Marlin 30-30 And Cast

[hylander]

So I love shooting cast loads in just about everything.
The 336 30-30 is one of my favorites.
These are typical groups with iron sights.
Rear sight is a Williams peep.
1966 Micro Groove
As you can see it shoots .309, .310 and .311 pills very well.

[RickinTN]

My mold for my favorite M"arlin 30-30 bullets drop at 3094". That's what I shoot and it shoots well at that diameter. I have had for a while and have several bullets cast from the NOE 122 grain Louverin bullet which I have high hopes for but haven't tried any yet. Hoping to soon and I'll try them at .310". I just acquired a new to me 1966 model 336 which I hope to try them in. Your experience with different sizes mirrors mine.
Take care,
Rick

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Very nice. Is your 336 a micro-groove? Hard to beat the .311 group!

DG

[RickinTN]

If you want to try something a little different than what your current load is substitute 15 or 16 grains of IMR4227. I get my best groups with it.
Good Luck,
Rick

[hylander]

This is a 1966 with Micro Groove.
I also get good groups with 2400
If I can find some, I'll try the 4227

[rockrat]

I would try the H4198 but none around here in a long time

[scattershot]

Good shootin! Mine is a micro groove, and likes .310 cast with 5.5Red Dot.

50 yards,,with scope.323603

[Sam Sackett]

My Marlin 336 is micro groove also. Here is a 50 yard target with a Lyman 31141 powder coated bullet. Weigh about 175 grains and were sized at 309. Pushed with 29 grains of IMR 4895.
Not too bad for my old eyes and factory sights.

323599

Sam Sackett

[sigep1764]

If you want to try something a little different than what your current load is substitute 15 or 16 grains of IMR4227. I get my best groups with it.
Good Luck,
Rick
Tell us more about 4227. I just picked up a pound for use in my Win 1905 project.

[FergusonTO35]

So I love shooting cast loads in just about everything.
The 336 30-30 is one of my favorites.
These are typical groups with iron sights.
Rear sight is a Williams peep.
1966 Micro Groove
As you can see it shoots .309, .310 and .311 pills very well.

Awesome! You ever try any 150 grain pills? I have the gas check RCBS 308-150-RF and it works quite well, never really tried for groups tho.

[hylander]

Awesome! You ever try any 150 grain pills? I have the gas check RCBS 308-150-RF and it works quite well, never really tried for groups tho.

Will be trying the Lee 150 soon, as I have hundreds already cast

[RickinTN]

I settled on 4227 for my mid range powder when I researched and found it was highly recommended for accuracy loads in the 32-40 cartridge. Mid-range 30-30 isn't much different than 32-40. I tried it on a hunch and found it to perform very well. I believe it shoots better groups than I can. I use it in conjunction with the Accuratemolds.com 31-180r bullet which I designed. I use it with a Lee factory crimp die and it does not require a crimp groove. This bullet is extremely accurate in one of my Remington 700's chambered in 308 Winchester which has a long throat. This combination has worked quite well for me in a couple of Marlin 336 rifles and I'm about to try it in another.
Good luck,
Rick

[FergusonTO35]

Will be trying the Lee 150 soon, as I have hundreds already cast

My Lee 150 mold produced boolits with a fat nose, my 170 doesn't. The Lee 170 is one of the most accurate boolits I've ever tried. Haven't yet done any serious testing with the RCBS 150, but results so far are promising. Unfortunately, fast rifle powders and LR primers are few and far between here so I have to be really stingy with using them. Still, this spring I am planning to see if I can work up a nice load with H-335 under the 150.

[Fast Asleep]

I love the perpetual discussions of cast bullets in a micro groove Marlin. Fifty plus years ago when I first started casting bullets, my only rifle was a Marlin 30-30 and before I read any of the “you can’t shoot cast in a micro groove barrel” wisdom—I did so and found out otherwise!

[FergusonTO35]

I've never found them to be any better or worse than others. As with any gun, proper size and pressure is everything. I can see how things could go sideways alot faster with Micro Groove, or polygonal pistol rifling, if something is off though. Both are less forgiving on undersize boolits and/or high pressure than conventional rifling in my experience.

[PAndy]

The earliest microgroove guns had more and shallower grooves. Mine is a 1959 and it has 21 grooves. Later, they reduced the number of grooves and made them deeper. So the early shallow groove guns may be a little different to deal with. Mine doesn't seem to like shooting any cast load over 1500 fps. It does shoot mild cast well enough. YMMV. Interestingly, I have two waffle tops with Ballard rifling and they don't do any better. Lots of Marlins shoot cast just fine.

[FergusonTO35]

I think that's why the 1972 1895 I had never shot too well with boolits. Lands and grooves so fine and shallow that it looked like it had been rifled with a Sharpie.

[beemer]

I have had no problem with Micro-Groove to 1650 fps, never pushed past that. My current 336 is a 336A with standard rifling, had it's own problems. The throat was tight, I had to ream the rifling slightly to seat any boolit out to a reasonable length. I use a 311291 and Lee 170 and can't really tell the difference. I have tried a Lee 150, rifle didn't seem to like it. For powder I use IMR 4198, 5744 and 2400. Mine likes .310-.311 dia. I turn the necks slightly to give a little clearance as it's tight also.

Your rifle shoots well, I like aperture sights too.