The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Sim G wrote:I’m still loading with H335 for loads that are deer legal and I can drop onto the target board at 600 yards. With 165gn lead bullets and 8gns of Tin Star, it’s a low powered, cheap and effective gallery load nice out to 100.

So do you use cast bullets? Or ready made? I don’t mind spending a bit more for bullets, as to be honest I don’t shoot as often as I’d like.

Mike95 wrote:600 yards with a 30/30... incredible..

No, not that much. As I said, I can drop it on to a target board at 600. Something I do regularly, with the club, so with others in attendance. I can bounce it around that 6’x5’ board more than it will miss. Granted it’s not banging the V bull, but they’ll lob in there nicely.

1973 vintage Marlin 336 Octagon. 22” barrel, and a Lyman tang sight. Hodgdon H335, Sierra 150gn ProGame exits my barrel at 2335fps. Impact velocity is around 860fps, and with a 100 yard zero, I’m 275 inches low, so around 22 feet, or around four and a bit target boards. Nah, not that incredible.

I was taken to “long range .30-30” by a guy on Marlin Collectors who can regularly ring a 3 foot gong at 900!!

steve853 wrote:

Sim G wrote:I’m still loading with H335 for loads that are deer legal and I can drop onto the target board at 600 yards. With 165gn lead bullets and 8gns of Tin Star, it’s a low powered, cheap and effective gallery load nice out to 100.

So do you use cast bullets? Or ready made? I don’t mind spending a bit more for bullets, as to be honest I don’t shoot as often as I’d like.

“Full House” .30-30 I use Sierra 150gn ProGame. For the gallery loads with Tin Star, I either buy Shellhouse .309, 165gn FP cast. Or If time has allowed, I’ll cast some of my own.

Sim G wrote:

steve853 wrote:

Sim G wrote:I’m still loading with H335 for loads that are deer legal and I can drop onto the target board at 600 yards. With 165gn lead bullets and 8gns of Tin Star, it’s a low powered, cheap and effective gallery load nice out to 100.

So do you use cast bullets? Or ready made? I don’t mind spending a bit more for bullets, as to be honest I don’t shoot as often as I’d like.

“Full House” .30-30 I use Sierra 150gn ProGame. For the gallery loads with Tin Star, I either buy Shellhouse .309, 165gn FP cast. Or If time has allowed, I’ll cast some of my own.

I used to cast lead ball for a reproduction Colt Walker in .44 that I owned, but I have never cast bullets. For that I used old roofing lead and/ or stuff that I dug out of the backstop at the range (an awful lot of that)

Do you have to use a specific mix when casting your own? or just what you have?

I used to use No2 alloy of 9lb of lead and a 1lb bar of plumbers solder. The solder has become so much more difficult to acquire. Likewise, wheel weights were fantastic but once the EU had zinc put in them, they’re useless for casting with. Range scrap is great! But again, for every 10lb, I’ll add two pounds of lead as the scrap I’ve found is a little too hard to be used straight.

Our Club collects the range scrap melts it down then casts it into ingots then sells it to the members. I buy most of it and stock pile it.

Sim G wrote:I used to use No2 alloy of 9lb of lead and a 1lb bar of plumbers solder. The solder has become so much more difficult to acquire. Likewise, wheel weights were fantastic but once the EU had zinc put in them, they’re useless for casting with. Range scrap is great! But again, for every 10lb, I’ll add two pounds of lead as the scrap I’ve found is a little too hard to be used straight.

That’s what I used to find with my old 44, there’s a lot of Antimony (I think?!) in the scrap.

I’ll give it a try I think, need to see if I can find a flat-nosed bullet mould as they all look to be round- nosed.

Thanks

Range scrap contains a lot of .22 bullets. Every manufacurer of .22 ammo uses antimony. You need a hardness tester---it does not need to give an absolute reading, just a relative one so that you can compare mixes. I use an old hand held industrial tester that pushes a needle into the alloy and gives a reading on a clock gauge. I know that a reading of 32 on my device shows a mix with the same hardness as 25:1 lead to tin. The last lot of solder that I bought came from rapidonline.com.
Fred

steve853 wrote:
I’ll give it a try I think, need to see if I can find a flat-nosed bullet mould as they all look to be round- nosed.

Thanks

Both Lee and Lyman do .30 calibre flat nose moulds.

Redcat