cast bullets in 336a

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:32 pm

My friend and I both have Marlin 336A 30-30 rifles and shoot silhouette. We are having no end of difficulty finding the right combination with cast bullets. We have tried every conceivable combination of powder and two different cast bullets, they being a . 309 170 grain gas check and the .310 165 grain Lasercast with no gascheck. There is no appreciable difference in the groups produced by the two. 15 grains of 4759, 15 grains of 4227, 16 grains of 4198, 25 grains of 4895, etc.4"- 6" groups at 50 yards are the norm. There is apparantly nothing mechanically wrong with the rifles, the bores are bright and shiney, there is no detectable crown damage. We both know how to shoot little tiny groups

Another friend has the identical setup and shoots the above loads to very good advantage. These are not microgroove rifles

Anybody got any ideas?

Don McDowell · Post by **Don McDowell** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:12 am

18grs of 5744 , no crimp, and be sure to flare the case mouths abit before seating the bullet so you're not shaving it.
15 grs of 2400 is another good load.
Might give them a good dose of lee liquid alox , its amazing what a difference lube can make.

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:00 am

18 gr.IMR 4198 with the Lyman 311041 at 1590 fps does great in my .30-30`s.

That is a starting load. You can push it a lot more but the groups do open just a little.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:51 pm

Have you tried testing the same components with slight variations in the powder charge? I got noticeable differences when I loaded all the same components with half-grain changes in powder.

The old timers tell me it's a matter of tuning all your components to a specific gun. Something about vibrations and barrel harmonics, and once it all comes together, don't change anything.