Re: 30-30 (semi) Light Cast Loads
Posted: 28 Apr 2018 08:02
My 336 had been sitting in my buddy's shop for a couple of weeks waiting on the "right" firing pin to come in. I don't have the proper tools to detail strip the bolt to change the firing pin myself, so he offered to do the deed. I got it back a couple of days ago and managed to sneak off to the range with the 336 and a couple of cast loads, one lightweight and one heavyweight, yesterday afternoon. Since this thread is more devoted to the lightweights, I'll note the results of the lightweights through the chrony.
With the batch of "locally" cast 142 gr (from 150 gr mold) gas checked RNFP's I have available, it was decided early on to reserve these for pistol powder in the low to mid velocity loads. As a fan of the historical versatility of Unique, I chose it for my "first test" powder. There's no doubt that the massive amount of experienced information available on the internet, magazines, reloading manuals and other publications gave me an idea of a good load starting point to fit my desired velocity, accuracy and "thriftiness" for using this bullet. Oddly enough, I think I got lucky in choosing the 9.0 gr of Unique load to work with. Yesterday's range trip has convinced me to just stick with that load with these bullets until I get the itch to play with another pistol powder.
The shooting results were very predictable, and almost a carbon copy of my previous 4-5 experiences with this load:
Local Cast 142 gr LRNFP GC (LLA/mineral spirits lube only)
Unique 9.0 gr
CCI 200 LRP
Rem brass (2.024"-2.026")
COAL 2.44"
I was trying to get my normal test group of 10 rounds through the chrony but had one chrony error, so ran 11 rounds through on paper. They ran from 1455 fps to 1488 fps, with ave of 1472 fps (energy calc'd at 10 feet was 684 fpe), Since it was a little warmer yesterday than my previous "test days", I didn't expect the average velocity to be exactly the same as in the past but it was pretty well on the mark. My previous velocity averages ran from 1454 fps to 1476 fps with target group accuracies from 0.8" to 1.0" (at 50 yards). Unique, in my limited tests in the 30-30, doesn't seem to be position sensitive (my limited tests of A2400 does show some position sensitivity). I have tried bumping up to 9.3 gr of Unique and noticed a slight decrease in ave velocity although accuracy didn't change.
This will most likely be "the" load for this particular bullet .... unless there's a need to tinker with another pistol powder. The confidence level in loading cast lead for the 30-30 has reached the stage now where returning back to the "heavy weights" isn't so intimidating.
jd
With the batch of "locally" cast 142 gr (from 150 gr mold) gas checked RNFP's I have available, it was decided early on to reserve these for pistol powder in the low to mid velocity loads. As a fan of the historical versatility of Unique, I chose it for my "first test" powder. There's no doubt that the massive amount of experienced information available on the internet, magazines, reloading manuals and other publications gave me an idea of a good load starting point to fit my desired velocity, accuracy and "thriftiness" for using this bullet. Oddly enough, I think I got lucky in choosing the 9.0 gr of Unique load to work with. Yesterday's range trip has convinced me to just stick with that load with these bullets until I get the itch to play with another pistol powder.
The shooting results were very predictable, and almost a carbon copy of my previous 4-5 experiences with this load:
Local Cast 142 gr LRNFP GC (LLA/mineral spirits lube only)
Unique 9.0 gr
CCI 200 LRP
Rem brass (2.024"-2.026")
COAL 2.44"
I was trying to get my normal test group of 10 rounds through the chrony but had one chrony error, so ran 11 rounds through on paper. They ran from 1455 fps to 1488 fps, with ave of 1472 fps (energy calc'd at 10 feet was 684 fpe), Since it was a little warmer yesterday than my previous "test days", I didn't expect the average velocity to be exactly the same as in the past but it was pretty well on the mark. My previous velocity averages ran from 1454 fps to 1476 fps with target group accuracies from 0.8" to 1.0" (at 50 yards). Unique, in my limited tests in the 30-30, doesn't seem to be position sensitive (my limited tests of A2400 does show some position sensitivity). I have tried bumping up to 9.3 gr of Unique and noticed a slight decrease in ave velocity although accuracy didn't change.
This will most likely be "the" load for this particular bullet .... unless there's a need to tinker with another pistol powder. The confidence level in loading cast lead for the 30-30 has reached the stage now where returning back to the "heavy weights" isn't so intimidating.
jd