30-30 RCBS 30-180-FN will it work?

[dale.l]

I have a winchester 94 30-30 pre-64, I would like to shoot cast out of this gun. I want to buy a few boxes to see how I like them before getting setup to cast my own. Im intersted in the RCBS 30-180-FN will this bullet work in a 30-30? I have two concerns.

1. the back of the bullet will be past the neck, I think only the gas check will be below the neck. will the flame cut the back of the bullet because of this?

2.when this bullet is crimped in the groove will it chamber in a 94, looks like it might hit the rifling before the bolt is closed.

my bore slugs at .308 should I buy .310 bullets?

Im new to cast bullets Thanks DALE

[beagle]

Good to have you with us.

I use .310" sized bullets in my M94 Win and it likes them best seems like.

The 30-180-FN RCBS shoots well in my M94 but it casts at about 190 grains and is a bit heavy for my taste..

For a general purpose bullet, I normally use the 30-150-FN RCBS with better results on targets, plinking, etc./beagle

[geargnasher]

Welcome to the insanity!

"Pre '64" usually refers to the model 70 bolt gun before Winny cheaped out on production methods and changed the design a bunch, not sure if production of the model 94 levergun was affected and am not sure why you specified that.

The answer is maybe. You won't know for sure unless you buy a mould, cast some boolits, make a dummy round and try to chamber it crimped in the top lube groove. All guns are different, and all 94's are different, too. Crimped in the top groove it will probably protrude into the case just a bit, and I don't know for sure if the gas check will be below the neck. I tried some of these boolits years ago when doing a casting session with a friend who had a mould, but I shot all of them in my .30-'06 (they worked quite well, btw). If your rifle has a long throat, you may be able to crimp in the second groove and keep the boolit in the case, but then again it may be too long to feed. The 150-grain Lee flat nose is pretty tough to beat for the 30-30.

I would stick with 309-310" boolits for a .308 bore unless you're going for extreme velocity and hardness, then groove diameter can work in some instances.

One more thing, pick up a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and read it thoroughly at least twice. Everything you need to know to get started is in there, and once you get the hang of things we can help you with all the troubleshooting tips and tricks that Lyman hasn't figured out yet.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Well there you go, thanks, Beagle, you posted while I was hunting and pecking!

Gear

[JIMinPHX]

If the barrel slugs at .308, then I would go .309" on the boolits. You can run .310 boolits through a .309 size die to get them to that size. You can probably get away with running .310 boolits in a .308 barrel as long as you don't get too horny with the powder charge, but best results usually occur with .001" of oversize.

I happen not to seat any boolits so far down into the case that they pass the case neck, but I have spoken to several people who have reported having good results doing so. If I were going to do it, I would probably be sure to wipe the lube off the portion of the boolit that will stick out inside the case. I expect that if powder were to stick to the side of the boolit & ignite in the barrel, it would probably cause accuracy problems. That's just a guess on my part though.

If only the gas check is sticking into the case, then I would not expect any problems as long as the check is firmly attached.

When you get the boolits, try different seating depths to see what feeds & chambers. You don't really need to crimp in a groove. On a lead boolit, you can crimp just about anywhere that you need to & the brass will just bite into the boolit, that is unless you use some mondo extra special hard alloy mix. It's nice to crimp in a groove, but its not necessarily mandatory.

Having the boolit hit the rifling before the bold closes is no big problem. Some guys do that intentionally for better accuracy. Just get it to feed properly & make sure that you don't go creating an overpressure situation by seating a boolit too deep with a max or near max powder charge.

Personally, I get my best results from a .30-30 with a 150 grain boolit. Most other guys swear by a 170. 180 should be OK if you load it up properly. My 2300fps 150-grain hunting load gives me better accuracy than factory ammo. With performance like that, I don't feel the need to go heavier.

Welcome aboard Dale.

[dale.l]

would the lyman 311041 be better? I was mostly intersted in the 30-180-FN because of the wider flat nose. this will be mostly for whitetail

[MT Gianni]

It shoots fine in my 94 & Savage 340.

[geargnasher]

The 311041 is custom-made for the 30-30, and is what I shoot the most of in both of my guns.

Gear

[rintinglen]

The 180 grain RCBS FN is an excellent choice--provided it will chamber in your gun. It works well in my daughter's carbine and in my Canadian Centennial, but not in my 1953 vintage carbine. It won't even chamber in my Savage bolt action. The 311-041 as mentioned is a safer bet, but I have had better groups from bullets out of the RCBS mold. I usually size mine .310, since my Daughter's gun runs a little larger in the bore, and it works fine in the Centennial but YMMV.

[excess650]

The RCBS 30-180FN does cast close to 190gr, but is of no disadvantage for hunting whitetails, IMO. Likewise, the gas check seating below the case neck dosen't seem to be an issue provided it is firmly crimped to the bullet shank. I've shot thousands of them this way without issue. As for concerns about crimping for a specific OAL, I don't crimp mine anyway, tube magazine or not.

My 311041s weigh closer to 175gr and are a great bullet for the 30-30. Likewise, the Lee 170FN is reputed to be a fine performer.

The Ranch Dog 311-165 was purposely designed for use in Marlin 30-30s, but should work in Winchesters. They have the widest meplat that I've seen on any 30cal bullet.

As for pre 64 vs post 64 Winchester 94s, yes, there can be considerable difference. Many post 64s had stamped lifters that were prone to bending, some had plastic sights, and they had those receivers that couldn't be hot blued.

[Bret4207]

The RCBS 30-180 works in my pre-64 94, and yeah, there's a diff between pre and post 64 94's. The GC doesn't sit below the neck that I'm aware of in my brass. The 30-30 has that looong neck and that helps with cast IMO.

[Larry Gibson]

would the lyman 311041 be better? I was mostly intersted in the 30-180-FN because of the wider flat nose. this will be mostly for whitetail

311041 is the better choice simply because it was specifically designed for use in the 30-30. With bullets of appropriate alloy for expansion I doubt there is any appreciable on target difference. I tried the RCBS bullet and had some chambering problems in several rifles of 30-30 and 30-06 chamberings. Sold the RCBS mould and kept the Lyman mould.

I cast my 311041 hunting bullets of 50/50 WW/lead alloy and size at .311, lube with Javelina and make sure the GC (either Hornady, Bator or my own) are square on the shank. I do this by inverting the sized and GC's bullet in the .311 H die with the stop adjusted so the driving bands are supported and flat based nose punch is used to firmly and squarely seat the GC.

Since I push such bullets to 2050 - 2200+ fps with medium and slow powders I also clean the barrel every 5 - 7 shots to maintain excellent accuracy for hunting. I also prefer to HP the noses to 1/3 to 3/4 the nose depth with either the HP stem of one 311041HP mould or with the Forster HP tool. The solid 311041s run 177 gr with the 50/50 alloy mentioned. I also HP'd the RCBS 180 gr bullet and they also ran close to 190 gr cast of 50/50 alloy mentioned.

Never could tell any terminal difference in the bullets. 311041 was the easier to work with and shoots very well so that's the one I stuck with. However, should the RCBS bullet fit in your rifles it would also be just as good a choice. Obviously whether it fits in your rifle or not is the question and only you can answer that.

Larry Gibson

[geargnasher]

Thanks for getting me up to speed on the m94 production difference, I guess they were revamped along with many of the other lines in 1964.

Gear