Winchester 94 .309 ?

[Marduk]

I am new to casting and thinking about trying to cast for my 30-30.
Looking at the lee mold and bullet sizer die in .309. I see anything from .309 to .311 being used. So, as a first time caster using .309 for the mold, lee sizer, and gas checks in either 150, 160 or 170 FP does anyone see any problems or better way to start. I want to keep the expense under $80 and will be casting with wheel weight lead.
Thanks!

[PawPaw]

Cast bullets are a whole 'nuther question. First, which mold are you using? It matters. Second, depending on your alloy, some molds will cast bigger, some molds will cast smaller. I run a Lyman 311041, which is roughly comparable to the Lee C309-170-F and it comes out at about .311. I lube it with alox, then run it thought the Lee .309 sizer to seat the gas check, then I tumble it in alox again. I can push those bullets to about 1850 fps in my Win94. My rifle has a 1:12 tube and 1850 is about as fast as I can push that bullet before it starts spinning itself apart. That same cartridge from a 1:10 Marlin barrel will show signs of failure, so those extra two inches mean something with my alloy.

Lots of guys use the Lee molds with good effect, so put yourself at ease about that. You can make bullets on a campfire, it's that simple. It's also complicated in that you're introducing other variables such as alloy into the equation. Ten years ago, I could tell you what a wheelweight was made of. Today, it's a crap shoot. Some seem to be pure lead, others are made of zinc. There is no way of telling without looking.

Still, it's an addictive hobby and I certainly don't want to dissuade you. Buy a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet handbook, or a copy of Lee's Modern Reloading. Read them both and you should have the fundamentals on bullet casting.

[Marduk]

Thanks PawPaw.
The mold I am looking at is the lee C309-170-F.
The gun is a Winchester 94 made in 1964.
As for the lead I bought 15 bs of ingots from a guy on ebay so who knows.
He said they came from wheel weights and was cast in a lee ingot mold.
I understand that sometime for best fit you need to determine the size of the bore in a particular gun but at this point I am looking to do something that works. Kind of like a production 30-30 works in any 30-30. I can go from there if I get hooked. Sounds like I am heading in the right direction.

[PawPaw]

That sounds about right. Both of my Winchester barrels are both 0.308 and very uniform. They're also a 1:12 twist which means I can push the bullets a little faster than the 1:10 Marlin barrels.

I size mine to 0.309 and run them at about 1850 fos. It's a good load that's inexpensive to make and very effective for my purposes.

[crowbeaner]

I use linotype and an RCBS 30-180-FP mould. I size them to .308" and use a quality rifle lube. I load them over the max charge of WW748 in the RCBS cast bullet manual IIRC it's 30.0 grains but check. Hornady gas check.

[dahermit]

The "bore riding" part of the bullet has more/just as much influence on accuracy than the bullet/groove diameter does. Cast a bullet or two, and see how the bore riding part of the bullet fits into the muzzel of your gun. It should require slight pressure to go in as far as the first band on the bullet. Do some reading at the Cast Lead Bullet Association's website.
http://www.castbulletassoc.org/index.shtml

[GP100man]

My dirty-30 is a Marlin so don`t pay me no nevermind ,but I have a friend & he grabs a few of my Lee 150 309 rnfps as cast, they .310 + a 1/2 a hair & he tumble loobes em no gas check & has a ball with em with 7grs. of reddot under em & they shoot where ya lookin to boot !!

Anyways my advise is to shoot as big a bullet as ya can reliably chamber .

[Marduk]

I bought the .309 sizer and 170 FN mold from Lee. Also the gas checks.
Now all I got to do is make some time....