30/30 recipe

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brainwake

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I am looking for a good 30/30 hand load recipe for deer hunting. Any suggestions as to where to start?

My plan is to build a contender rifle in 30/30. I don't have my barrel yet. I will probably go with a custom barrel because I would like to get one shorter than 23". But it just depends on what I can find.
 
I use a TC Contender super 14" in 30-30. My load is a Nosler BT over a moderate load of IMR 3031. I have taken deer from 3 yards to 175 (mostly inside 100 yards).

I get plenty of penetration, plenty of expansion and really quick kills-many have been DRT. I am very careful of bullet placement.

The load shoots under 7/8" at 100 yards from my handgun.
 
I put the 30-30 rifles in three pressure levels:

1) That action is not stronger than the brass. e.g. Marlin 336 or Win 94
2) The action is strong, but stretchy, and that stretches the brass. e.g. Savage 99 or Lee Enfield
3) The action is stronger than the brass and will not stretch the brass, e.g. Savage 219 or Ruger #1

Not having one, just reading about them, I would put the TC contender in the first class.
 
critter said:
I use a TC Contender super 14" in 30-30. My load is a Nosler BT over a moderate load of IMR 3031. I have taken deer from 3 yards to 175 (mostly inside 100 yards).

I get plenty of penetration, plenty of expansion and really quick kills-many have been DRT. I am very careful of bullet placement.

The load shoots under 7/8" at 100 yards from my handgun.
Click to expand...
what bullet weight are you use?
 
I guess I should also state that this is going to be my 'pack' gun. I plan on building a contender that I can backpack into a national forest and go hunting. So I will be building a small game barrel..prolly 22LR. and a medium game barrel....prolly 30/30.

And since this is probably the lightest deer hunting gun in my meager collection, this may also serve as my kids first deer gun. They would be shooting from a tent on the edge of a food plot...so no long shots there.

But I might want to reach out a little farther. I was also thinking about the 7-30 waters.

I should also state that I am going to be using rifle format.
 
Any recipe for the 30-30 shot in any rifle is just fine for your contender too. No special consideration is necessary IMO.

Like said above, the old standby IMR3031 is a good choice of powders but I now use only Leverevolution because of the increased velocity which in turn produces a flatter shooting round without sacrificing accuracy.
 
My little hot load 30/30 is 34gr of RL-15 under a 170gr hornady RN. This is hot, but man it thumps them.. This is out of a 20" 1958 Western Field Marlin action. My woods are 75 yards max.
 
I shoot the 7-30 waters in a pistol form and in a 15" tube I shoot a 120 grain Nosler BT in my tender. The 7-30 was developed around a 120 grain bullet.
With the 30-30 any round nose or flat point bullet will work but with the TC you can shoot a spire point bullet I would choose a 125 grain Nosler BT any rifle load data will work in your TC.
Powders that should work 3031 and R15 have worked for me.
Flip
 
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Quote "I put the 30-30 rifles in three pressure levels:

1) That action is not stronger than the brass. e.g. Marlin 336 or Win 94
2) The action is strong, but stretchy, and that stretches the brass. e.g. Savage 99 or Lee Enfield
3) The action is stronger than the brass and will not stretch the brass, e.g. Savage 219 or Ruger #1

Not having one, just reading about them, I would put the TC contender in the first class."

Clark---is your Lee Enfield a custom build? I have never seen (or heard of) a Lee Enfield in 30-30, only in 303 or custom.
 
The Contender is a strong action. It’s available in .375 Win, .45/70, .444 Mag, .223 Rem, and custom snot knockers like 6.5 & .375 JDJ. Better publications and web sites will list “Contender Only” loads.

It’s not indestructible, but it can be loaded a little hotter than the typical Remlin lever action.

A Contender with a 23” barrel will be about as long as a bolt action rifle with a 17 or 18” barrel, because the break-open design adds no action length. I have a 23” 7-30 carbine an it’s a short rifle to carry in the field.

What ever you choose use spire points and disregard SAMMI cartridge overall length. Load as long as your barrel's throat will allow, since you’re not cycling through an action. That extra length, and it can be significant, Contenders are notorious for long throats, means more volume in the case for powder. Which means more feet-per-second and no pressure increase on a properly worked-up load.

BTW, Boyd’s has their superb Contender thumbhole stock back in production, after several years of not being available. Highly recommended:

http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/product.htm?pid=20180&cat=1226

Don’t forget the matching forend.
 
I've closely mimicked the factory load from Hornady using LeveRevolution and the 160gr FTX bullet. Shoots very well out of my 20" Marlin 336. I load 1gr under Hornady's max for 2340 fps and is accurate enough for me (2" at 100 yards).
My rifle seems to like the 160 & 170gr bullets over the 150gr bullets I have tried.
Next favorite powders were TAC & W748.
 
In my 30-30's it's hard to beat the accuracy ,velocity and performance of the speer hot core 150 and 170 gr fp's.
Favored powders are 748 and rl 15.
 
Some info for you based upon shooting in my Win94 carbine 20" .30-30:

I have tried H-335, BLC-2, H-4895, Varget, Leverevolution, others? in the .30-30 Winchester.

Using H-335, recoil is light if not 30% less than other loads. Using Hornady #3035 150 grain round nose and 34.1 grains of H335 I found the recoil very pleasant and accuracy acceptable. I shot an average group of 3/4" at 50 yards from a sandbag rest. The average velocity recorded at 2355 fps. leaving the carbine giving an estimated 800 ft. lbs. required for CXP2 game at 200 yards. Standard of Deviation was 36.49.

Using a max load of 37.0 grains of Leverevolution powder and 160 grain Hornady #30395 FTX bullets I recorded an average velocity of 2414 fps. leaving the carbine barrel. Standard of Deviation was 31.76. This translates into an estimated 400 yard terminal range with 800 ft. lbs. of energy sufficient for CXP2 game (antelope, deer). The best group I have had with this load is about 1/2" at 50 yards from a sandbag with peep sights. The recoil is 25% greater than H335.

I haven't used spire point bullets so you may have an advantage but I think the FTX bullet combination is about the best available for a traditional lever gun. To imagine doubling the terminal range of a round by changing the bullet is phenomenal. I know my Win94 shoots about 2" high at 100 yards and pretty much on zero at 250 yards with the FTX bullet load.

My recommendation is to try H-335 powder in the .30-30. If shooting out of a lightweight contender your hands and wrists will thank you.
 
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I have a T/C Contender Carbine w/21"bbl in 7-30Waters (.30/30 necked down and blown out).
The action is roughly the same strength/stretch as the Marlin 336. Mine won't take some of the maximum loads listed for the Winchester M94. Most are ~2.0gr under published max loads.

The T/C locking/opening mechanicism dosn't have a lot of camming power to open the action. The .30/30 brass is relatively thin and more readily expands against the breach face causing difficult opening of the action as max working pressures are approached by the .30/30. The weak link is the case/brass, not the action. This is/was the prime reason the Encore action was developed for such cartridges as the .22-250 and .30/06....

That said, my new go-to load for the the .30/30 is a Nosler/Winchester 150gr BallisticSilver tip over 38.5gr of LVR (Hodgdon's max listed load and same as factory loads). I use Winchester brass and Win L.R.primer or Fed#210. OFB brass is trimmed to min. trim lenght.

I was amazed at the accuracy (sub-moa 3-shots) and velocity (2,425fps @ 20') from my Marlin/Glenfield M30 (20"bbl).
The fired brass ejected effortlessly. My previous favorite was 36.0gr. of RL15. Same bullet and brass w/36.0gr RL15 (current lot# I have) gave 2,366 and slight resistence when levering open the action....
Sometimes NEWER is BETTER...
 
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Just want to make sure, but I get to choose from the 30 cal (308) bullets for 30-30 right?

So I could go with the Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting bullets? remember, this is not a lever round. I want a spire point.
 
Those will work, but your going to have to shoot them one at a time, and your going to have to shoot them out at the end of the days hunting because they will not eject out of a lever action 30-30.

Just want to make sure, but I get to choose from the 30 cal (308) bullets for 30-30 right?

So I could go with the Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting bullets? remember, this is not a lever round. I want a spire point.
 
If you are not worried about action type, as its going to be a single shot rifle- you could use just about any 170gr bullet or less in 30 cal, yes.
 
well.darn...no LeverEvolution powder around....did manage to pick up some 30-30 dies. The 30 cal bullets are wiped out too and no brass in sight. To make matters worse....no 30-30 factory ammo either...

...at least I got my dies....so I guess I will have to hunt for the rest of the supplies...or stalk Academy again.
 
My go to load for 30-30 has long been the 150 gr round nose bullet and 3031 powder. Plenty good for any deer I ever met.
 
I just looked up my old manuals. Funny how the loads for this bullet and powder have varied from manual to manual over the years I have been loading. This is the reason I did not give you my load. My pet load for many years is actually over the max. shown in the Hornady 7th Edition manual.

I have to ask if powders have changed, or test procedures, or lawyers??? In the end the loader must take charge of his own safety.

As always, start low and work up.
 
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