30-30 cast bullet problem

IF you are going to shoot cast bullets then you might want to join :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

The lube you are using will not act as a proper bullet lube so stop using it.

My advice is to invest in a RCBS Lubricator and get yourself the right sizing die. Likely .309 for your 30-30. There are a number of quality commercial lubes available or you can make Felix lube. The recipe is listed on the above website. I use Felix lube for all my rifle and pistol applications and do not experience leading in any of my guns. simple to make if you follow the instructions. I keep it in a pyrex measuring cup and just melt it in the microwave and once melted I pour it into my lubricator.

You best scrub that barrel well. Wrap some 100% copper chor boy stands around a wire brush and scrub. The lead will come out in short order. A couple of patches soaked in Hoppe #9 and your barrel should be clean again.

I agree with others your bullets might vary +/- 1/2 gr but that is it. I cast for my 303 Longbranch, an M 14 .308, Model 94 30-30 and a Husquavarna .30-06 with great results. No leading and my boolits don't vary 1/2 gr. I use gas checks on all my rifle boolits. Your boolits should be shiny to grey in colour and uniform.

Best get yuorself Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook. Very good reference book and contains loads for various rifle and pistol cartridges.

Take Care

Bob
 
Check the size of the bullets that your mold is dropping, no two molds are alike! It is quite possible that they drop too small and won't get accurate no matter what, someone mentioned getting a RCBS lubesizer, good advise. i use 3 lubesizers, 2 Lyman/with heaters and 1 RCBS, each has a diff. lube type in it. Making cast bullets shoot good can be a very exact,tedious, search, involving more variables then j-word bullets, that's why it's so much fun!
 
i do a lot of cast bullet shooting every winter with 30/30 but only at 1150 fps velocity aprox. i find i dont have many lead or acuracy problems at lower velocity, and the faster and the more shots fired, the more problems occure, i only use s.p.g. lube for any cast bullet i shoot, and i only use high velocity loads for hunting where i dont fire many at a time, at low velocity we some times shoot 30-60 rounds at a time, and never have cleaning and no acuracy problems ,,wade
 
I've shot quite a few lee 150gr in 30 - 30's with pretty decent accuracy most of the time. Lead hardness is unlikely to be your problem. I suggest you try adding about 1 to 2% tin to your wheelweights(beware of zinc wheelweights), try casting at a hotter temperature, and if you want good results with minimum effort, get a lee sizer and gas checks. If there's any desire for harder bullets, drop them from the mold into a pan of cold water with a rag on the bottom - in 7 days or less they'll be plenty hard. As was suggested by several others, you should probably try a load of 7 to 9 gr of Unique - it's not magic, but it's worked for a lot of us for a very long time.
My lee 150gr molds (I'm on my third) have cast about .311.

Best of luck and don't dispair. It can certainly be done. Grouch
 
I dont want to buy a new powder as I already have Blue and Red dot for my shotguns and 9mm I figured I'd use those and on castbooloits they seemed to like bluedot for 30-30s from 10-20gr it seemed everybody was getting good accuracy with it. Good to hear the LEE 150 is casting right on the mark maybe I wont need a sizer??? Got the alox today and I'm coating the 10rds I have loaded with it as we speak....
 
Dianamike: The bullets should be lubed before they are loaded. Applying lube to the nose won't do very much as the nose simply rides on the surface of the lands (bore) with most cast bullets. You want lube on the back and in the grooves of the bullet. You really need to spring for Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook to get some background in using cast bullets. It's not rocket science but there are techniques long established to help you along.
 
I haven't been using gas checks because I figured with that low an amount of bluedot the velocity would be low <1500 and pressure shouldn't be to high either. I think your right about the lubing loaded rounds because I can only access one of the lube grooves, maybe I'll pull the bullets and reload them with prelubed bullets...
 
diananike: Not sure if have referred to it or not, but, are you belling the case mouth before seating the bullets? It prevents shaving metal from the bullet when seating it. If you have gas checks you should probably use them. Results without checks when the bullet is designed for them might be a bit erratic due to gas cutting up the sides of the bullet.
 
diananike said:
I haven't been using gas checks because I figured with that low an amount of bluedot the velocity would be low <1500 and pressure shouldn't be to high either. I think your right about the lubing loaded rounds because I can only access one of the lube grooves, maybe I'll pull the bullets and reload them with prelubed bullets...
Click to expand...

I have never been able to get gas-check style bullets to shoot worth a damn without the gas-checks, even in handguns with even lighter loads and lower velocities. You could get lucky, but it doesn't look like you are.
You really should get a book on casting bullets, and read it. You have a lot more than one question to resolve.
 
Diananike, the way I do it is to seat the bullets onto the first driving band, then hand lube the bullets(I use Canadian Tire Moly grease) and seat to desired depth. That way you keep the lube away from the powder. You won't get noticeably better results with a lubricizer, often not as good, although your index finger probably stays cleaner.

Good luck.
Grouch
 
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grouch - it seems to me both you guys should try to sit down with somebody who knows what he is doing and show you how to load cast bullets. From the sounds of it you are long on enthusiasm and short on basic knowledge.

Take Care

Bob
 
It is but you have to do some basic research first. It isn't all that difficult but you must first understand what is involved in casting good bullets, loading and shooting them with some expectation for accuracy.

If you go about it willy nilly all you really are to shooting a fancy musket.

Take Care

Bob
 
The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, IMO, is any bullet casters best friend. It answers a lot of questions. Now, as for shooting gas check style bullets without a gas check can be done, just not for every firearm as I have found out. I shoot the same 150gr bullet from my .308 & .30-30 without gas checks, but, I push them slow. I can get very good accuracy at 50 yards, but not at a 100, (at least not yet. Still testing). With my Marlin 336, I have to keep my velocity between 1000 - 1200 fps for a 1" group. Anything over that my shots are scattered all over the target. If you want to shoot at higher velocities, you're best to gas check them. Just my .02 :)
 
O.K. canuck 44, no doubt there are some things about cast bullets I have yet to learn, but I've loaded and shot them with reasonable success for well over 40 years. Just because what I told Diannanike isn't conventional wisdom doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Perhaps I didn't say clearly enough - I size my bullets with a Lee sizer before lubricating them. The lubrication I described certainly works as well as most.
 
grouch: What you do and use actually works pretty well if you don't have other options. I've used moly based grease on occasion long years ago and it does work pretty well as a lube although I never tried pushing it hard and am uncertain how long term storage of loaded cartridges would hold the lube without it migrating into the powder column. If the grease was stiffened a bit with a bit of bee's wax and carnauba wax melted in it would probably be similar to Lyman's moly lube.
 
I've pushed hard cast(ww + 2% water dropped) to just over 2500fps with lee 150gr in 30-06 and have kept loaded ammunition around for nearly a year with no noticeable deterioration.

That's been my experience, for what it's worth.
 
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