Hunting with cast bullets and the 30/30

So I picked up a very nice conditioned Win 94 30/30 and jacketed shockingly bullets are not available. I was able to pick up 2 lee molds, a 150gr and a 170gr bullet that both shoot pretty good in the gun. I have run a bunch of rounds through it that were basically gallery loads of 7.5gr of Red Dot that are a lot of fun but certainly not an all around deer load.

So before I bore you with the details I want to develope a suitable all around hunting load with a cast bullet in this rifle. What have you guys had good success in the field with for a cast bullet and the 30/30? I am thinking the RCBS 170gr flat nose bullet may be a better bullet in the long run for the rifle, bigger face and all but I my cheap Lee's seem to cast a pretty accurate bullet. I do have a variety of mid range powders to try H330, Leverlution, IMR4895, H4895, and some others.

What alloy should I be using as well? I know I asked Ashley Emerson this question and he said his alloy, it's harder than Lino without being brittle at 2300 but is this the answer?

I have no qualms about making this a dedicated cast bullet rifle, I will get to shoot it a lot more that way.

Just looking for experienced opinions and theories here on this cold snow day...

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I have had really good results with the RCBS 180gr FN. Ready to go it is about 200gr and I push it to 1700-1800 FPS out of my cut down 16" 94. Lately I have been using 4895 pulldown I bought a bunch Bach when it was fairly cheap. Most of mine have been shot with air cooled wheelweights but I have played with some harder. If you are wanting 2200+ FPS I would go with a harder alloy. I have the Lee 170gr and it shoots pretty good, the RCBS just casts a lot better and seems to be a little more accurate.

Personally if I was going to use it for hunting I would make some soft nose bullets. With a .30 caliber I want something that will expand. While a .30 caliber hole straight through will kill a deer I want something that has some shock to it.

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This may or may not be of some help, but I thought I would chime in.

The Lyman mould #311041 seems to be one of the best all around cast bullets for the 30/30. Mine cast out at 173 grains using an alloy of 50/50 wheel weights and linotype.

My lube of choice is no longer available however. It's called Apache Blue, developed by Paco Kelly. I understand there is another lube out there that is essentially the same lube, but I can't recall the name or maker.

That being said, below are two loads I settled on for my Winchester 94'. The first load is the one I settled on for 95% of my needs.

Bullet: Lyman #311041
Alloy: 50/50 Lead to Lynotype
Weight: 174.5 Grains.
Sized to: .310 dia.
Cases: Winchester
Primer: Winchester
Powder: IMR 4064
Charge: 34.0 Grains.

Same components but different powder.

Powder: IMR 3031
Charge: 28.0 Grains.
Velocity 1865 FPS
Energy; 1384 FPE

Good luck in finding a load that works for you. Nothing like a good afternoon with a Winchester 30/30 and plenty of ammunition.

Murphy

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I think LBT Soft Blue is what you were thinking of. From the rumblings I've heard, Paco gave or sold the formula to Veral.

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There is a whole web site out there based on finding the answers to just such questions.

Jared

In case you don't mind saying, just how much mil surplus 4895 you stuffing behind that RCBS?

Should be real close to my needs for a 14" barrel.

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link: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

Lots of cast bullet hunters here with vast experience. I like the RCBS 180 fn in my 30/30 but I do not hunt with 30/30.

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I would have to look to get specifics but I am using 28.0 gr and get 1700-1800 with the 200gr cast. The lot of 4895 I have is a little slower than most 4895.

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Yea something in the 1750ish velocity range sounded more along the line I was thinking. I tried a few rounds at 2200 but it seemed more than I was looking for in this gun. If I shoot a deer with it it will be most likely over by my brother's house in their urban wildlife management area (inside joke) where shots will be under 100 yards and a quieter load that won't bother the neighbors is a good thing in this area of 5-10 acre ranchettes. Mostly it will be a fun truck gun called on to bust a few ground squirrels, coyotes, and a bunch of rocks by my 9 year old son and me. So keeping it fairly mild is what I want if I want Will to keep shooting it, I am probably not going to do away with the Red Dot load for fun with the boy but it just isn't enough load to hunt big game.

I found an article last night by Jim Taylor that listed a H335 for a perfect load and I have a couple of pounds of it so I am going to start there. So the question then is alloy. 90% of my casting is with certified 92-2-6 alloy and runs about 18 for hardness. For general shooting it is fine but is it too hard or soft to hunt deer with at that velocity? I agree that I think I would like the bullet to upset and expand a little, I certainly want an exit (I always want a exit in my opinion), so what's everyone's opinion here?

Thanks as always

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It is pretty much all I shoot in my .30-30s these days -- mostly with the RCBS 30-180-FN, but also with the Lyman 311041. It gives me around 1900 fps out of my Marlin 36s.

Your 6-2-92 alloy will be harder than you need for hunting deer. WW alloy expands nicely at these speeds, so you might consider cutting your alloy with a little lead to soften it a bit.

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That is just what info I needed. Have some WW lead but it is getting harder to come by and inconsistent in hardness when you do. Cutting it with pure is easy enough. When I finally find a RCBS 180FN in stock I am going to grab it but the Lees will do until then..

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The 30/30 is one of those happy calibers you can use jacketed data for cast bullets. Fast burning shotgun/pistol powders are a wasted effort. They're simply not necessary or desirable. Bullets cast from wheelweights, with a couple percent of tin will do anything you want. I cast mine out of soft range scrap & linotype for around 15-16 bhn. I do use gascheck molds since I plan on velocities around the 2000+ FPS, and I lube with either LBT Blue, Carnuba Red, or Thompsons Blue Angel. I've settled on the RCBS 180 gr FN mold, and it's the only one I use for 30/30 anymore.

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