Cast bullets in a 30-30

[BobinIL]

I just bought a Winchester 94 NRA cenntenial 30-30 with a 26" barrel and 1/2 length magazine tube. The gun has several diings in the wood and some finish flaking off on the reciever. I bought it to shoot but it has never been fired before. I do not plan on shooting any copper through it. I want to use it for long range cowboy side matches. I will start off with some 170grn cast GC bullets, the lee mold looks good. Can anyone reccomend a 30-30 load for the 170grn GC cast bullet at around 1600fps???

[jimkim]

15gr of 2400, 1624fps.
14.8gr of SR-4759, 1530fps.
22.5gr of IMR-3031 ,1599fps.
23.8gr of Win 748,1604fps.
All of these are from The Lyman Reloading Handbook 48th Edition. All using the Lyman #311291 170gr bullets. They were loaded to an OAL of 2.521". They are all starting loads. I don't have any using the Lee bullet. I would suggest getting a copy if you can. I don't know if the new book has the same data.

[fourarmed]

Bob, that sounds a lot like my 64A, which is 24" with half magazine. It shoots very well with 311291 cast so that the rifling marks the nose, kicked by 15 grains of 2400.

[Shiloh]

15 Gr of SR-4759 clone gives 1640 fps with a Lyman 311041 173 gr flat nose. This gives accuracy of 1.5"+ @ 50 yards, I am going to slow them down to around 1525-1550 to see if I get better accuracy. The iron sights that it has has everything shooting low. I need more work with this to really find the potential.

Shiloh

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Using Lyman mold #311291 @ 170 grains with 25-27 grains of IMR 3031 makes for decent grouping, substantial power and relatively light recoil. My 94's (a deluxe takedown with a low 4 digit serial number and a 50's SRC) seem to prefer 3031 as it has a better loading density than with faster powders. Factory similar ballistics are attainable with 30 to 31 grains of 3031 but that amount of powder puts it in the 2000fps+ range. I personally don't like to push my 94's up there as they group well for me with out making them take a beating. Lyman # 311041 is pretty much the same as 311291 weight-wise and performance-wise, but has the flat (meplat) that some shooters favor for use in tubular mags. A slight roll crimp is better for tube mags, but you can leave it off if you feed em one at a time. LLS

[Bob A]

JimKim got it right but there are a few other good choices.
5744, 4198 and Reloader 7 all do a very good job with cast in the 30-30.
I use 4759 and Reloader 7 because I have them but you can buy any of these and expect good results.


Bob A

[Boerrancher]

I will start off with some 170grn cast GC bullets, the lee mold looks good. Can anyone reccomend a 30-30 load for the 170grn GC cast bullet at around 1600fps???

I have the Lee 180 gr GC mould that shoot in just about all my 30 cal rifles. With my 50/50 WW and range lead alloy, finishes with lube and gas check at 173 grs. I know that with my 30-30 and a properly sized boolit, I have no problems with pushing that cast boolit and J bullet speeds, but it really comes into it as far as accuracy between the 1500 to 1800 fps range. One of my most accurate loads is 10.6 gr of Unique, which is running right near that 1600 fps mark, but just a hair under.

Proper sizing, proper sizing, proper sizing, can not be stressed enough. There are nearly as many ideas on alloys and lubes are there are those of us who cast, but I don't think that there is any of us who are serious about our hobby who will argue that sizing is the most critical part of the process. I got my 30-30 because the man that had it couldn't make it shoot. I never give it much thought, and tossed it in the back of the safe along with my other old winchester lever guns I never shoot. It wasn't until back in Jan that I started messing with it after owning it for nearly 15 years. When I slugged the bore, it measured 309. No wonder the fella couldn't make it shoot. Now with my 311 boolits, the old winnie is just as accurate as any other 30-30 out there.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe