Casting for 30-30 and 36.06?

[Doco Overboard]

Originally Posted by wgttgw

Typically I favor a heavier bullet moving slower with cast loads. So I would choose the lee 170 grain. I typically pan lube with one of my homemade lubes or i have dip lubed with liquid alox for cast rifle loads.I have ran several cast loads in rifles to 2500 fps when the the fitment, alloy and lube is right. I size and seat the gas checks on most all my 30 caliber bullets through a Lee 309 sizer that I opened up with a dowel and wet sand cloth to around .310. The .310 size has worked for the handful of 30 calibers I load for.

I use alot of H4895 in cast loads because of it's ability to do well with reduced loads.

Check out from " ingot to target", a gracious free download from its authors Glen Fryxell Robert Applegate. If it's still an option print it and keep the copy handy.

http://www.lasc.us/fryxell_book_contents.htm

Great info thanks for posting.
I immediately noticed that certain information is in direct alignment with various texts that were published both years ago and currently in publication at the present time.
The info is compiled in a way that would normally preclude having to collect a number of different publications that are often expensive and sometimes hard to find.
The authors did an excellent job of condensing the subject matter into a format that is easy to digest and that could be used as a reference very easily. Very gracious to say the least.

[noahhh]

Some good advice here, especially what John from MD is saying.

I've been shooting cast bullets out of .30 rifles for over 50 years now. Killed my fair share of deer with them too. One thing I've learned is if you don't want to waste a lot of time and money, determine throat diameter and size to that. Ditto bore diameter (not groove diameter) for the bore riding feature, if the bullet has one.

Powder coating? Meh. If I'm going to shoot bullets at jacketed velocities I use jacketed bullets. I never got better than "ok" accuracy with them anyway. My favorite hunting bullet, in .30-30, .30-40 Krag, and .30-06 is a custom 190 grain bullet I had Saeco make the mould for a bazillion years ago. It has a wide meplat and is quite the woods thumper when driven at 2000 fps- easily achievable in all three calibers, with wheelweight alloy (bhn 11-13) and old fashioned 50/50 bullet lube- because I custom fit the bullet to each gun it's used in. Out of the 30 or so .30 moulds I own, that one gets the most play time.

In the world of .30 cast bullets, speed isn't your friend, weight is.



It's a killer. .303 Savage. (Ballistic twin to .30-30, and same load I use for .30-30- 28.0gr. 3031 and the above bullet.) Picture taken west of Hancock a couple years ago. That load chrono's at 2050fps out of the 24" barrel of my Winchester M54 .30-30 bolt gun.

[Archeryrob]

So I found the one e-book on a quick search in a savable PDF format.
http://marvinstuart.com/firearm/Manu...yxell_Book.pdf

Not really sure what bore vs groove diameter fit means. Bore fit would be were it first contacts the lands, top of rifling, correct? The bore is the inside diameter of the lands and groove the wider depth area.

Noahhh, I was looking at the Lyman 311921 170 grain bullet. The next step up for Lyman is the 311299 at 200 grain. I assume that is just going to get pushed really deep into the casing more with 30-30. So you are saying the 30 grain difference helps more?

[Archeryrob]

Was not sure if I should post this in this thread or the one Melnic started as they both apply to chamber fit. My buddy sent me this on seating depth and chamber fit. He said to take a dremel and cut slots down the casing into the shoulder. Probably 4. Seat the bullet long on a blank round and chamber it in your rifle. The bullet will contact the chamber and lands and seat the bullet to the correct depth.

[John from MD]

Originally Posted by Archeryrob

Was not sure if I should post this in this thread or the one Melnic started as they both apply to chamber fit. My buddy sent me this on seating depth and chamber fit. He said to take a dremel and cut slots down the casing into the shoulder. Probably 4. Seat the bullet long on a blank round and chamber it in your rifle. The bullet will contact the chamber and lands and seat the bullet to the correct depth.

That is a poor mans way of determining distance from the rifling. It works but has some caveats. In order to use that method, you have to make sure that the bullet is loose enough to slide but tight enough so bumping it doesn't make it move. Additionally, in many rifles, you need to take out the ejector before using or it will give you a bad reading. In some rifles, you need to take off the extractor for the same reason.

Why? Because either of these will push on the cartridge as you are chambering it before the bolt goes into battery. That will result in a shorter COAL than the actual measurement should be.

For many rifles, removing the ejector and extractor is not hard. In some you need special tools. For a Winchester 30-30, you need to remove the bolt to take the extractor off.

[Archeryrob]

By extractor you mean the ejector stop that kicks the case on the left spinning it out of the receiver? If so, just opening is slow like when done hunting should work, correct? I open my marlin slow and it kind of points the cartridge out the side instead of tossing it.

I might try several ways and compare what I get from them all. I might do this and glue it once out. Slug it and then maybe do the CerroSafe. I assume with this I am going to have to remove the barrels from the receivers to cast with the CerroSafe, correct?

[John from MD]

Originally Posted by Archeryrob

By extractor you mean the ejector stop that kicks the case on the left spinning it out of the receiver? If so, just opening is slow like when done hunting should work, correct? I open my marlin slow and it kind of points the cartridge out the side instead of tossing it.

I might try several ways and compare what I get from them all. I might do this and glue it once out. Slug it and then maybe do the CerroSafe. I assume with this I am going to have to remove the barrels from the receivers to cast with the CerroSafe, correct?

The extractor is a claw like piece of metal on the bolt. You have to remove it if it is the type that springs over the rim of the cartridge when the bolt goes into battery. If not, your test cartridge will be pushed into the chamber by the extractor rather than the bolt face.

[Archeryrob]

then does the bullet just fall back out after opening the bolt and pointing the muzzle up?

By damn, did some looking around and Mid South shooter supply is $22 cheaper on Lyman mold and almost $10 on handle than Midway. Now if they would just come back in stock.

[Pinecone]

It would probably help to use a case fired in that firearm, if it is a shouldered cartridge.

So the case could not be pushed any further into the chamber, giving a more accurate reading.

[John from MD]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

It would probably help to use a case fired in that firearm, if it is a shouldered cartridge.

So the case could not be pushed any further into the chamber, giving a more accurate reading.

This.