oregon trail laser cast troubles

[mancuso]

I hope someone can help. I have a "sample pack" of 450 170gr .310 Oregon Trail 30-30 bullets I am ready to use as sinkers. After loading the first 50 from the box my results SUCK! plain and simple.

Let me start by saying I am using reloader 15. My 336 can shoot 100yd 1 1/4" groups with any 150 or 170 grain jacketed bullet with this powder @ 35 and 32 gr, respectiveley. I shoot in my back yard so I can load a few shells shoot and then load some more.

I loaded the first 5 OTLC and shot a 2 1/2 foot pattern at 100yd @ 30gr. I backed the load down by 5gr increments and moved the target to 35yd. The best I can get @ 35yd is 3 1/4" @ 15gr.

I have dug some of the bullets and they look like the rifling is stripped out even at 15gr. I thought these bullets were designed for jacketed bullet velocities? Has anyone else tried these and if so what did you experience? Could a change of powder help?


Any advice would be much appreciated
Thanks,
Vince

[ggeilman]

I haven't use them for 30-30, but I believe they are made for around 1500 fps not jacketed velocites as they are not gas checked. You are probably leading like crazy also if you are shooting at 2000+ fps. The 30-30 never did well with lead which is why they re-released it in 1895 with jacketed, but I have seen cowboy action rounds for 30-30 at 1500 fps advertised.

[imashooter2]

Plain base cast should generally be kept to 1400 fps or so in rifles. The bullets must be at least .001 over bore diameter if you hope to get any sort of accuracy. Have you slugged your bore? Have you verified the bullet diameter? RL15 is way too slow for the velocities you are looking for. That 15 grain load is so underloaded that it might be dangerous. Stop using it right away. Try a load like 7.0 grains of Unique or 6.5 grains of Red Dot.

[ggeilman]

7 gr of Unique is starting load per Lyman, goes up to 10.6 MAX. It also shows 22.5 gr of IMR 3031 1599 fps starting if you stick with CCI primers.

[JP Stone]

Personally I would stay with what has worked the best with the best results. As reloaders we are always trying to improve upon the best to get even better.

JMHO

[mancuso]

Thanks for the feedback.

Has anyone tried 700x? I have 4lbs of that.

Thanks again.
Vince.

[imashooter2]

I haven't tried it personally, but Lyman lists 6.0 grains as a starting load and 7.5 grains max.

[mancuso]

I have that load listing also. I guess I'll be the test subject and report my results for a change.

Wish me luck.
Vince

[Wet Dog]

I've had very good luck with pistol/shotgun powders using that bullet. It doesn't go fast but it is 1" accurate at 50 yards with the recoil and report of a 22lr. Great for plinking and garden pests.

[Leftoverdj]

You got the right weight and you got the right diameter for most Marlins. Problem is the wrong powder and too high velocity expectations. Here's aome good data for what you are trying to do. Their data would suggest starting at 5 grains of 700X, and going up in half grain increments.

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

Before you go any farther, clean that barrel. My guess is that you have a major case of leading. If you have any copper fouling from previous use of jacketed bullets, it needs to be removed too.