Try 12 grs of Blue Dot and/or 8.7 grs of Herco. There are a ton of other good CB loads you can try

which is supposed to be more accurate but 22 gr gives a flatter path. I'm using 150 gr CB's but it shouldn't matter with 165 gr bullets. Just make sure with the .311 size bullets that the case neck is not binding in the chamber, it does need room to expand. Make a dummy round and see how it seats in the chamber.

Byron,

FWIW . . . Charles or Glenn Frixel are the guys to ask, but here's what I've seen.

Plain base cast bullets in a rifle can be accurate at up to about 1500fps. Some people can do better, but they are good at the cast bullet game. For most of us, you need a gas check to go faster. Slower than 1500fps is usually more accurate, but it really depend on hardness and chamber pressure.

At those speeds you will need a pretty soft bullet to see any expansion. Wheel weight metal is pretty much a solid at under 1500fps. Heat treat them and that number goes up.

I don't know how hard your bullets are, but knowing that would help.

Depending on the alloy you may be able to anneal the bullet noses and get some expansion.

AaronB made me some bi-metal bullets for my .458WM. They are 525gr bullets. The back is cast from wheel weight, but about 150gr at the nose is almost pure lead. These will expand well at 1500fps (this is a gas check bullet, but it should not matter if the speed is kept down).

Bob.

I'd suggest slugging the bore with a soft lead slug. Marlin microgroove fores tend to be a bit on the large size, and cast bullets demand a really tight fit to work right with one. If the bullets are truly .311, you might be okay, but it's best to double check before going too far.