30-30 Light Practice loads using H4895

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wannabefree

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I want to load some medium/light practice ammo for my Model 94. I plan on using either either lead or plated bullets in the 150 to 170 gr range. I bought some H4895 powder because it is suppose to be good for reduced loads @ 60 % of max charge according to there website data.
My question is if the max load data for this power is around 30 grains then 60% would be about 18 grains. Is it safe to say that any load between 18 and 30 grains would be safe to use because in the most data I can find they only list ranges from around 18 to 21 gr for plinking loads and 27 to 30 or so for standard loads. I wan to get a load that shoots somewhere between 1500 to 1800 fairly accurately and it looks like I would need to load somewhere in the middle of those ranges. This same question might apply to H4198 powder as well since it is listed as a safe reduce load powder too.
 
I have used H4895 for reduced loads with jacketed bullets, it definitely makes a difference. I ran slightly above the 18gr minimum (I think 20, to allow for tolerance of my scale?), and my 8YO shot it with no problem. But yes, you should be able to start low and work up in those ranges to find an accurate load. The only other thing I will say is, I have seen a lot of fouling at the lower charges, probably the lower charge not creating enough heat/pressure for a complete burn. This caused harder chambering of subsequent rounds, until I ran a quick brush through the chamber.
 
I worked up a reduced .30-30 load using H4895 and Sierra 150 gr. Pro Hunter bullets. I settled on 23 gr. which I believe is about 70% of max. I don't have a chronograph but it is easy shooting and accurate in my Marlin 336.
 
wannabefree said:
I want to load some medium/light practice ammo for my Model 94. I plan on using either either lead or plated bullets in the 150 to 170 gr range. I bought some H4895 powder because it is suppose to be good for reduced loads @ 60 % of max charge according to there website data.
My question is if the max load data for this power is around 30 grains then 60% would be about 18 grains. Is it safe to say that any load between 18 and 30 grains would be safe to use because in the most data I can find they only list ranges from around 18 to 21 gr for plinking loads and 27 to 30 or so for standard loads. I wan to get a load that shoots somewhere between 1500 to 1800 fairly accurately and it looks like I would need to load somewhere in the middle of those ranges. This same question might apply to H4198 powder as well since it is listed as a safe reduce load powder too.
Click to expand...

While H4895 is a great powder in the 30-30, you may find that reduced loads won't shoot well. I shot close to 500 rounds in my Marlin 336 and a bunch of powders and came to the conclusion that creating accurate loads is a lot of work. As a general rule, they shoot their best with bullets going at factory velocities. Lower velocity ammunition seldom shot well, and faster ammunition always produced blown groups. Lever actions have magazine tubes, forends hanging off the barrel, and all that junk vibrates unpredictably and inconsistently. Now if you were shooting a bolt gun with a free floating barrel, lower velocities would just shift the group but group size would not necessarily be horrible. Lever actions are different.

Based on my research, IMR 3031 was used as a factory powder in the 30-30, before WW2, and it is still a top choice in the cartridge. If you plan to load full power loads, and if you have IMR 3031, try it.
 
Another powder that you may find helpful is #2400.
I’ve used it with cast bullets for years. Lyman has a lot of cast bullet data for reduced loads. Most will work with jacketed bullets. Increase charges 5-10% to accommodate greater bore resistance of jacketed bullets. Just don’t exceed max loads.
 
I like H4895 being able to do reduced loads. As others have said, it might take a little work to find a load that is accurate for your gun, but that's true with all powders.

I'd also look at Trail Boss. You can find loads if you Google it. I've used TB for reduced 30-06 loads. Just one word of caution. TB did not meter smoothly for me so I weighed every charge. Because it's designed to be able to fill the case overcharging is not an issue, but accuracy probably would be.

I'm not suggesting you try this load but a couple of threads I read mentioned 8 grains of TB to work well. I've never loaded it in 30-30 though.

Good luck.
 
GooseGestapo said:
Another powder that you may find helpful is #2400.
I’ve used it with cast bullets for years. Lyman has a lot of cast bullet data for reduced loads. Most will work with jacketed bullets. Increase charges 5-10% to accommodate greater bore resistance of jacketed bullets. Just don’t exceed max loads.
Click to expand...
Plus one. Or in my case, bluedot and berrys plated or 110 gr 30 carbine bullets.
 
150 gr plated bullet with buffalo rifle and/or 5744 mades a very easy shooting round. 21.5 grs of buffalo rifle with the 150 gr plates off the bench will shoot one hole at 50 and 10 meters. opens up to around 1/2 inch at 150 meters.
 
I shoot a fair bit of reduced loads in 3006 using cast bullets that would work in a 3030. I use unique with a 118 grain bullet and 2400 with a 150 grainer. If you are using cast, try pistol powders. Lyman has lots of load data.
 
As a follow up to my original post. I have never loaded 30-30 before but I have a 94 that I have hardly ever shot much. I am not looking to go hunting with it and if I did I would probably just by some factory rounds since here in Ca. we have to use non lead bullets for hunting and I do not want to spend a lot of time in load development for expensive bullets.
I want to develop a low cost target round and the biggest cost in reloading for this caliber is the bullets not the powder. So my first thought is to find a a budget bullet either lead or plated since they are much cheaper than jacketed bullets as far as I can tell. I would like to get as much accuracy as possible but will mostly be shooting at 50 to 100 yard targets. I just want to come up with a good low cost target round for fun target shooting. As to reduced loads its mostly about finding a good low recoil round with medium velocity and using reduced powder loads is just a bonus to keeping the cost down. I also do not want to go out and buy a bunch of different powders with only one purpose. I currently load 9mm, 30.06 and now 30-30. I use IMR 4064 for my 30.06 but may experiment with the H4895 a little also. I might pick up some IMR 3031 to try out too but doubt I would use Trail Boss or 2400 for much else so I would like to keep things simple with just a few all purpose powders.
 
I use a 170gr lead gas-checked bullet (cast myself) and 25-26 gr of IMR3031, makes a real nice and accurate load that's maybe 80% of a full power factory loading. Haven't bothered to chrono it but it works great at least to 100yds (probably more but I start to run out of sight elevation). I didn't shoot my 94 a whole lot either but the load above makes it a whole lot more fun and it's about all I shoot in it these days.
 
Load development for a non-lead bullet for the .30/30 has never been easier.
Just buy some Hornady 140gr FTX, and some Hodgdons LVR. Reduce Hodgdons max load by 5%. Load and go shoot.
H4895 will work just fine, too. Even full power.30/30 aren’t noted for a lot of recoil. And, H4895 loads can be reduced.
Nobody makes a decent monolithic cheaper than the FTX.
 
Yes you can safely load H4895 in the 30-30 from the 60% charge to the max. I would use a coated bullet, Missouri Bullets make a 135gr and 165gr coated bullet for the 30-30. I also use the 165gr coated bullet in the 30-06 with H4985 with success.

I have not heard H4198 can be reduced like H4895, you might want to check that.
 
I wanted some inexpensive 30-30 loads that I could shoot at the local indoor range with my old Win 94. I bought some of the Xtreme plated 150 FN bullets, and I figured if I could keep them around 1500fps I would be fine. I loaded test rounds from 20.5 to 24.0gn of H-4895. I ended up with 1351fps with 20.5, and 1599fps at 24.5. I was not able to tell if there were any plating failures, but did not see any evidence of problems when I cleaned the barrel. They were accurate enough for 25 yards.
 
wannabefree said:
As a follow up to my original post. I have never loaded 30-30 before but I have a 94 that I have hardly ever shot much. I am not looking to go hunting with it and if I did I would probably just by some factory rounds since here in Ca. we have to use non lead bullets for hunting and I do not want to spend a lot of time in load development for expensive bullets.
I want to develop a low cost target round and the biggest cost in reloading for this caliber is the bullets not the powder. So my first thought is to find a a budget bullet either lead or plated since they are much cheaper than jacketed bullets as far as I can tell. I would like to get as much accuracy as possible but will mostly be shooting at 50 to 100 yard targets. I just want to come up with a good low cost target round for fun target shooting. As to reduced loads its mostly about finding a good low recoil round with medium velocity and using reduced powder loads is just a bonus to keeping the cost down. I also do not want to go out and buy a bunch of different powders with only one purpose. I currently load 9mm, 30.06 and now 30-30. I use IMR 4064 for my 30.06 but may experiment with the H4895 a little also. I might pick up some IMR 3031 to try out too but doubt I would use Trail Boss or 2400 for much else so I would like to keep things simple with just a few all purpose powders.
Click to expand...
If you want to save a lot of headache, just go to the Berry's 150 30-30 bullet. They are accurate, can be pushed to full 30-30 velocities in my experience, and are around $30 for 250.
If I was in your shoes, I would have used IMR4064. It's a pretty decent 30-30 powder. Then I would use a flake shotgun powder for my low velocity load.
Here's a little info on reduced loads. I've used their info for reference and it works great for me.
www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm
 
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