30-30 200 GC with WC860 (Mil-Surplus) in Mossberg 464

[Palmyrahicks]

30-30 200 GC with WC860 (Mil-Surplus) in Mossberg 464

Lee 308-200 GC LRN sized to .309"

2.5cc of WC860 Mil-Surplus Powder... DO NOT REDUCE, pressure is already low and powder is compressed into the case when the bullet is seated. ***Slow powders have been said to sometimes detonate in cases that are not filled***. If you do not see powder (2.5cc of WC860) reaching the base of the neck in your cartridge case, you are messing-up and may discover bad Voo-Doo when fired. Just don't mess around with the powder measurement.

PR: S&B LR

C.O.L. 2.685" (Already fired once in the same rifle, and "neck sized only" produces the best groups. Be sure to chamfer and size the neck tight before seating, or Boolits may creep back out of the neck. If the C.O.L. extends beyond 2.685" in my rifle... they may be difficult to cycle in and out of the chamber, if not jam-up altogether. This is a big Boolit for the 30-30 and may not work in other brands of lever action rifles.

Results: 1700 FPS, with groups of less than 1" at 50 Yards (iron sights), using a Mossberg 464 lever action with a 20" barrel. Some un-burned powder remains in the barrel and may roll out into the chamber and action during extraction of the spent cartridge. My rifle has no problems cycling despite traces of unburned powder during cycling.

Energy Formula: 200x1700x1700/450436=1283 FPE

[yeahbub]

I'm impressed that you get the velocity you report. I got some WC860 some years ago when it was cheap and after studying the load data, I thought to give it a try in the 7.62x54R with 180gr .312 jacketed RN. It worked, but it's definitely SLOW and I could hear a lot of it hitting the leaves on the ground. Mag primers didn't seem to help any, so the only other way to cork it up enough to get it lit was a heavier boolit or hotter ignition. I wound up duplexing it with a few grains of 4759 in the bottom of the case, maintaining 100% load density, increasing 4759 and reducing the WC860 until there was no unburned powder in the barrel and they had the same zero as factory ammo. Still very low pressure, mild to shoot and groups were small. I hadn't thought to try it in the .30-30, but it seems you've come up with a workable hunting load that won't vaporize valuable meat like the belchfire magnums tend to.

[Texas by God]

Ought to penetrate like crazy. Kind of .303 Savage like.

[Palmyrahicks]

Yeahbub, the key seems to be having a very heavy bullet (Boolit) and a tightly neck-sized case. If it hasn't been fired in the same rifle before, the initial pressure is too low for proper and consistent ignition-pressure to get a good group and reliable velocity. The case neck sizing collet-die mandrel I use needed to be burnished down to a smaller than standard size to get the case mouth to hold the bullets firmly enough. The lube wax I use is not much thicker than Cosmoline, so they slip back out when the powder is compressed unless that case neck is sized down very well. It is very pleasant to shoot for such a heavy bullet.

The big rimmed Russian you shoot may have the potential to reach about 2200-2400 FPS with a 200 RN GC if it is fat enough to fill the bore, while using WC860 in a full case. "Full of powder" is a key factor. BE CAREFUL to use every precaution

[Hamish]

That's better velocity than what's listed in CastPics, may want to have that added,,,,


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