Joy with the 30-06 and 2400

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My son put three under an inch with my Weatherby Vanguard this morning. 21 grains 2400, Lee 170 RNFP, powdercoated, gas checked, 50/50 ww/pure air cooled alloy, neck sized Rem brass, WLR primer 1850-1900 fps. Fouled, cold bore. He would have kept shooting, but I had him stop so we could enjoy it, never done it myself with cast. We’ve probably killed a dozen deer with this load over the years.

[Rainier]

Very nice! The Lee 170 is the most accurate boolit in my Featherweight '06.

[Winger Ed.]

That's good.

I've got a bunch of .30 j-words I've accumulated over the years, and haven't loaded.
I find it much more enjoyable to shoot cast in the rifles of .30 and bigger.

[W.R.Buchanan]

That is some good shootin' You should buy him a beer!

Randy

[Silvercreek Farmer]

That is some good shootin' You should buy him a beer!

Randy

Maybe when he turns 21;)

[whisler]

OK, how about a root beer,:razz:

[W.R.Buchanan]

You live in NC for Gods sake,,, the kid has probably been drinking Shine since he was 12! chug a lug, chug a lug!

Randy

[jt1]

100 yds? If so, congratulations. It's my goal to achieve sub moa with a cast combination, but I'm not there yet.

[Aerotox]

It is possible to achieve sub-MOA with a cast bullet in some barrels. On two separate occasions I have fired 3 shot 100 yard groups less than 1/2 inch center-to-center (0.43 and 0.33) with a 30-30. It is a Browning 1885 with a 30-30 barrel using a small reticle high powered scope. I used a Lyman 311291 mold with wheel weight metal quenched in water straight out of the mold. The bullets were lubed with Lyman Alox and sized at 0.310 inches with a Lyman sizer using a Lyman gas check. The powder was Alliant 2400 at 17 grains. The overall length was 2.53 inches with a light taper crimp. I used Winchester Large Rifle primers. The cases were once-fired from that barrel that were resized with the shoulder pushed back just a couple of thousandths before reloading. My notes don't contain whether it was Winchester or Remington cases. I couldn't believe the first group. That is why I tried it on two separate days, separated by about 4 months. So, it is possible with that particular combination. I am guessing that the velocity was around 1500 FPS but haven't chronographed that load.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

It is possible to achieve sub-MOA with a cast bullet in some barrels. On two separate occasions I have fired 3 shot 100 yard groups less than 1/2 inch center-to-center (0.43 and 0.33) with a 30-30. It is a Browning 1885 with a 30-30 barrel using a small reticle high powered scope. I used a Lyman 311291 mold with wheel weight metal quenched in water straight out of the mold. The bullets were lubed with Lyman Alox and sized at 0.310 inches with a Lyman sizer using a Lyman gas check. The powder was Alliant 2400 at 17 grains. The overall length was 2.53 inches with a light taper crimp. I used Winchester Large Rifle primers. The cases were once-fired from that barrel that were resized with the shoulder pushed back just a couple of thousandths before reloading. My notes don't contain whether it was Winchester or Remington cases. I couldn't believe the first group. That is why I tried it on two separate days, separated by about 4 months. So, it is possible with that particular combination. I am guessing that the velocity was around 1500 FPS but haven't chronographed that load.

Awesome. Welcome to the forum!

[35remington]

Whenever I shoot an exceptional group, I immediate repeat the attempt a number of times in the same range session to determine if the exceptional group was exceptional or typical.

Unfortunately one group or one group separated from another group by months usually doesn’t prove anything at all. Multiple groups shot one after another do, but this has always been true.

For your next range session if you are into three shot groups I might suggest shooting eight three shot groups fired the same day, same piece of paper. This will show aggregate accuracy better.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Whenever I shoot an exceptional group, I immediate repeat the attempt a number of times in the same range session to determine if the exceptional group was exceptional or typical.

Unfortunately one group or one group separated from another group by months usually doesn’t prove anything at all. Multiple groups shot one after another do, but this has always been true.

For your next range session if you are into three shot groups I might suggest shooting eight three shot groups fired the same day, same piece of paper. This will show aggregate accuracy better.

All true. Despite posting the details, this wasn’t about repeatability, load development, alloy, pc or the rifle. It was simply about a father and son enjoying a moment that we will both remember for a long time. I did order him a Timney trigger to replace the horrid stock trigger;)

[35remington]

Understandable. For myself I just have to be sure what I think I know is what is actually happening.

[rockrat]

Great group. Gives you kind of a warm feeling inside to do that.
Had a Rem 700 in 338 WM that would shoot about like that using 4759 and a 240gr boolit @2000fps. One of Toms moulds I had him make for my 338ME and tried it in the WM.

[charlie b]

It is really cool to see a bullet go exactly where you aimed it. But, it makes the fliers that much more frustrating too :)

Glad you had a great day with your kid. They don't come often enough.

Had a similar day with a nephew. He watched me hit a golf ball at 75yd with my Win94 and cast bullets. Three times in a row. With open sights (receiver peep). No, I'll never be able to repeat that one :) Now he has the rifle.

[Larry Gibson]

2400 is my "go to" powder for match level accuracy in both my M70 target 308W and my M1903A1 NM 30-06. Here's 20 gr of 2400 under the 30 XCB out of the M1903A1 NM at 100 yards. Two sighters with sight adjustment, then ten shots "for record".

294652

294653

[WRideout]

You live in NC for Gods sake,,, the kid has probably been drinking Shine since he was 12! chug a lug, chug a lug!

Randy

Lots of Damn Yankees live there now; bring all their foreign habits with them.
Wayne

[Green Frog]

Many years ago, a long time High Power shooter friend of mine talked about using a “bumble bee load” in his pre-64 Winchester Model 70 target rifle. We were shooting the reduced (100 yd) course in Charlottesville, VA when he told me about using this light recoiling reduced load of 2400 behind a 165(?) gr BT spire point. He spoke highly of it, but I was “too busy” and didn’t bother to get the details, and he is sadly long deceased. :(

It’s good to get this hint on how I might be able to get back on the track of his load. :)

Froggie

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have used 16 gr of 2400 with the 311299 boolits in my .30-06 and .308 guns, but I will try upping that to 20 gr.

Randy

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My turn! This time with the same load in a Tikka T3 Hunter, three shots, warm bore. Shot another submoa group just before this one as well, just a bit larger.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Head to South Dakota for some prairie dog shooting with those irons!

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Head to South Dakota for some prairie dog shooting with those irons!

That would be fun, but its a bit of a drive and pretty cold right now!

[gwpercle]

My son put three under an inch with my Weatherby Vanguard this morning. 21 grains 2400, Lee 170 RNFP, powdercoated, gas checked, 50/50 ww/pure air cooled alloy, neck sized Rem brass, WLR primer 1850-1900 fps. Fouled, cold bore. He would have kept shooting, but I had him stop so we could enjoy it, never done it myself with cast. We’ve probably killed a dozen deer with this load over the years.

I'm going to write that load down ...can't get any more Awesomer than that ...!!!
Got the mould and a 30-06 ...thanks for posting !
Gary

[selmerfan]

20 gr. 2400 with the 311299 is money for me in my .30-06. I love that powder with cast boolits!

[Ford SD]

Question for People who have switched to PC .... Rifle loads

Did you reduce your load and work up ?

Same Load before pc and after PC ?

Better groups / worse Groups ?

Longest Target shot with PC Group Size ?

Thanks ;)

[charlie b]

Same loads.

About same accuracy.

Longest target recorded so far was 500yd. Group was just under 10". Only did that once. Most of the time I shoot at a 5" gong. Hit one out of three as long as I get the wind right :)

I have many groups at 300yd that are under 5" and a few that are under 3".

FWIW, I do most of my shooting at 200 and 300yd.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Question for People who have switched to PC .... Rifle loads

Did you reduce your load and work up ?

Same Load before pc and after PC ?

Better groups / worse Groups ?

Longest Target shot with PC Group Size ?

Thanks ;)

I’d rework if it was a max load, but as this wasn’t, I didn’t. I previously used a boolit lubed with LLA, JPW, or Recluse lube. 3-5 shot groups seemed closer to 2” and I was using a slightly harder alloy, probably 80/20 WW/Pure. Now they are closer to 1.5” pretty much on demand, assuming little or no wind. We shoot out to 300 yards at a steel coyote. Once elevation is determined, which still requires a bit of holdover even with the elevation maxed out on my scope, we can reliably put front quarter shots on the coyote. We shot a couple 200 yard groups yesterday and landed around 3.25-3.5” with a light swirling breeze. Wind becomes a major factor with these slower loads at longer distances. Even a light breeze makes quite a POI difference.

[Char-Gar]

Larry...Good shooting! There are no lucky ten shot groups as the old saying goes. The ten shot group is the gold standard and three shot groups mean little or nothing. You are squeezing about all the accuracy out of that rifle it has to give. I have a couple of good 03A3s and they are reliable 1.5 MOA rifles (ten shot) if my karma is in good shape.