30-30 for Plinking?

[mustanger98]

Re: post #14

170gr Oregon Trail cast bullet, and 7 grains of Unique, and the round is great for plinking. If feels like a 38 special, it's very light but it hits cans and such hard. I love this round, and it's cheap to reload too. Speer also offers a 100grain plinking load, but it costs more than cast, and uses more powder.

Shoot safe - I do.
Lovesbeer99

I have 20rds of this very handload, but haven't tried them yet. I'm wondering how many rounds it'll take before leading up the bore. I intend to try them in my old Winchester 94 .30-30 which I've posted about here many times.

I've been experimenting lately with this same LazerCast 170grainer, but with gas checks, over IMR4064. At the moment I disremember the exact charge weight, but it's a mite slow to what they're showing in Hornady's 5th Edition manual... I backed it down a speck since they recommend reducing and working up for safety's sake. My next step, because I understand you can push a gas checked bullet near as fast as a jacketed bullet, is to test the 1800 and 1900 fps level charge weights of IMR4064 behind this same bullet with gas checks.

Note: I might use the 7gr Unique loading without gas checks for a plinker, but the higher power loads with gas checks, I think I'll use for competition and ranch work. I know there's some grey area concerning cast bullets on deer in some states, but I like the whole thing of loading those 170grainers gas checked hot enough I could bust something with it in the absense of jacketed softpoints.

 

[qajaq59]

If I reload

for the 30-30 plinker which bullet should be used...308...310...311.????

My rifle likes the .310, but they're all a little different, so the best way to do it is to slug your barrel. It's not too hard to do and the instructions are in some of the cast bullet forums.

 

[plumberroy]

113 gr lee "soapcan"+7 gr unique + win. l.r. primer out of my H & R mod 157 makes one ragged hole at 40 yards and does less damage than a 17 hmr to small game clocks 1280 f.p.s.
Roy

 

[Bobarino]

i don't reload but i do use my Win '94 .30-30 for plinking. i get the 150gr cheap stuff from Cabela's. it shoots fine, a little easier on the shoulder than the 170 grainers and it shoots plenty accurate. its just plain fun to shoot a lever action rifle. if i didn't have such bony shoulders, i'd shoot it more.

Bobby

 

[dmazur]

I use a Garand for plinking. Military surplus ammo is still available in .30-06, I know, but I reload anyway. Unlike your proposed caliber, I can't "load down" to reduce the punishment or the Garand quits functioning. (!) I have a shotgun-style recoil pad I wear on my shoulder.

So, if you want to plink with a .30-30, go right ahead. You could probably put a recoil pad on the rifle without getting too many critical remarks, too.

 

[mustanger98]

I use a Garand for plinking. Military surplus ammo is still available in .30-06, I know, but I reload anyway. Unlike your proposed caliber, I can't "load down" to reduce the punishment or the Garand quits functioning. (!) I have a shotgun-style recoil pad I wear on my shoulder.

This is another thing I enjoy... I like to pick off clay birds and small rocks on the 100yd berm (that's all my club's range has). A fist size rock looks pretty small out there. Thing about loading down, and I'm just observing here, is you really can't use a cast lead bullet in a Garand like we're talking about with a .30-30 levergun. I bet even a gas-checked bullet would clog the gas port. Now, my old Nat'l Ord. '03A3's another story. I load those LazerCast 170grainers and jack the rear sight up for 700yds and go for it at 100yds. Soon as I can get some more loaded, I'm gonna jack the velocity up to about 2400fps and see if I can lower the elevation some.

The recoil pad... I've considered one of those, but I'm usually shooting the Garand in cooler weather, so I usually were a jacket.

So, if you want to plink with a .30-30, go right ahead. You could probably put a recoil pad on the rifle without getting too many critical remarks, too.

These 170grainers I load... for some of my loads, the recoils reduced even though the bullets are 20grs heavier than the 150gr CoreLokts I hunt with. If somebody's real concerned about the recoil from a .30-30, I'd suggest adding a Limbsaver. They make those in either a slip-on or a grind-to-fit. If I were gonna do it, I'd take the slip-on so I could put the original right back on if I were of a mind to without extra trouble in fitting the grind-to-fit. But then, I'm not effected by the .30-30's small amout of felt recoil and when I'm hunting, I'm wearing a jacket.