This may not be quite the right forum, but anybody loading the Herrett should come through here eventually...

Has anyone tried loading cast bullets in the 30 Herrett with Unique powder? Specifically looking for a load for Lee 113 grain, 120 grain or 152 grain cast bullets at low velocity (1000-1300 fps) with unique. I saw a starting load for the 30-30 of 7 grains for a 152 grain bullet and thought this might be very close to what would work in the Herrett, but other opinions/experiences would be appreciated.

Thank you

Case capacity of 30-30 is 45 and 35 for the Herrett.
You may want to scale back for this relative difference in case capacity and then work up!
LouisB

Just an opinion of course

[ 05-23-2003, 05:22: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

I've used the lee 113 over various doses of unique in my wifes .308, and they shoot suprisingly accurately. I've used unique with many different cartridges, and it is a superb cast bullet powder. It should work fine in your Harret, but I have no idea what charges would be appropriate.

The heavy bullet will tumble at low velocities if yours has the same 1 in 14" twist that mine has. Have put 180 gr. bullets completly sideways @ 25 yards.

I HAVE CAST, LOADED, AND SHOT CAST BULLETS FOR OVER 30 YRS. THE FIRST THING TO KNOW IS THAT CAST BULLETS ARE SLICKER THAN A JACKETED BULLET AND THEY SHOOT WITH LESS PRESURE WITH THE SAME POWDER CHARGE THAN A JACKETED BULLET OF THE SAME WEIGHT. ANY DATA YOU FIND FOR A JACKETED BULLET WILL WORK FOR THE CAST AND YOUR VEL. WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE HIGHER.
YOUR 7 GR. LOAD SOUNDS RIGHT ON FOR THE VEL. YOU WANT. I HAVE SHOT 10 GRS.WITH A 160 GR. CAST OUT OF LINEOTYPE ( LYMAN 311291 ) IN MY OLD 30/30 BARREL. VEL. WERE NOT THAT FAR OFF FROM A FULL HOURSE LOAD AND ACCURACY WASN'T THAT BAD. I SHOT THAT LOAD IN A SILIOUTTE MATCH ONCE AND SHOT A 38 OUT OF 40 ----- RAMS WENT DOWN GOOD AS LONG AS YOU HIT THEM A TAD OVER CENTER. I THINK THAT I PUT THAT LOAD ON PAPER ONCE AND IT SEEMS LIKE I SHOT ABOUT A 5.5" GROUP AT 200 METERS WITH IRON SIGHTS.
WITH THE OLD SLOW TWIST T/C BARRELS YOU CAN GO UP TO A 160 GR. BUT LIGHTER IS BETTER. AFTER 160 OR SO THEY GO WILD.
I HOPE THIS HELPS ---- ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS MY OWN PERSONEL EXPIRANCE WITH UNIQUE, CAST BULLETS AND THE 30/30 T/C