I’m inching closer to a good cheap cast load with my 336. I tried the “Miniature” load today I found on Marlin Owners forum, or very close to it: 5.5 grains W231 and in my case an Acme 135 grain RNFP. Velocity isn’t important really as these are just practice loads. They need only make it through 3 layers of cardboard at most. The main requirement is they be accurate enough out to 100 yards that they’re interesting to shoot and I’m actually practicing instead of guessing.
The issue is the sights I’m using do not have enough adjustment range to accommodate the cast loads and the full power loads I have. With the sights at the maximum elevation the cast loads are still about 6 to 8 inches below point of aim at 50 yards. The way I see it I have some options.
First I could put a scope or other optic on the rifle. The ones I’ve seen surely have enough range to handle the difference.
Second I could get a different sight set. I’m currently running a Ranger Point rear sight and a Skinner front Patridge sight. I’ve filed the front sight down as much as I dare. My calculations show I’d need to remove another 0.065” to raise the impact point enough to zero at 50 yards. There wouldn’t be much post left at that point. I was thinking some sort of tang sight or a Williams receiver sight with more vertical range. I have not tried the factory sights and that could well be the answer, though I shoot much better with aperture sights than the semi-buckhorn factory sights.
Third I could use faster cast loads and use gas checks and such. I know there is a limit to how fast I can push powder coated bullets. Can a plated bullet be pushed faster than a powder coated one? The Acme and equivalent bullets are cheap and readily available. Using a more complicated load increases the cost.
The last option might be to just pick one and go with it. Choose jacketed hunting loads and the RPP sights are great. Choose just cast target loads and I can make that work too probably. What it looks like I can’t do is both.
The issue is the sights I’m using do not have enough adjustment range to accommodate the cast loads and the full power loads I have. With the sights at the maximum elevation the cast loads are still about 6 to 8 inches below point of aim at 50 yards. The way I see it I have some options.
First I could put a scope or other optic on the rifle. The ones I’ve seen surely have enough range to handle the difference.
Second I could get a different sight set. I’m currently running a Ranger Point rear sight and a Skinner front Patridge sight. I’ve filed the front sight down as much as I dare. My calculations show I’d need to remove another 0.065” to raise the impact point enough to zero at 50 yards. There wouldn’t be much post left at that point. I was thinking some sort of tang sight or a Williams receiver sight with more vertical range. I have not tried the factory sights and that could well be the answer, though I shoot much better with aperture sights than the semi-buckhorn factory sights.
Third I could use faster cast loads and use gas checks and such. I know there is a limit to how fast I can push powder coated bullets. Can a plated bullet be pushed faster than a powder coated one? The Acme and equivalent bullets are cheap and readily available. Using a more complicated load increases the cost.
The last option might be to just pick one and go with it. Choose jacketed hunting loads and the RPP sights are great. Choose just cast target loads and I can make that work too probably. What it looks like I can’t do is both.
