1903A3 30.06 powders

[WineMan]

In my 1903A3 the 16 gr Al 2400 and the 170 gr Fattest 30 (Loverin one) which drops at 0.318" (Mosin fodder) and pushed through a LEE 0.314 die makes one hole at 50 yards if I can hold steady enough. It also knocks down Rams at 200 meters (pistol/cast size).

Wineman

[cobbmtmac]

Perimedik,

Just another vote of confidence ...Re... 16grs of 2400. I have Spfd ..06's, Mod 54 Win 06's, 30-40 Krags & 308 Win. and this is my load.

A very kind Gentleman on this Board said to me about 7 years ago, "Mac, 16 grains of 2400 and never look back". It has been my load for these rifles every since. Besides producing MOA in each of these rifle every now and then, it just makes life simple.

My 2 cents worth,

[perimedik]

thjanks for all the help guys

[perimedik]

worked a small batch
I did notice the bullet seater left a very fine cut in the bullet. We'll see how they shoot.
I'll make some adjustments on the next batch

[roverboy]

Perimedik, what brand mold is that? Love the flat point.

[94Doug]

My only concern, and maybe it's the photo itself, but some of the gas checks don't look like they seated quite square, like the two outside ones. It could be my vision too.


Doug

[perimedik]

Perimedik, what brand mold is that? Love the flat point.

LEE C-309-150F bought it for 30-30 however I still need an Lyman M die (Ordered) to use it on that brass.

My only concern, and maybe it's the photo itself, but some of the gas checks don't look like they seated quite square, like the two outside ones. It could be my vision too.
Doug

That pic was before being run through the Lee resizing die with the gas Checks on. They crimp on with the die. here is an after resize pic of the bases.

[94Doug]

Should be good to go. I think you should get great results!!


Doug

[Ben]

perimedik,

If you choose to shoot that bullet a lot in the future, you may want to get you a 2nd seating stem and put some JB weld inside the seating stem, take a bullet and grease the nose good, put the parts together in a vice and put slight compression on the 2 parts, let it set for 24 hrs.

Remove everything , clean up any surplus on the end of the seating stem and those ugly marks on the nose of your bullet would be " History ".

While you're waiting on your M Die , you can look in your tool box and find one of these tapered punches .( see photo below )

A couple of soft taps on the mouth of the case with one of these and your cast bullet will start in the seating die just fine. I used one for many years before buying a Lyman M - Die ( Which was a VERY good purchase )

I like enough flare for 3/4 - 7/8 of the height of the gas check to fit into the neck of the case.

[perimedik]

While you're waiting on your M Die , you can look in your tool box and find one of these tapered punches .( see photo below )
A couple of soft taps on the mouth of the case with one of these and your cast bullet will start in the seating die just fine.

I have a few in the shop and tried it, works fine. Thanks.

[Ben]

That will buy you some time until the M die arrives.

Ben

[mroliver77]

Keep us updated on your results. Check for leading in the barrel. Most of my 30-06 I size .310 or .311. I know some use the Lee .309 with good results but it never worked well for me.
With that light of boolit it would be no problem to go up a couple grains if needed. Like others I shoot the 311284 over 16gr 2400. Boolits weighs 210+gr.
Jay

[bootsnthejeep]

I just paddled out on this wave myself, finally got to shoot some cast bullets out of my sporterized A3. Nothing to hoot and holler about, still getting things dialed in, but 2400 is showing promise. Haven't tried unique tho, but it's on my list.

I was telling another reloading friend about the 16 grains of 2400 "magic number", he'd never heard of it before. He flipped open a reloading manual and noted that "The minimum load in here is 19 and it goes up to 24! 16 can't be right, that's not fast enough."

To which I regurgitated a now-favored saying I picked up here: "Well, you're car will DO 100 mph, but you don't need to drive it that fast ALL the time!"

I was very pleased with the light 2400 loads, I only worked up to 18 grains. Still much better than that old milsurp M2 ball ammo that was beating the snot out of me on the bench.

The very thought of guys in canvas uniforms, shooting full-tilt-boogie milsurp ammo, with a STEEL buttplate makes my head hurt. I've got a 1" thick limbsaver on it and it only helps somewhat. I start flinching em off the paper after one box. Let alone hitting a man sized target at 200 meters with rounds cracking over my head.

Days of wooden ships and iron men, I guess.

Sorry. That went on a bit of a tangent. My mind wanders.

[perimedik]

Went to the range today,
got off 10 rounds of 30/30 (scoped rifle) 10 round of 30.06 (Iron Sights) and my phone rings.

My son is sick and vomiting at school. Packed up and left, couldn't wait for the cease fire to collect my targets - I did notice both cartridges shot lower than my point of aim and group were fairly tight. So I guess I'll have to wait until my next day off.

I will say though the light loads were a pleasure to shoot. Like bootsnthejeep said, way different than the CMP M2 Ball stuff I am used to shooting out of the 03A3. Almost felt like I was shooting an airsoft gun

[Mark Daiute]

Perimedik,

Just another vote of confidence ...Re... 16grs of 2400. I have Spfd ..06's, Mod 54 Win 06's, 30-40 Krags & 308 Win. and this is my load.

A very kind Gentleman on this Board said to me about 7 years ago, "Mac, 16 grains of 2400 and never look back". It has been my load for these rifles every since. Besides producing MOA in each of these rifle every now and then, it just makes life simple.

My 2 cents worth,

I saw this last night and decided to head the call.In my Krags I've had mediocre results with both my 311284's and my 2400 powder. Last night I loaded some up with this prescription and had a chance to test them in my backyard range. The 1" groups 2of my Krags produced tell me that this will equate to good groups at 200 yards when I get the chance to go to the range. Sorry to hi-jack the thread but THANK YOU!

[tomon]

28to 29 grains of IMR4895 over most any gas checked 170-190 Cast bullet. I use 28.3 grains behind a Saeco 307 sized .310 in a Rock Island 03, and it shoots 100-7x's all day long.

[Char-Gar]

I just paddled out on this wave myself, finally got to shoot some cast bullets out of my sporterized A3. Nothing to hoot and holler about, still getting things dialed in, but 2400 is showing promise. Haven't tried unique tho, but it's on my list.

I was telling another reloading friend about the 16 grains of 2400 "magic number", he'd never heard of it before. He flipped open a reloading manual and noted that "The minimum load in here is 19 and it goes up to 24! 16 can't be right, that's not fast enough."

To which I regurgitated a now-favored saying I picked up here: "Well, you're car will DO 100 mph, but you don't need to drive it that fast ALL the time!"

I was very pleased with the light 2400 loads, I only worked up to 18 grains. Still much better than that old milsurp M2 ball ammo that was beating the snot out of me on the bench.

The very thought of guys in canvas uniforms, shooting full-tilt-boogie milsurp ammo, with a STEEL buttplate makes my head hurt. I've got a 1" thick limbsaver on it and it only helps somewhat. I start flinching em off the paper after one box. Let alone hitting a man sized target at 200 meters with rounds cracking over my head.


Days of wooden ships and iron men, I guess.

Sorry. That went on a bit of a tangent. My mind wanders.

Lots of data in loading books comes from pressure and velocity readings and not groups on the target. If they were selecting their load values from shooting at targets, much of the data would be different.

2400 is a great cast bullet powder, but try and use too much of it to push bullets much above 1.8K fps and accuracy will go south.

[perimedik]

best two groups of the 30/30 cast bullet strings (4 shots each) the top tighter group was 18 grains, the lower wider group was 18.5 grains of IMR 4198. Even though the POA was the same. 50 yards
I had a couple of rounds that didn't chamber well, they were tight when I placed them in battery and the bolt wouldn't close on them. Closser look showed the bullet was not as nicely formed as the others (some got by during inspection sizing lubing) I had a few other targets however these were the loads that worked best so far.



1903A3 - 16 grains of Hercules 2400 -50 yards


All in all not bad. I am happy with the results. Now that I have a load figured out. Make some more and practice with them they should get better...

Oh and the target stand I made met it's fate at the hand of 5.56 green tip ammo of doom...

[perimedik]

That will buy you some time until the M die arrives.

Ben

Oh and the M Die is here Yippeeee!

[Ben]

When you're adjusting the M die for your 1st time, go real slow with adjusting the center adjusting screw downward. If you go too fast, you'll ruin a case.

Ben