I have read about LilGun extensively, and thought some of the other readers might be interested in my pursuit of a 30-30 load with LilGun. Anyway, It seemed to work pretty well.
The components were:
LilGun, Wolf Large Pistol Primers, Berry Bullets 150 grain 30-30, Federal Cases.
I started at 17 grains of powder, and ended with 20.0 grains. The 17 grain load seemed too light and I did not measure it. I jumped ahead straight to 20 grains after considering the published 350 Legend and 300Blk loads.
Velocity at 20.0 grains equaled 2101fps on a 90 degree day with a Standard Deviation of 20—a little faster than desired. 5 Shots were fired.
I was hoping for 1900fps, from my 20 inch barrel.
All pressure indications were showing the load could be increased, but the Berry Bullet might fly apart above its recommended maximum velocity.
I will be doing some accuracy shooting later.
I wanted to comment on the reputation LilGun has for running “hot”, and for being position sensitive. Generally, in my use of it in the 300BLK and the 30-30, neither has been true, but there is a caveat: do not push to the max load possible if you do not want it to get hot. My 300BLK does get hot faster with this powder-if I push it faster than any other powder can go. IE: Speer loading data shows 20 to 21 grains delivering 2060 to 2150 fps in the 300BLK. I only load 17.2 and get 2000fps in my gun, and the barrel does not get excessively hot.
I tried pointing my 30-30 up or down before each shot and the SD was 20. I am not seeing any significant position sensitivity.
I have read too many respected forum members’ writings not to believe that these problems can exist, they just have not, at this point for me. These same posts are why I am not going to search for a max load.