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ALWAYS SLUG YOUR BARRELS. If you have any doubts before you do it, you won't after you mic the slugs. Calipers are handy tools, but they are not accurate enough for this job.
I have worked in a factory making match barrels. Even in the best of them there are tolerances of a few thousandths of an inch, and this difference is critical for cast bullet performance and accuracy. Anyone who cannot "see" this difference can't read a micrometer. Geargnasher has it right. (An obviously he can read a mic, too.) [smilie=s:
If you want to really learn about shooting cast in a Marlin or any other rifle or pistol, go next door to Cast Boolits. There are some folks on the Marlin site that have a good grasp of the variables, and it's a great place to learn about care, repair, and maintainence of Marlin rifles. However, the EXPERTS on cast bullets hang out next door - the folks from all over the world who design and test new and old bullet designs, and the folks who use them for target shooting out to 1000yds and for the hunting of everything from mice to brown bears. Go where the real knowledge is. ;)
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Let's try to keep this simple. First thing one should do is slug the bore of the rifle you intend shooting cast bullets in. That's pretty much a given.
I have Winchester's chambered to the 30-30 in models, 94,64 and 54 which was Winchester's first serious bolt action. In measuring the slugs from the barrels in those rifles, the average was .3081". In a Marlin I used to have and one I still have, the bores slugged out at 3085". Both Marlins have Micro-groove barrels. My favorite bullet was and still is the Lyman #311291. In the Marlin, the nose was a very snug fit and in the Winchesters the nose was engraved slightly by the rifling. In any of the rifles, that bullet was accurate. The Marlins were noticably more accurate, probably because they has scopes and my 7.5 decade old eyeballs just don't see iron or receiver sights so good anymore.
If bullets are too small in diameter in any barrel, but more so in Micro-grooves, they'll strip badly and leave lots of lead stuck in the rifling. Something that can give hours of pleasure these days when "Getting the lead out." When I started casting back in 1954 at the ripe old age of 16, you could still buy mercury. If a barrel was badly leaded, you could plug the bore at one end, fill the barrel with mercury, let stand for 5 or 10 munutes, pour out the mercury and one tight patch would remove every bit of lead from the barrel, that is if any was left. The lead would amalgamate with the mercury which could later be strained out once the mercury became too contaminated with lead. Thanks to our illustrious EPA that option is no longer available.
Paul B.
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Slug your barrel and any Lovern type bullet in 0.311" should shoot just fine