How large a diameter?

[jski]

I'm reloading for my .30 Carbine Blackhawk. Of course its diameter is .308. Now, I've been told many times and repeatedly that I should use at least a .309 diameter when using cast bullets. I've also been told many times and repeatedly that I should be able to easily insert the bullet into the forcing cone at the breach of the barrel. The problem is that .309 bullets do not easily fit into the forcing cone, lest I use a hammer.

So which of the 2 pieces of advice should I go with?

 

[243winxb]

Added- Note, OP is talking about the throats of the cylinder, below.

Will the flat base .309" of a bullet fit in past the face of the barrel?

Bullet just needs to get started, not go deep into the forcing cone.

The barrel will swage the bullet.

 

[Walkalong]

Fit them to the throats of the cylinder. Pressure will take care of the rest.

That said, if the throats are smaller than the groove diameter it will lead. You can always ream the throats, but chances are they are OK.

Bullet just needs to get started, not go deep into the forcing cone.

The barrel will swage the bullet.

Yep.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Like Walkalong says, it's the cylinder throats you have to be concerned with in a revolver, not the forcing cone of the barrel. You size revolver bullets to the cylinder throats.

The only concern with a forcing cone may be the smoothing of it, since some leave the factory a little rough. Some do, some don't......

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[.308 Norma]

Like Walkalong says, it's the cylinder throats you have to be concerned with in a revolver, not the forcing cone of the barrel. You size revolver bullets to the cylinder throats.

The only concern with a forcing cone may be the smoothing of it, since some leave the factory a little rough. Some do, some don't......

Hope this helps.

Fred

Just asking here - not arguing. But aren't those .30 Carbine Blackhawk cylinders built so that the cartridges headspace on the case mouths? And if so, wouldn't that make things kinda touchy when it comes to having the proper cylinder throat diameters?
I mostly asking because the .30 Carbine Blackhawk I had way back when was a genuine PITA if I tried to use cheap, "remanufactured" ammo. It was, "Shoot six rounds, take the cylinder out of the gun, use a rod to knock the stuck cases out of the cylinder, replace the cylinder in the gun, load, shoot six rounds, repeat.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Yes, they headspace on the case mouth, so trim length is important when loading for the Blackhawk revolvers. Sticking cases are pretty common in them, and also in mine. I'm going to polish the cylinder chambers and see if that makes it any easier to eject fired cases, but I've also been told to make sure the cylinders are completely dry, with no oil in them.

The cylinder throats wouldn't really affect the headspacing, since there is plenty of meat in the cylinder, and the step is large enough that even polishing the throats, or having them equally reamed, wouldn't affect that step the case butts up against for headspacing.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[.308 Norma]

Yes, they headspace on the case mouth, so trim length is important when loading for the Blackhawk revolvers. Sticking cases are pretty common in them, and also in mine. I'm going to polish the cylinder chambers and see if that makes it any easier to eject fired cases, but I've also been told to make sure the cylinders are completely dry, with no oil in them.

The cylinder throats wouldn't really affect the headspacing, since there is plenty of meat in the cylinder, and the step is large enough that even polishing the throats, or having them equally reamed, wouldn't affect that step the case butts up against for headspacing.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Yeah, that does help. I didn't know the step was large enough to where a guy could ream the throats a little if need be. Thanks Fred!
I found out about keeping my .30 Carbine's cylinder completely dry the hard way. I never did get around to polishing the cylinder chambers though. Probably should have before I gave up and traded it off. Oh well...
I have to say one thing for the .30 Carbine Blackhawk I had - it was quite accurate for a revolver, even if it was loud!

 

[FROGO207]

I have two of them and I reamed the throats on both cylinders to make them round and the size for lead bullets AND also polished the cylinders. They behave much more like they should now and I never have anything that the ejection rod will not remove anymore. YMMV

 

[jski]

.308 Norma, you got it right. But with the headspacing at the case mouth and the tightening of the cylinder throats, I was forced to push the .309 bullet deep into the case ... maybe too deep ... to get it to seat properly in the chamber. It would certainly constitute a compression load.

I used the 50 .309 diameter bullets I had and called Montana Bullet Works and changed my order to .308.

 

[Walkalong]

Are you saying the .309 bullets were to large in diameter the push into the throats on the cylinder in a loaded round?

Have you tried pushing the .309 bullet by its self through the cylinder throats?

 

[jski]

Walkalong, yep. Unless I were to use a hammer, it'd be impossible. That's why I was forced to push the bullet further into the case so it would seat properly in the chamber.

 

[Walkalong]

Sounds like they are .308 max, which is great with jacketed, but not so much with lead. With coated you should be OK at .308, but iffy with lead. Try it and see, if there is leading, you'll need to ream them out to .309, or maybe even .310, depending on groove diameter. Slug it and see what it is if you get leading. It is best for the throats to be .001 over, but exactly the same can be OK. If the throats are smaller, it will lead, period, and you'll have to ream them.

 

[jski]

IMG_0063

• jski
• Feb 26, 2017

I'm trying Linotype this time around, just to experiment with. That should reduce the leading.

 

[Walkalong]

Too hard can be just as bad as too soft. The gas checks can bail you out though. Leading is all about fit first and hardness second.

Check the links:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-powder-load-vs-leading.806469/#post-10299681

 

[USSR]

IMG_0063

• jski
• Feb 26, 2017

I'm trying Linotype this time around, just to experiment with. That should reduce the leading.

Ain't gonna help you, jski. Your problem is your throats are undersized, which seems to be an ongoing problem with Ruger. The reason you are getting leading is because your bullet are being sized down by your throats to smaller than your bore size, thereby causing the hot gases to melt some lead around the bullet and deposit it in the bore. You need to get your throats opened up to .3085" or .309". Suggest you go to the Cast Boolits website where there are several guys who do this. Hope that helps.

Don