frontier gander

I am wanting to buy a mold so i can cast my own bullets for my 30-30. I dont want to spend money on the jacketed bullets, tired of the costs.

I have wheel weight lead readily available and used it in our pistols with great results.

Question is, Would i have to put a gas check on the cast bullets for my 30-30 or would it be ok to use the bullets as is? I hardly shoot the thing but with prices now days, i need to start reloading and keeping a good amount of stock.

HEAD0001

Straight WW is a pretty good alloy, fairly hard. IMO your GC question depends on how fast you want to push the bullet. I can push WW up to 1800 fps without a GC. I use a slow powder to do this with. A lot of people say 1600 fps is as high as you can go, but I have done 1800 fps without heavy leading(you will get some). I just make sure I have a good polished bore(all the jacketed material out) before I shoot the first shot.

Over 1800 fps you will need a GC. Tom.

Pioneer2

Lee makes a sizing/lubing and gas check seater all in one tool that fits the regular 7/8" reloading press.Their 170 gr bullet mold has provisions for a gas check as well.I have over 500 lbs of WW's squirreled away for the same reason.Lyman reccomended 9 lbs of WW's added to 1 lb of 50/50 bar solder to make 10 lbs of #2 alloy.PS the Lee tool sizes the bullets at .309" ...................Harold

johnny2

What rifle are you using there..if is is a micro groove barrel,u will need
a good hard bullet.Wheel weights are not very good in these barrels.
You should be using a harder bullet to prevent bullet stripping...And
I would most certainly use the gas checks..They help to shave out
some of the leading..Not much,but some..Good luck..

frontier gander

Marlin 30-30 Model 336 and it is the micro groove.

When we cast lead bullets for the pistols we throw them into a bucket of ice cold water to harden them more. Seems to work great.

Johnmorris

FG
I have a six gang Lyman 31141 gas check mould I use for 3006 I also used it for a 3030 H&R it shoots very well cast bullet 170 gr. I can get 2200 out of it with the 06 but usually keep it around 1800 I use moly lube in my 450 luber sizer. Leading is almost non existant. Check your PM"s

eldeguello

GASCHECK style bullets should not be shot w/o the gascheck. Neither should any bullet you plan to drive much over 1500 FPS regardless of bullet temper. The Lyman 31141 is a great .30/30 bullet!

eldeguello

Another comment: If you cast your bullets from wheelweights, and dump them into a bucket of cold water RIGHT FROM THE MOULD, (using a folded towl in the bottom of the bucket to keep the bullets from denting), they will harden to about Brinell 20-21 by the next day, after which you can load them up to standard .30/30 JACKETED BULLET velocities. IF you lube them up with LBT Blue lube, they can be driven over 2200 FPS with no leading, but size them to at least .001" or .002" OVER the groove diameter of your rifle.

Be careful NOT to let any cold water splash from your quenching bucket into your pot of molten lead! Things get exciting pretty fast if that happens!!

Pavomesa

What on earth good is a folded towel in the bottom of a bucket of cold water do for you? By the time the bullets hit the water and sink to the bottom and sink they dang sure won't dent. Did you misspeak?

30/30s LOVE cast bullets and Marlins are no exceptions. I would strongly suggest you go with gas checks. There are several 150 - 170 gr flat and round nosed molds that work just fine. 30/30s as a rule are not tempermental eaters and will usually shoot one about as good as the next. So you are in pretty fertile ground. Go for it.

Pavomesa

PS - While you are in a cost cutting mood here, try some loads with 2400 powder in your 30/30. You can get lots more loads per pound from it and still have a good load for the rifle. Don't think for a minute that a 170 gr cast bullet going "only" 1600 - 1800 fps won't kill like the hammer of Thor.