings first. I plan on flanging the case opening for the paper patch. The castings went in easy but I do not want to chance it. I did use a gas check for this experiment.
Thanks Beemer, it seems to work, so far. I am looking at it drying so I can test its cohesiveness with itself.

[docone31]

I have just done one with just water as the wetting agent.
It is amazing how simply/difficult it is to do an one-off. I cut the first patch wrong! Too short.
The saliva patch is looking drier, and the grooves are beginning to pull in a tad.
The water patch is in the 9mm case.
It even took some orientation to get the roll right on the cigarette roller so the patch went against the rifling. It also miked at .3135.
I am glad I shoot single shot.

[docone31]

Follow up on the patching.
The saliva patch miked at .312. I have A/C so things dry fast here. The water patch dried at .3125.
So far so good.
The water patch has a wrinkle.
They really dry hard! I am impressed.
I have not clipped the tails yet.
The paper is surpisingly strong wet. I was afraid of tearing it so I was too careful. The cigarette roller squeeges water off the patch.
I cannot begin to describe the imaginings I went through. I can see now how they can go through a sizing die without wiping the patch off.
So sized at .308, wrapped with two wraps of Meade Tracing Paper, wet measures .3135.
The sizing die pretty much wiped out the lube grooves. There is only a shallow ring where the groove was. The mold has a crimp point. Yeah right, crimping lead. I ran the paper a tad over the bore land, just below where I saw the rifling impact when I tried one of my loads with a lead bullet.
I am looking forward to seeing what they do for the bore. It was unfired when I got it. I broke it in, and now I plan on using lead, and or paper patches.
What the heck was I so spun about? It is actually fairly simple.
Thanks for all the help dialing in the numbers.
It seems to work.

[docone31]

Further follow up.
I measured the two I did last night. Still .3125. The wrapping did not pull away.
I wrapped 18 more tonight.
I started with way too much water. They wrapped ok, but twisting tore the tails. I stopped at the tear and just pushed the edges down.
I then dipped 1/2 of the patch into the water and spread it with my fingers. Much better althoug sometimes dry when rolling.
I used a two roller cigarette rolling machine. A cheapie with vynl fabric.
The machine squeeged the excess water off the wrap. Any wrinkles were flattened down.
On quite a few, the part of the patch the bullet was placed on, the patch would come back out of the roller. I solved this by folding the corner back in then rolling. Since it ends up in the tail I did not think it would hurt. I was right. Good tight wraps, easy to roll tail.
I use 9mm cases to let them dry. There is no excess water dripping off them.
They measured from .313, to .3125, consistantly. The wetter the patch, the more it stretches. I cut all the patches 2 3/8" with opposing 30* angles. I ended up with maybe a 1/32 gap between start and stop.
Essentially, I put the patch on the fabric of the roller, then dropped the bullet onto the patch. I then fold down the first corner. From there, if neccessary I straighten out the patch, close the roller, and roll, gently holding the back side of the machine roller. this tightens the roll. Slightly.
Open the roller, eject the patched bullet, twist the tail, put nose down in a case, and let sit.
I am looking forward to testing these new bullets. I am not going to size these at this time. They are for my .303 British.