Lee c309 170 f Deer questions

[Elbow]

So I am casting these with 50/50 WW pb and sizing them at .308 in a Lee sizer. Shooting a 1973 model94 3030, over 22 grains of Imr4198. At 150 yards I can kill milk jugs all day long. Wondering if anyone else hunts deer with this boolit and simple loads and your results. How do these perform? I have never hunted with cast, thanks for info.

[jonp]

I am watching this with interest as I bought this mould and a Sears Ted Williams 30/30.

[petroid]

I think you will be just fine if you keep your shots to milk jug range. That boolit and load sounds perfectly suited for the job. Just curious, what does your bore slug? If you are sizing to .308 does it slug smaller than that?

[Blammer]

set your milk jugs at random distances all the way out to 150 yds, then shoot them for practice.

I suspect you'll have no issues downing a deer with your load combo.

[Elbow]

I have not slugged the bore but the .308 sized boolits group very well (shot on paper also) and I do use a gas check.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I'll let you know this fall. I have that same mould that I'm going to be testing with. This fall I'm taking that boolit to deer camp.

[psychicrhino]

I too have that mold but have not yet used it. Watching with interest.

[44man]

The 94 should be fine with .308", The Marlin needs larger and I use .311". I made two molds and bought the RCBS 150 and it casts large enough. Still working on loads so I am not at 150 yard milk jugs yet!

[Elbow]

Any p e know the foot pounds of energy this load of 22 grains imr4198 and the 170 gas check bullet has at 100 yards? Trajectory info?

[10x]

I have several 30-30s and I shoot the Lee 150 grain FP GC as cast at 0.310" in all of them. All bullets are passed through a 310 size die to crimp the gas check.
I have found that the biggest bullet i can chamber easily will also be the most accurate. Let the barrel do the sizing, but use good lube.

And the Lee 150 grain (7 lb ww with 2 lb lead) will take a deer humanely out to 150 yards. I have never, ever had a mule deer walk (or run) away after being shot with this bullet.

[44man]

I buy a gun and make or buy a mold right off, Then I look for the slowest powder that will all burn and go to jacketed load info to start. Red Dot, you need to be kidding me!
Being mostly a revolver hunter, my loads are short of brass sticking so they are max even with jacketed. In many cases jacketed needs reduced loads over what cast can do.
Cast works and if I had to buy bullets I could only shoot a few shots a year. Boolits are REAL and the other funny things just empty a wallet.
Forget energy figures, mostly ME, means nothing at all. The relationship of velocity and alloy for the caliber for the animal is all that counts.

[shredder]

Your load and post sound so familiar I just had to go downstairs and retrieve my load data to confirm. Yup, I almost could have written your post!! My 94 is from 1975, and I size to .309 in my lee sizer that is the only difference. Having dug up a whold lot of those boolits from the clay berm at my range, I can say not only are they accurate enough to hunt with but they will yield a fair bit of expansion if they hit anything solid.

I would say "ideal" if I had to use one word to describe the deer hunting potential within 150 yds.

[rhead]

I have never tried the 170 grain version of this boolit but the 150 grain version over 28 grains of 3031 does a fine job of dropping them. the only one i had to track was due to a poorly placed shot. he went about eighty yards. The fault was not the boolit or the rifle.

[Frank V]

Elbow
I am going to watch this thread too. I've been thinking about a mould for the .30-30 & if I get one it'll be a GC mould.
I've had great results with Lee moulds in handguns & would try a Lee for the .30-30.

Looking in my Lyman cast bullet manual pg 144 they list the Lyman 311041 as a 173gr GC with #2 alloy. The starting load is 18grs IMR4198 @ 1602fps & 23,200 CUP (it's also listed as potentially the most accurate load) the Maximum load is 23.5grs IMR4198 @ 1999fps & 31,400 CUP. It appears as though IMR4198 is a good powder for lead bullets in the .30WCF. I'd think deer would be in serious trouble at reasonable ranges with your load.

I'd be interested in folks experience using a cast bullet in the .30-30 too!
Thanks

[Larry Gibson]

Elbow

Any p e know the foot pounds of energy this load of 22 grains imr4198 and the 170 gas check bullet has at 100 yards? Trajectory info?

That load is probably in the 1700 - 1800 fps range from a 20" barrel. Lot's of variables so it could be +/-. Ft/lbs of energy should be in the 800 - 900 range at 100 yards.

At 1700 - 1800 fps and zeroed (POA = POI) at 100 yards with iron sights it should be around 1.2 - 1.5 high at 50 yards, 4 - 5" low at 150 and 14 - 16" low at 200 yards.

Larry Gibson

[Sig556r]

I am watching this with interest as I bought this mould and a Sears Ted Williams 30/30.

Me too...but with RD NOE molds in 150 & 175 FNs

[KeithNyst]

This C309-170-F did just fine last fall on a 6-pointer at 100 yards. I was loading gas-checked using IMR3031 with a muzzle velocity of 1790. Bullet passed through. Buck went about 30 yards. 20" 1920 Savage 99F chambered in .303 Savage. The same load penetrated through six 1-gallon milk jugs filled with water at 20 yards.

[Boolseye]

Any advantage to an HP? I think I'd be tempted to cast some around 8-10 BHN and HP them with a Forster HP tool. I did hunt with that combo in a Marlin 30-30 year before last, missed a buck in heavy brush at about 20 yds. Boolit was C309-170 FP, sized to .311 and loaded over, I wanna say 22 grains of RL7

[bmortell]

I got a picture of one from a deer.


its a lee 170 at 1800mv its 2.4% antimony 1.5% tin. It was about a full 100yds so impact probably closer to 1500fps. Deer was facing towards me mostly slightly angled so i hit behind the front shoulder and it went through angled to hit the right rear thigh bone which it broke and went few inches past. Made golf ball size hole through left lung, not much guts damage even though it went straight through all the guts. With one lung and back leg it only went approx 20 yds.

It didnt expand a lot the big flare is from the thigh bone. Yours should be the same speed but softer so you should get good expansion. Mine was 30-06 and i think my bullet was undersize at the time as its missing most of the PC but those arent relevant, you should be good to go.

Also if you want to get fancy i would reccomend getting a 5lb lyman #2 bar and mixing 1lb to to 2.3lb pure for an even 1.5/1.5/97 alloy as my testing seems to show best expansion mallaebility and weight retention with even %tin alloys from certified metal. But thats getting pretty nit picky and its a small difference but for hunting bullets specifically thats what i think would perform best.

[Pumpkin]

Elbow; talk about serendipity---I use the same mould, same alloy, same load data, only fired in a Remington 783/30-06.
Very good load, have used it for years, deer don't go far if boolit is placed in chest area, have never recovered a boolit so
don't know about expansion. You will be pleased with the results---enjoy the hunting, you are prepared. Regards, Marvin