Marlin 336 30-30 micro groove load

[smkummer]

A buddy of mine just bought a used Marlin 336 30-30 micro groove. I have Lyman 311041 and 311291. Current powders are Unigue, AA9, 2400 and several others ( I borrowed my last 4759 out to a friend). I have Lee sizers in 309 and 311. I am wanting to load these bullets as fast as I can (meaning as close to factory specs. as possible) with accuracy. Anyone have a suggestion? thanks ahead of time. The bullets are WW that are dropped in water.

[Lonegun1894]

Mine likes my Lee 170gr GCd sized to .311, and anything from small game loads to full factory levels works just as well, with a preference for full power or at least close to it giving slightly better performance.

[NickSS]

I have uised the 311291 sized to .311 in my marlin micro groove barrel with good luck. I used 3031 and 28 gr of powder for a good load. I also used 30 gr of H335. I got good accuracy with both loads. However, my most accurate load was with IMR 4198 at 18 gr which produced groups of between 1 and 1.5 inches at 100 yards

[smkummer]

I have some 4198. So the 311291 is prefered over the 311041FP bullet?

[felix]

Design wise, both can be made to shoot with very good accuracy. Just make sure their diameters are large enough for the gun. ... felix

[1Shirt]

Don't have a micro groove 30-30, but do have a 44 and 444 with Micro grooves, and have never been bothered by the so called magic keepum under 1600 fps or they will not shoot, and will lead, etc,etc,etc. T'ain't so in my rifles. I cast hard, water drop every thing, and have no problem with loads in excess of 1600 in either of them. I also go large per bore size, and use Lars Canuba Red for everything. Shoot mostly 2400 in both of them and would if I had one in 30-30, but my 30-30 is a 94 win. I size mine 431 for the 44's, and I size .311 for 30-30. Wish I had one in 30-30, but will have to wait until I find one used that I just can't walk away from.
1Shirt!

[Nobade]

All the micro groove Marlins I have owned in 30 cal. preferred fairly large bullets. I bought the SAECO version of 311041 designed for the 303 Brit. It throws a .314 bullet with a .303 nose, and I had no problem loading them to full tilt with good accuracy and no leading. Anything with a .300 nose, i.e. normal 30 cal bullets never did shoot all that great for me with micro groove barrels.

[NHlever]

There are a lot of legends around about cast boolits in micro groove barrels. Behind every legend there is some truth, and the truth behind the micro groove thing is that there are two very different versions. Some of the early ones had .305 bores, with a .308 groove diameter, and I believe there were 16 grooves. Later Marlin changed the dimensions to .301-.302 bore diameter with the .308 groove diameter. As you can guess, getting good accuracy from standard cast boolits in the ones with the .305 bores at any kind of velocity was a challenge. I had a 336A with those dimensions, and it would shoot the long 170 gr. FN, but it would keyhole short (100-110 gr.) bullets, and never shot worth a darn with my cast loads except for one Loverin mold I had at the time.

[45r]

My favorite 30-30 load in my MG Marlin is 25 grains RE-7 under a BRP 311041.You can go up to 27.5 for all the velocity you can get if your gun likes it.My rifle shot best at 25.This same load is a tack-driver in my 23 inch contender barrel.I've got very good results with 29 grains 4895 or 3031 also.I size .311 and seat out as close to lands as possible.

[JIMinPHX]

I load the Lee 150gr RNFP sized to .310 with good results from a microgroove. I can load to 1300fps with Unique or 2300fps with RE-7 & beat the accuracy of factory ammo with either one.

I'm told that there are different flavors of .30-cal microgroove. My barrel has around a dozen lands.

[NHlever]

Yes, the later Marlin (newer) micro groove has 12 grooves.

[hydraulic]

My nephew shoots a 336 micro-groove and I shoot a '94 carbine. 27 grs. of 4895 under the 31141 will reliably put the 200 yd rams down. Both rifles shoot accurately with no leading. Chrono says 1900 fps.

[geargnasher]

Design wise, both can be made to shoot with very good accuracy. Just make sure their diameters are large enough for the gun. ... felix

As usual, the best advice given in two sentences.

I'll add that anything from Unique to 3031 seems to work quite well in both of my .30-30s, including the micro 336.

Gear

[smkummer]

Now to get casting and shooting!

[pls1911]

RCBS 180 grain, Ranch Dog/NOE 165 grain, Lyman 31141 173 grain, and the SEACO #316 150grain all shoot well when heat treated and run through a .312 lube die, so long as velocity is kept to about 1900-2000fps (or lower). (24-26 Grains of Reloader 7 works fine)
Only the SEACO is sized at all, and all bullets cast about 5% heavier than indicated.
I've NEVER a trace of leading in TC's , Marlins, or Winnies. Any of these bullets will penetrate through both shoulders of a 200 pound hog, dropping them in their tracks.
The 30-30 and cast bullets... what's not to like??