30-30 160 gr ftx reloads accuracy

[razorback2003]

I gave my first try at reloading rifle cartridges recently by reloading 30-30.

I used Leverevolution powder, 160 grain ftx bullets, winchester large rifle primers, and once fired hornady brass that was neck sized through a lee collet die. The rounds were crimped with a Lee factory crimp die.

I was able to cycle my dummy rounds through the gun, so figured that the neck sizing would work with this gun.

I started at 32 grains of powder and worked up to 34.5 grains.

Bottom end loads were not that accurate but when I got to 34.5 gr, I was getting a shade over inch group for three shots with a scoped Winchester 94. I have not tried 35 grains or the max load of 35.5 yet.

The accuracy is comparable to the groups the gun gets with factory Hornady Leverevolution ammo.

I do have other brands of once fired brass, remington, federal, and frontier. Would the brand of brass make any difference in accuracy with a 30-30?

 

[Boho]

Yes changing brass can in fact change the load. It may not change it much but it can. This is where a chrono is a big help. If you have or can borrow one you can find the muzzle velocity and fine tune the load in different brass. I've done it with hornady and fc brass, the difference was .2 gr in my 20" 336. If you can't get a chrono you can weight your brass to see what volume difference they may have an adjust the charge.

 

[hoghunting]

When using the 160 gr FTX with other brass, you'll need to trim brass more than the recommended trim length. The FTX bullet is longer than most 150gr - 170gr bullets so when you crimp in the cannelure the overall case length will be too long to cycle in the lever action. Just trim the other cases the same length as the Hornady cases.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I think the Hornady "rule" is to trim the brass .010" shorter than you normally would to compensate for the longer nose on the FTX bullet. I think if you trim your brass to 2.030" you should be fine when loading FTX bullets in the 30-30.

One thing about using a neck-sizing die on ammo meant for a levergun, it should not be done. You should always full-length size brass meant for a levergun or semi-auto rifle. I think you got lucky the ammo you built worked in your rifle. You probably won't get lucky a second time.

Why did you neck-size only BTW?

It sounds like your experience with LVR was similar to mine. When I got up near the top end of the load range the ammo got very accurate. I stopped @ 35.0gr LVR under the 160gr FTX bullet. Accuracy was very good so I didn't bother going any higher. Unfortunately I did not have the Chrono with me the day I tested that ammo so I can't give you velocity numbers but I will send some of that same ammo over the Chrono sometime this Summer.

Please let us know how well the 35.0gr and 35.5gr load do when you test them.

 

[witchhunter]

Arch nails it with the neck sizing for your lever. I would always full length size em for a lever. A lever action does not have the mechanical leverage to chamber a tight cartridge. This could bite you in a rapid fire scenario.

 

[4895]

My Win94 loves that bullet/powder combo but I load 37.0 grains of powder. I did chrony the load once upon a time and I think it was near 2400 fps. Important thing was it would put three shots nearly touching at 50 yards off a bench. The Hornady manual lists 37.0 grains as a max load for that powder/bullet combo so it is a published load. YMMV.

 

[jr_roosa]

I have been hosed by not sizing 30-30 enough. The action wouldn't close and I had to pull a batch.

30-30 headspaces on the rim, so it's not the game as a rimless rifle case where the brass life is shortened by over sizing. The failure mode of my 30-30 cases is neck and shoulder splits, not case head separation.

My Winchester 94 chamber has a generous shoulder compared to my RCBS die, so I still don't adjust it all the way down, but I learned my lesson about trying to set the shoulder back only .002" like I do with 30-06.

Long story short, you need a gauge to measure what your rifle and resizing die do to your case shoulder.

J.

 

[41maguser]

I've neck sized federal and Winchester brass for my 336 for a long time using the old lee loader kits. No issues. A little stiffer but closed and locked. But round nosed bullets.

 

[Mad Chemist]

BTW, R15 works equally well for this combo. I have run it up above the max published by Hornady and accuracy was superior. I backed off the charge for my final load because I was't comfortable with pressure signs and case necks were splitting on the 3-4th load. I dropped back down to a more conservative charge and the group size was only minimally affected.

OP, listen to Archangel and the others regarding full length sizing for levergun brass. You will eventually have problems if you don't do it. I suspect that the top end FTX loads will give you hiccups soon enough if you contnue to neck size only.

I would separate the brass that you're using for FTX vs plinkers and std bullet profiles, if you are not doing this already. This will save you some headaches later when you are adjusting seat and crimp with different bullets.