Thread: Questions for you 30-30 Cast Bullet aficionados

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @Jhon,
You can often used the start loads for a reduced load. My old Lyman and Speer manuals give 26.5 and 24.5 grains of IMR3031 respectively as start loads for the 150 grain in the .30-30. The latter develops 1,844 fps in a 20 inch barrel. It looks to me that your primers have backed out a little from their pockets. This suggests that the pressure is low enough not to stretch the cases and you may be able to just neck size your brass. This is what I do with my old .303 rifles to extend case life. Engraving of the cast projectile when chambered was considered a desirable feature to cast lead target shooters in the late 19th centurybut they always fired a round once chambered so your needs may differ.
Regards Grandpamac.

Geeze Gramps, that's pretty interesting! I don't think I'm game to up the charge any further. My barrel is 18.5in. While I took someone else's suggestion and checked my chrono with 22 LR I'm beginning to think I should borrow another chrono. Maybe there's an aberration.

It's good to hear about engraving being desirable . I've been doing wider research and have also come across that. Right now my intention is to back the charge down some and see if I can find a good node at a saner velocity.

I will definitely take a look at case stretch. Would be good to just neck size. In the flesh the primers are still flush with the head. I will check how low they were when seated

Thks for the info