.312 cast in a 30/30?

[L_Kilkenny]

I have a couple hundred 94gr Meister's sitting here and am wondering about using them in a 30/30. Safe? Will it work? What should I look for in max velocity?

Thanks much,
LK

[Brian in FL]

What kind of rifle do you have? If it's a Marlin with a Micro-Groove barrel your .312 bullets should work fine. I don't know about any others, but I suspect you wouldn't have any problems.

[L_Kilkenny]

Sorry, Win94AE

LK

[JimT]

I shoot .311's as standard. Don't load top-end loads. The main thing is, will they chamber OK? Make up a dummy round and try it.

[JerryB]

I have a large supply of Meister's .312 115 grain cast and they might be need to be tried for a light 30-30 load. I'll try a dummy round to see how a 94 Winchester will chamber. What powder and charge would you try?

[JimT]

I have a large supply of Meister's .312 115 grain cast and they might be need to be tried for a light 30-30 load. I'll try a dummy round to see how a 94 Winchester will chamber. What powder and charge would you try?

The NRA's Handloading Manual says 4 gr. of Unique with 108 gr. cast will give 970 fps while 6 gr. of Unique will give 1295 fps. Your 115 gr. bullet should be in that ballpark.

I have not used the light cast bullets much in the .30-30 ... should work OK.

[Sixgun]

I shoot .311's as standard. Don't load top-end loads. The main thing is, will they chamber OK? Make up a dummy round and try it.

+1

[w30wcf]

Jerry,
With a 120 gr. cast bullet in the .30-30, I have found that 6 grs. of the following powders will give velocities in the 1,150 - 1,200 f.p.s. -range with good accuracy.....4756, Unique, Universal and Trail Boss. Also, 5.5 / 231 works pretty well also.

Have fun,
w30wcf

[JerryB]

Jim and Jack thank you for the good load info. I have not had much luck with this bullet in my 1892 32wcf. I sent a bunch to Kirk this week for his new 32wcf he is looking for. I will try some loads with Unique for the 30wcf, I try a dummy round first for chambering.

[L_Kilkenny]

Good luck Jerry and let me know how it turns out. Me, I'm looking at a bunch of BlueDot loads right now. The BlueDot loads I have are using 110gr JRN Carbine bullets. Pressure should be less using the cast. Fingers crossed. Velocities range from 1100-2300fps. I'm gonna try loads at the bottom to attempt to avoid leading.

LK

[JerryB]

I have a friend with a chronograph, I will get a few loaded and try to meet up with him to see how they do.

[Nath]

I did something like this years ago for squirls.
You may need a Lyman M die! Or something to flare the case some!?

I found squirl preferred them loaded backwards!

Nath.

[6pt-sika]

Granted all the 30 cal bullets I cast are nothing more then WW's. I size EVERYTHING for a 30-30 in a 312" die .

[Malamute]

I've been loading 6 1/2 grs Unique w/ a similar weight and diameter cast bullet in my 30-30. It seems more consistant with a very small amount of dacron fluff over the powder. I'm trying Red Dot in some of my light loads, it reportedly isnt as position sensitve, and is queiter.

[JerryB]

Malamute, I got to thinking about that last nite. I was thinking about some of Kirk's loads with fillers. What about some 5744? It is not position sensitive in small amounts.

[jlchucker]

Malamute, I got to thinking about that last nite. I was thinking about some of Kirk's loads with fillers. What about some 5744? It is not position sensitive in small amounts.

I use 5744 for some cast bullet loads and it works fine. But my bullets are the 170 plus grain versions, and the published data I've got doesn't call for 5744 with small bullets like the 115-120 grain cast versions. I take it that Jerry's bullets may be the non-gascheck version, and if so, velocities higher than 1600 FPS or so might cause some leading problems that he wouldn't want. The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook that I have shows data for a 311441 gascheck bullet at 115 grains, only 5 grains less than the bullets he has. My Lyman book is the 3d version, published in 1980. I haven't found a newer one. It lists a bunch of powders like Red Dot, Unique, 700x, Green Dot, and 2400 to name just a few. No mention is made of fillers. A starting Red Dot load for this particular bullet is shown as 7.0 grains, for 1400 fps. The hottest starting load shown is Herco, at 10.0 grains, for 1645 fps. Get this book, even though it was published in 1980 and a newer version doesn't seem to be out. Lots of good data on cast bullets of all sorts in there.

I haven't gone on line to find AA published data for 5744 with lighter cast bullets, but that powder is a really good one for gascheck versions in 173 grain 30-30, for 35 Remington 200 gr, and for 45-70 in 405 grain--plain base or gascheck in the latter.

[Malamute]

I've never used that powder. I have no problem with dacron, other than it's an extra step in the process. The Red Dot loads will just speed up the loading process by eliminating the dacron. Unique can be used without fluff, but I've found the Unique loads to be noticably more consistant when fluff is used.

I don't think of Dacron being the same as a "filler" as most understand the idea. Cornmeal is a filler. It has bulk, weight, and occupies space. Dacron is used in very tiny amounts, is highly compressible, and only serves to hold the powder near the primer by its springiness.

I will go for a Red Dot load even lighter than the one quoted above. Probably start around 5 grs and move up some, with a velocity goal of about 1200-1300 fps. It will probably end up being a load that a Lee dipper will throw. I've started with some Red Dot loads with round balls in 30-30. I believe the first loads are about 2.5 grs. Its the smallest yellow Lee dipper.

[JerryB]

I have a 32-20 load with 11.0 grains of 5744 and the 100 grain XTPHP that is a very accurate load at about 1400fps. I have loaded some 45-70 405 grains with 24 gains of 5744 also. I like the powder so I'll try some with the 115 grain cast 32-20 bullets along with some Unique loads in the 30-30.

[El Chivo]

that Lyman M die doesn't flare it all that much - you might try the Lee Universal Neck Expander which lets you adjust how much flare you want.

The M die does its flaring all the way down the neck which is good; but it's cylindrical. The Lee is conical, the deeper you stick it, the more flare you get.

I actually use both for my 30-30's because of this. I run the M die in to expand the neck to .310 or so, uniformly. Then I apply the Lee die just to flare the top of the case mouth (when I tried to use the M die to flare, I ruined quite a few cases. The Lee is wobbly and seats itself and doesn't smash any case mouths).

Plus the Lee is only about $10.00.

[KCSO]

Waters in Pet Loads discusses this and he give several good loads down to 600 fps. These make top notch small game loads at 750 fps and on my gun they impact at 25 yards just where the big loads hit at 100 yards. I use pistol primers and Bullseye powder.