I mainly use .25/35 brass anymore. When I form .30/30 brass I first run them into a .250/3000 die to squeeze the necks to .25 caliber, then into the HiPower sizer. Real PIA, but I get the best case life from those made from .30/30's. Go figure.
Ditto the above responses re: Hornady .227's. Too long to stabilize in the old Savages. I made a die into which I put a Hornady bullet and then file it to a shorter length. The die guarantee's uniformity. By trimming a little over 1/10" off (only amounts to a couple of grains weight) I get them to shoot better. Another PIA.
I found that the 60 gr. .228's from Buffalo Arms shoot exceptionally well. My favorites are the dwindling stash of Speer 70gr. Semi-pointed .228's I have. Unfortunately they're a dicontinued item.
My best load with any of the 70 grainers is with 25.0gr. H-4895.
My favorite bullet is a 70gr. cast lead bullet, cast from an old #228367 Ideal mould. Scary accurate over 6gr. Unique, for about 14-1500fps. Very cheap shooting too- the biggest expense is the primer. You can get a similar 70gr. .228" hard cast lead bullet from The Bullshop up in Alaska. bullshop.gunloads.com I think he casts them from an RCBS mould.
After you get your cases formed, neck size only from there on out. Your cases will last longer. I also anneal the neck/shoulder area after forming because all of that resizing of the brass work-hardens it a bit. May or may not need to, but I figure it can't hurt.
Gary
