I loaded up 10, 30-30 rounds using 7.0 grains of Unique and the Lyman 311041 boolit with gas checks. I also loaded up 10 of the same boolit using 21.5 grains of IMR-3031. I took these, and 30 rounds of Fusion factory ammo to the range today to sight in my new 30-30 (new to me anyway, it was made in 1980, Marlin 336 with the microgroove barrel and Williams peep sight and fire sight). And here's my thoughts.
I used the Fusion ammo as a base line, and to zero my peep sights in at 100 yards. None of these rounds were inserted backwards all loaded well, and fired on the first hammer fall.
7.0 grains of Unique (Lyman starting load) does not work well in my 30-30. Of the rounds that actually managed to hit the paper at 100 yards, maybe 1/3 of them hit sideways. They are obviously tumbling instead of spiraling. The rounds seemed very under powered to me also. I doubt I will go any further with load development using the Unique in the 30-30. No leading in the barrel tho and only minor fouling. All of the rounds loaded, and only 1 round needed two hammer hits to discharge.
21.5 grains of IMR-3031 (Lyman starting load) shot nice round holes into my target at 100 yards. They did drop about a foot and a half from where the factory ammo was hitting, but thats something I can adjust for, at least it's consistent. The IMR-3031 rounds felt a lot like the factory rounds, maybe just a tad softer on the recoil. All of the rounds loaded well, and they all discharged properly on the first hammer strike.
311041 WQWW with gas checks, sized to .311, seems to work just fine in my Marlin. However the nose of some of the boolits is a bit fat and they hit the very beginning of the rifling. I'd say under 20% of the test rounds had this issue. A little more pressure on the lever was enough to seat the round completely. I didn't want to seat much deeper in the case than the 2.525" I'm using since it winds up with the case over shooting the crimp groove. I may try and seat them the additional .015" that the Lyman book calls for (2.510") to see if that alleviates the chambering issue.
My plan is to load up 10 rounds each of the IMR-3031 adding an additional grain to each load set. 22 to 27grains in 10 round increments (27 grains is the maximum listed in the Lyman manual) and see how those shoot. Once I find the sweet spot, I'll be in business. I'll be using my butt chronograph since I don't actually have a chronograph.
Just thought I'd share a day at the range testing out rounds and gun smithing repairs on a couple of my other firearms. I replaced the stock on my Mossberg 12 guage since the wood one shattered and I had to make a new slide lock pin for my Star 9mm. The repairs worked flawlessly.