j23
03-26-2019, 12:57 PM
I recently picked up a new (to me) 94 Canadian Centennial. I bought it because I wanted a 94 with the 26" Octagon barrel, and it was a steal.
Currently, I have several boxes of 30-30's loaded for my other two Winchester 94's (70's vintage 20" carbines) consisting of 30-30 brass (trimmed to I believe 2.025"?) with a Lyman 311041, sized to .309" cast from W/W lead. The bullets are roll crimped into the crimping groove. The load functions and shoots great from the two 70's vintage 94 carbines. My buddy uses the same load in his dad's vintage Marlin 336, no issues.
Last night, I tried to feed several through the gun and noted two problems.
1) They seem to be just a hair too long, as they stick coming up from the magazine.
2) More importantly, the bullet is jamming into the lands when I chamber it, and I'm not talking about feint land marks in the bullet. They are heavily engraved, so much so that I have to squeeze the lever to get them to chamber the final 1/8".
I cast for several rifles in varying chamberings, all with cast bullets. When seated into the crimping groove, I have never seen the appropriate bullet for the cartridge end up too long like that.
I guess my question is, should I try a different mold?? Maybe something along the lines of a 150 grain? Or may something be amiss with the rifle? I.E. chamber cut too shallow? I don't have any factory rounds or j-word bullets to load up and try.
Has anyone run into this before with 94's in general, or the Canadian version specifically?
Currently, I have several boxes of 30-30's loaded for my other two Winchester 94's (70's vintage 20" carbines) consisting of 30-30 brass (trimmed to I believe 2.025"?) with a Lyman 311041, sized to .309" cast from W/W lead. The bullets are roll crimped into the crimping groove. The load functions and shoots great from the two 70's vintage 94 carbines. My buddy uses the same load in his dad's vintage Marlin 336, no issues.
Last night, I tried to feed several through the gun and noted two problems.
1) They seem to be just a hair too long, as they stick coming up from the magazine.
2) More importantly, the bullet is jamming into the lands when I chamber it, and I'm not talking about feint land marks in the bullet. They are heavily engraved, so much so that I have to squeeze the lever to get them to chamber the final 1/8".
I cast for several rifles in varying chamberings, all with cast bullets. When seated into the crimping groove, I have never seen the appropriate bullet for the cartridge end up too long like that.
I guess my question is, should I try a different mold?? Maybe something along the lines of a 150 grain? Or may something be amiss with the rifle? I.E. chamber cut too shallow? I don't have any factory rounds or j-word bullets to load up and try.
Has anyone run into this before with 94's in general, or the Canadian version specifically?