30-30 round ball

[f350 ff]

Hello all,
Well time has not moved fast enough for me to be back stateside yet, so this is a research question. I saw somewhere that a round ball was used in a low powdered reload for using on squirrels and other small game. This would be great since it seems all I see when deer hunting is squirrels. Well that and walks in the woods without a rifle is just plain silly. (this way one rifle can take care of big and small game alike) So my question is this, what do you all load out at? What type of powder, what size ball, etc.... As technilogically challenged as I am, finding the thread that I found before is proving to be difficult. Thanks for the help.
matt z

 

[Galil5.56]

Might look up:

"cat sneeze 30/30 round ball".

Using a .310" or so round ball and a few grains of Bullseye, Red Dot, Green dot, 700x, etc will do what you want, just be careful not to go too low (squib), and having a chronograph would be handy, as would keeping a squib rod handy.

 

[blarby]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=585381

 

[Sunray]

Hi. If you shoot a tree rat while in a deer blind you're almost guaranteed not to see Bambi. However, there are 110 grain loads on Hodgdon's site.

 

[popper]

Try carbine bullets with Unique. Accuracy is reasonable to 100yds, easy on brass and light recoil. No lead problems.

 

[StaTiK]

I don't know if it's legal in your state or not, but how about a .22lr pistol for the squirrels? Depending on the brand/type of pistol, you might even use subsonic ammo so there's a marginally better chance of not scaring away deer while shooting at squirrels.

-StaTiK-

 

[bigedp51]

One year I used my .270 with reduced loads for hunting squirrels, I did it twice on two different days and never did it again. It is one thing to shoot "one" deer without ear protection it is another to shoot many reduced loads without ear protection. And I have never seen anyone wearing earmuffs when hunting deer or squirrels.

Having worked over half my life on jet aircraft and doing dumb things like hunting squirrels with a high powered rifle I can now barely hear the words I'm typing here.

Use a .22 to hunt squirrels and practice at the range with your high powered rifles with ear protection.

In the military the people who had a hard time hearing had "Artillery ears", you know the guy with one finger in his ear and the other pulling the firing lanyard. (one ear always got hammered)

I practice shooting reduced loads at the range "WITH" ear protection wishing I had taken better care of my ears when I was younger.

Please shout your answer and wave your arms if you reply to this.



Reduced loads for a .303 British using 100 grain pistol bullets for shooting at paper targets that you don't have to gut and clean.





For your 30-30 reduced loads you can use Speer .308 100 grain plinkers.
(Round ball loads will not be as accurate due to barrel twist and velocity)

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=618190

"Artillery Ears"

Old artillerymen often joke about being hard of hearing, or having "artillery ears," due to the damage caused by repeated loud cannon blasts. But as these men age, ear problems become a much more serious issue.

http://www.landscaper.net/artyears.htm

 

[PO2Hammer]

MY load for that would be a 115LRN over Trail Boss at about 1,000 fps. Super accurate and it hits only slightly low from the regular sight settings. In my Handi rifle it's squirrel accurate to 50 yards.

 

[kingmt]

I was playing the other day with M19's & 4gr of Bullseye. I found it to give very tight groups out to 50 yards.

 

[f350 ff]

Thanks

Thanks for all the help fellas. This is Learnign / gee whiz project to attempt to broaden my limited experience in reloading as well as to generate a viable alternate use for the old 30-30. (My 30-30 is also my truck gun) As far as for strictly squirrel hunting I have 5 different .22 rimfires, to include a revolver, as well as a .32 BP rifle my brother gifted me. I won't be shooting but 1 or 2 rounds at any given time. After 10 years so far in the AF working on the flightline around industrial power equipment and aircraft, my hearing isnt so great to begin with. It would be nice to come home with something after a day in the woods, be it even a single squirrel.
Thanks again.
matt z

PS. besides any squirrels taken will be after it is certain that no deer will show, thereby nixing the fact that shooting the squirrel will scare away the deer anyway, also i do own a .22lr revolver, but have no desire to take it hunting. i am not a superb pistol shot not do i really care to put in the time needed to become one with that little sucker.