I have posted previously about sizing #U321297HP .32 Special bullets from .322” down to .312” for .30-30. Groups each side of 2” at 100 meters at upwards of 2200 fps tell me that I’m on a winner. That HP bullet was a good killer on hogs in .32 Special and remains so in .30-30.
The next application of this super sizing came when I needed a 165 gn non GC bullet for .30-30 Rifle LAS. I have an old WRACo .32-40 mould that would be considered in pretty good condition if the corners on the bevel base had not been damaged. Using it in .32-40 I have had some reasonable results when I have cleaned up the bullets with knife and file.
To improve on this, a friend made a punch to match the angle of the bevel base. This need only be a cone, since the rest of the base gets sorted out in subsequent sizing operations. The punch was made to go where the top punch normally goes in the Lube Sizer.
The bullet is placed nose first in the .323” sizing die, with the substitute top punch ready to push down on the bevel bullet base. With the stop under the sizing die screwed right off, the bullet is pushed all the way into the die. The stop is then screwed back up to contact, plus just enough further to remove the feathers and corners from the bullet when everything is squeezed to a dead stop.
Bullets are then sized and lubed normally in the Lube Sizer with .323” die.
Bullets are turned into .30-30s by passing them sequentially through the .314” and .311” Lee dies. The sizing and the heavy push flattens the bases nicely, and reduces the bevel to about half what it was previously.
Groups at 50 meters with subsonic loads are of the order of 1” to 2”, which is adequate for the purpose. Most recent load for this is 5.3 gns Red Dot.
Edit:
This morning I took the 336A to the range to check silhouette zero with the new Red Dot load (new price too - $180/lb). It was a shocking morning with a mongrel wind, blowing the shots off to the side as you can see, but the purpose was to establish elevation, so I continued. First group (top) started on a clean cold bore, and that shot is one of the two on the right. Lube is BAC. The second (middle) group was after moving the sight down 3 minutes, but at 75 metres - oops, wrong range. The third (lower) group was with the same sight setting but at 100 m as originally intended.
The white aiming mark is 4" diameter. Aim dissected the mark at mid height with wide flat top post in 17A sight.
Average group size, allowing for meters not yards, was 3.2 minutes, so my claim of 1" to 2" at 50 meters is still OK.
End Edit.
Groups with #311041 sans gas check, with same soft alloy and same velocity, have been over 2” at 50 meters. The advantages of the resized .32-40s may be the longer bearing surface, which puts them on to the rifling while still within COL max, and the .312” diameter (#311041 is .310). I prefer my .30-30 bullets to be big enough to fill the neck with minimal clearance. The throat of a .30-30 is just an abrupt collision with the rifling off the end of the chamber, so neck guidance and rifling engagement as loaded are perhaps more important than they might be for say a .308”. This is in a Marlin 336A Rippletop with 2.150” chamber.
It is a surprise to some that 165 gns at 1050 fps mv is entirely adequate for knocking down LAS Rifle turkeys, pigs and chickens. Indeed for chickens I have more frequently used #311008 (115 gns) subsonic. LAS rams are an entirely different proposition and require a 170 gn plus bullet at high teens muzzle velocity.
This post is a plug for cleaning up scrappy bevel bases in the Lube Sizer, using an upside down approach, for doing some serious sizing to get the bullet you want, and for using a fatter cast bullet in .30-30.
You are only as good as your library.