- Location
- Niagara Region, Ontario. For now
So I have recently purchased a Marlin 336 in 30-30 from Bass Pro for $450!! I already reload for all my pistol calibers so I figured I would give 30-30 a shot, and started gathering the necessary equipment.
Purchased and loaded some jacketed rounds first but went through em fast, and the were pricey. So of course I turned to CGN and got some advice to look to the Bullet Barn and some cast bullets. I will say that they are great people and thier service was awesome. I got my order within a week and so today I was going to find my load.
The Bullets are 165 grain Flat Nose Bevel Base hard cast and are very well made. They cost me $50 for 200 rounds delivered, and I know this isnt that cheap but They would be had I ordered 1000, but wanted to play with some first.
So from my Pistol loading I know you cant send lead down the barrel as quick as jacketed so I loaded up 3 batches of 10 rounds. All Unique 6 grains, 6.5 grains, and 7 grains all seated and crimped at the cannelure. I had loaded some hotter than this previously but was getting leading issues so started from scratch.
The results were very good. The 6.5 and 7 grain loads were all performing just as well as the jacketed loads and giving me about 2 inch groups with iron sights, and I am very new to iron sights so I was impressed.
The big surprise however was the accuracy I was getting outta the 6 grain loads. Hardly any leading, and very little recoil similar.
Heres the best group of the day, and really the only actual group I shot. Range was busy so I couldnt be changing targets so this was the only target I bothered to actual print a group after being surprised at the first few shots.
I just wanted to share these results with others as I was looking for similar info in the last few days and really couldnt find any here. Cast boolits forum helped, but figured Id share. I started out in this sport focusing on handguns and tacticool ####, but this Marlin is quickly becoming my favorite gun to shoot, and if I can keep duplicating these resluts I will be a happy camper. Today I left the handguns at home and just brounght the Marlin and My stevens and had a ball. The Stevens 200 story is for a new thread!!!
Purchased and loaded some jacketed rounds first but went through em fast, and the were pricey. So of course I turned to CGN and got some advice to look to the Bullet Barn and some cast bullets. I will say that they are great people and thier service was awesome. I got my order within a week and so today I was going to find my load.
The Bullets are 165 grain Flat Nose Bevel Base hard cast and are very well made. They cost me $50 for 200 rounds delivered, and I know this isnt that cheap but They would be had I ordered 1000, but wanted to play with some first.
So from my Pistol loading I know you cant send lead down the barrel as quick as jacketed so I loaded up 3 batches of 10 rounds. All Unique 6 grains, 6.5 grains, and 7 grains all seated and crimped at the cannelure. I had loaded some hotter than this previously but was getting leading issues so started from scratch.
The results were very good. The 6.5 and 7 grain loads were all performing just as well as the jacketed loads and giving me about 2 inch groups with iron sights, and I am very new to iron sights so I was impressed.
The big surprise however was the accuracy I was getting outta the 6 grain loads. Hardly any leading, and very little recoil similar.
Heres the best group of the day, and really the only actual group I shot. Range was busy so I couldnt be changing targets so this was the only target I bothered to actual print a group after being surprised at the first few shots.
I just wanted to share these results with others as I was looking for similar info in the last few days and really couldnt find any here. Cast boolits forum helped, but figured Id share. I started out in this sport focusing on handguns and tacticool ####, but this Marlin is quickly becoming my favorite gun to shoot, and if I can keep duplicating these resluts I will be a happy camper. Today I left the handguns at home and just brounght the Marlin and My stevens and had a ball. The Stevens 200 story is for a new thread!!!
