Micro groove 336 and PP

[nobade]

I recently found a nearly new pre-safety 336 chambered for 30-30, and got to shoot it some this weekend. Just like all micro groove barrels, it has a large bore size and normal 30-30 bullets don't fit too well. My usual bullet for these is SAECO 305, which has a ,303" bore ride nose and .312" driving bands. That normally works fine, but I have a RCBS 150 plain base cowboy bullet I wanted to use too. It won't shoot for beans in a micro groove barrel, with its .300 nose and .309 driving bands. But sized to .303 and patched back up to .310, it now has a big enough nose to firmly engrave the rifling. And it shot great over 30 gr. IMR3031 + .3cc BPI shot buffer. I had no problem hitting a 6 inch hanging steel disc at 200M off the bench, and it hits hard! Plus the barrel seems to get cleaner the more I shoot it. Pretty amazing what a little scrap of paper will do when properly applied. I think I'm going to try this load in our cowboy silhouette match to see how it does there. Oh, and bullets are air cooled wheelweights and quite soft so they should make a dandy hunting bullet too.

[hard head]

Paper is a very fine abrasive and polishes the bore with time,had a highwall that I had run around 2000 rds of 45/70 through it and that bore looked like polished chrome! My favorite load was a 540gr. RCBS PP hallow base mold that I cut the base plug off of and it turned it into a 630 gr flat base,that load would really make steel sing when you waked it.Pete

[Outfitter]

Nobade, For what it's worth , my WW air cooled in .308 dia . are coming out 11-12 bhn.

[hatcreek]

why the shot buffer?

[nobade]

why the shot buffer?

It protects the base of the bullet on firing and dramatically increases accuracy. Also allows for a compressed load so the bullet won't telescope into the case from recoil.

I have not been able to get any meaningful accuracy from any paper patched loads in bottleneck cases without using fillers. I have been able to get straightwall cases to work without filler, but only by using ball powder which seems to work as its own filler.

[Tnred]

nobade
I have great luck using oatmeal filler under 150 gr lee fn paperpatched and sized to .310 in a 336

[blueeyephil]

I bought a 336sc in 30-30 last year for my son to use and I'm going to be doing some casting for it. I haven' tried to slug the bore as of yet. I'm in a group buy over at Cast Boolits to get a NOE 311 165Gr. RF (RD) mold. I'm getting a 4 cavity, 2 with GC and 2 without. I'd like to try paper patching. I'll be using Lee push through sizer dies. Just wondering about sizing the .311 down in order to pp. I'm also planning on trying the plain base using cow. So any recommendations would be appreciated. I am planning on getting a .311 sizer for sure to seat the gc.

[nobade]

That bullet is a great choice for your 336. Shoot it with a gas check and hard lead with normal loads, or size it to bore diameter plus .001" and patch it up to .311 or so and cast them from soft lead. From my own experience, the 30-30 works very well both ways. I like the gaschecked way for target shooting and plinking because it is less work, and paper patched for hunting since you can use soft bullets for good terminal effect.

In my own rifles that have microgroove rifling, I will size to .303" and patch with 9# onionskin paper to .310". If you have thicker paper (I keep hearing about 16# green bar paper, but have never found any to try) you will need to do a light sizing after patching. Usually expect .001 - .0015 springback on the paper so choose your sizing die accordingly. Lube the patches with some sort of wax before sizing. I use a 50/50 mix of vaseline and beeswax, but lots of other stuff works just fine too.

Powder choice in the 30-30 is really easy. Anything that gives full speed with a full case will normally work, I use a lot of 3031 and 748 but any of several dozen types work in that case. If you use a slow ball type powder you may be able to get away with no filler, but normally .5cc of granular filler (cream 'o' wheat or BPI shot buffer) really helps accuracy and stops gas blowby in the throat area to keep the patch intact during its trip into the bore where it can seal.

Seat bullets so they jam into the rifling as the bolt is closed. Doesn't have to be a lot but they absolutely need to be jammed or they aren't going to shoot. Fortunately the 30-30 is made so this happens at the same time the overall length is right if you use the proper bullet, which you have.

Have fun with it, you will be impressed with your ability to fire dead soft bullets at full speed and absolutely no worries about bore leading.