My white whale...

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
yep,, back them down.
1200 fps would probably be the too fast line.
It's funny how some PB stuff shoots faster with no issues and then others won't have it at all. Fit Bret! FIT!!!! You'd think I'd know that after all the times I've said it to others!!!! :headscratch:
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
This is out of a 30-30, a savage 350 or a savage 24, I cannot recall which. I really think 22LR speeds and Unique is the key to success.

View attachment 29969

For 30-06: 8.2 grains of trailboss and a 3118. Might be worth a look at trailboss. I think it worked better for me because of the greater case capacity.

View attachment 29972
With the lighter bullets, the 311316 to be specific, I've had little issues at 32-20 revolver speeds out of 32-20 rifles. I owned a 311316 for years before I ever applied a GC! My groups weren't that nice, but they did fine for plinking. But I think that basic design is pretty easy to work with. These "Microband" designs, they are even smaller and weaker than Loverin designs, are something else altogether.

I will cut my Unique loads about in half and see what the gun says! Thx!
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Powder coat them and run them where they are at.
Come on Tom! That's witchcraft to my old head! You are right though, I bet it would make things a lot easier. Just gotta find a giant sized bucket of TIME!!! ;)
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Yeah powder coating the TL design would strengthen the drive bands and maybe try .312 if they would fit. But even .311 with PC might be enough.
But you can’t PC a bullet that’s been previously lubed. Got to start clean and use a clean sizer.
They drop right at .311 as designed in my old WW alloy. You guys keep talking this PC stuff, I may have to try it down the line. This many guys that know cast can't be wrong!
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Throttle that load back to about 7 grains of Red Dot, load in .30-30 as close to the lands as you can, crimp as little as possible and have fun. I'm certain you're gonna see a marked improvement in accuracy. No need to over complicate this one.
Overthinking things is my #1 most used skill!!! It really helps with my #2 skill, which is procrastination.

I'll try your advice! Thx!
 

quicksylver

Well-Known Member
WELL!Looks to me like those should shoot lights out. right off the bat I can tell ya that 13 grains of RD with a GC bullet in the 30/06 is too hot. Got to drop to 12.5 -12.7 forGC bullets and way too hot for a .308 drop to around 8-9grs Unigue the .30/30 will probably like 7.0-7.5Unique the savage and .308 will probably like a .310 bullet better and the Spingfield.311-.3,312. don't try 2400 with any PB relube and resize and try these loads they all produced sub .75" groups @100 yds with my guns using iron sights. you're looking for around 1100-1150 FPS.
 
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quicksylver

Well-Known Member
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Foo

Active Member
I've mentioned this one before. The "30 Plinker" GB mould. Ran onto a bag of TL'd examples today. They drop at .311 and they drop from the mould easily. You can make "mounds and mounds" of them, if you recall the old "Ronco Kitchen Magician" commercial. Only problem is they don't seem to shoot for beans! Tried them in the 30-30, 30-06 and 308, all with standard Red Dot or 2400 charges. Anyone else ever mess with this one? Sorry for the odd lighting and sideways pic. They don't actually have that color, but those were lubed a good 10 years back. I guess Mule Snot doesn't hold up over timeView attachment 29941
Wow, you still got Red Dot and 2400!!!
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Historically was that not a BP design... Case full of Goex 3F is the solution.....
That might well do it! No, that was a GB on The Board Which Shall Not Be Named. I don't remember who drew up the design, but it was one of the more trustworthy designers over there. The TL/Microbands were kind of a thing then and the hope was they'd work for this one. IIRC, and again, my rememberer sux, no one had stellar results with this design at the time. Maybe someone who is still allowed to enter over there can look up "30 Plinker" and gather some info.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I'd guess alloy is too soft for RD powder.
I think it's more like the design isn't up to the charge I was using. The alloy works great in all sorts of stuff using RD without issue. I think it's the quirks of that design.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
WELL!Looks to me like those should shoot lights out. right off the bat I can tell ya that 13 grains of RD with a GC bullet in the 30/06 is too hot. Got to drop to 12.5 -12.7 forGC bullets and way too hot for a .308 drop to around 8-9grs Unigue the .30/30 will probably like 7.0-7.5Unique the savage and .308 will probably like a .310 bullet better and the Spingfield.311-.3,312. don't try 2400 with any PB relube and resize and try these loads they all produced sub .75" groups @100 yds with my guns using iron sights. you're looking for around 1100-1150 FPS.
Have to sort of disagree. 13.0 RD shoots great with a variety of bullets in 308, '06, 7.65x53, 8x56R, 8x57, 35 Rem, 35 Whelen and several others. I switched to 16.0 2400 after people reported the RD powder had a real high, but real short, pressure peak. PB has never been a problem with 2400 for me. Sounds like you've got a system that works for you though!
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
13 of red dot is kicking up near 50-k in some cases and down around 45 in the bigger ones.
part of the issue isn't so much the pressure as it is the kick in the pants the powder provides.

now this is maybe gonna sound off after that statement, but i'd really be looking at using lower amounts of red-dot rather than trying to walk the 30-30 line with unique.
unique burns okay but it will start getting velocity variations right about the time you start hitting the lower speed you want.
probably not so noticeable at 50yds.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I was thinking cutting the RD in about half and seeing what the gun says. I know RD has quite a spike but it worked so good. 2400 is another option and then there's Unique and the other Dots and a mess of other stuff in the powder locker. I appreciate all the observations and thoughts guys. This one just didn't want to play nice and I don't think it's just the PB. I think it's the bands too. Anyone who has messed with the Lee TL designs knows they can be a hit or miss affair, I think this design has some of that in play.

On reflection, the cast shooting I've done in rifles, which runs from 800-2200+, has generally been a pretty easy ride to meet my requirements, which aren't 1/4" groups at 100! A nice round inch-ish group at 50-75 yards is pretty decent shooting for my eyes with open sights these days. 5, 6, 8 inch groups though?!! I've not had too many issues where that cropped up. I think I was fortunate to work with good designs in cast friendly guns for the most part. IOW, I got spoiled! My intention is to see this one work in the FR-8 Mauser 308. I'd like to see it take the place of the RCBS 30-180FN for close in work, stuff under 50-75 yards. The 30-180FN is a very good and reliable shooter in that rifle, which sees a lot of duty in winter as a tractor gun. But GC's aren't exactly falling from the sky here. Anyhoo, that's the general idea.