30-30 / Unique / Large Pistol Primers

[Dudemeister]

OK, SO I'm finally getting around to loading some 30-30.

So far the only caliber I've actively reloaded for has been .45LC. But I've accumulated some brass I already shot, and even bought some extra brass, and I'm ready to give it a go.

Given I already have some pistol ingredients, I'd like to use those as much as possible. So what do you folks think of the ideas below.

I got some Hornady 170gr. interlock plated bullets, I already have a full bottle of Unique, and I have a few thousand Large Pistol primers. I also have a couple of bottles of Trail Boss.

I seated a few primers in the 30-30 brass and other than it being just below the face, it appears to fit just fine. I'm pretty sure the firing pin will ignite it, but is it going to be "powerful" enough to ignite the powder? Is Unique going to be location sensitive in the huge cartridge?

I've read a few posts around the web where folks have successfully used this combination.

So I'm looking for a light load recipe for target plinking at 100 yards (my local range allows centerfire rifle cartridges only on the 100).

Thanks

 

[x_wrench]

i do not know about the pistol primer / unique / rifle load question. but this is a good place for pistol powder loads for rifles.....http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

 

[mbopp]

Unique may work for cast bullets in a 30-30 but I'd use a different powder for jacketed ones.

 

[rcmodel]

Yep!
No pistol powder plinking loads using jacketed bullets.

Not enough gas volume from it to insure a jacketed bullet won't stick in the bore.

BTW: Hornady 170gr. interlock are NOT plated bullets.
They are conventional cup & core jacketed bullets with thick center rings inside the jacket to lock the core in place.

Definitely not suitable for Unique reduced loads!

rc

 

[GP100man]

The Dirty-30

If I were to be lookin for a low powered low recoil fun load I`d be lookin at cast lead boolits! Save the jacketed for hunting loads .

Ya did`nt say which rifle ya have but I got a Marlin 336 & the micro grooved barrel does just fine with the Lyman 311041 sized to 310 Gas Checked over 20 grs of 3031 & a CCI 200 or no Gas Check over 8gr. of reddot for plinkin.

pistol primers as noted are not as tall as rifle & may cause ignition problems , they`re also prone to being peirced in rifles (not good!) I`d deprime & go with a std. rifle

I have used a bit of Unique 7-10 grs. for the above boolit ,but reddot grouped better .

Also useing jacketed bullets for low pressure loads the danger of lodging a bullet is very real.

Maybe look at data for youth loads using jacketed.

The 30-30 can be alot of fun & a serious game getter also !

I`ll bet more game has fallen to the 30-30 & the 30-06 than all the other calibers combined !!

 

[Centaur 1]

Unique may work for cast bullets in a 30-30 but I'd use a different powder for jacketed ones.

I agree. Especially since the Hornady bullet is jacketed, not plated. If you want to plink go buy some cheap lead bullets and load with the trail boss. You really should buy rifle primers and powder for those jacketed bullets.

 

[Dudemeister]

Great input guys, thanks.

I guess I'll need to get some cast lead bullets if I'm to use the Unique powder and pistol primers.

In the meantime I still have the 100 jacketed bullets. I guess I can buy 100 rifle primers to go with them, but what about the powder. I just don't want to buy yet more powder that is going to be used for a few rounds then sit there. I have some Clay's Universal, the Trail Boss and the Unique. Isn't there anything that will work with that? It doesn't have to be a reduced load, I'll do those with the lead bullets.

BTW. The rifle is a stock 1970 Winchester Model 94.

 

[rcmodel]

Clay's Universal, the Trail Boss and the Unique. Isn't there anything that will work with that?

Yes. Lead bullets.

You need to buy some rifle powder to use your Hornady Interlok bullets.
IMR-4064 would be a good choice.

100 rounds will use not quite half of a 1 pound can to load them.

rc

 

[Walkalong]

I also have a couple of bottles of Trail Boss.

Load it to 100% load density under the 170 Gr jacketed bullets. Do not compress it, and do not load it lighter.

Buy a cheaper bullet for playing around. Cheap pulled 147s will work, and be much cheaper, unless you are looking for accuracy, then you will have to buy a decent bullet, but I wouldn't waste those 170 Gr interlocks.

 

[Centaur 1]

The 30-30 is suuch a light round anyway that mild plinking rounds get boring after a while. I use RL-7 and gas checked cast bullets loaded to about 2000fps. They're still easy on the shoulder, but stout enough to let you know that you're not shooting a .22.

 

[powell&hyde]

The old saying for 30/30 using IMR 3031 was 30gr for a 170gr bullet and 31gr for a 150gr bullet.

 

[FROGO207]

No one has mentioned that the large pistol primers are shallower than large rifle primers and will probably be prone to misfiring as well as made softer and not safe for rifle pressures in particular. Go get some LR primers when you get your propellant of your choice. I do shoot 170 grain Laser Cast lead bullets with IMR 3031 in all my 30-30's with good results and no leading to speak of.

Thanks for the heads up :banghead: IMR 3031 not Hodgdon ---oops.

 

[Eb1]

Shoot the Trail Boss with the 170 grain Hornady's or use some 125 grain Jacketed HP from Sierra if you want to use Jacketed bullets and a reduced load.
Better yet, use 20 or 20.5 grains of H4985 with the 125 grain Jacketed HP as this is Hodgdon's reduced youth load.

You would probably be alright using 2400 in some reduced loads as well, but you'll have to decide that for yourself. I will not give you load data for 2400 and the 30-30.

 

[Eb1]

Never heard of H-3031, Frogo207.

 

[Cosmoline]

Ditto on the TB. I really find it much easier to work with than grease Unique. No double charges are possible, either.

Make sure you very thoroughly de-copper your bore with copper cleaner and elbow grease until there's no more green coming out before you shoot cast. Doing that really helped improve my cast loads out of the .30-30.

 

[res7s]

I talked to a tech at Sierra Bullets after reading an article in the Shooting Times touting 10.0gr of Unique as a universal rifle load. This was in the late 80's. I tried it and it worked well.

Give the folks at Sierra a call and ask them, before you try it. If you have any of the Sierra 125gr HP's they should be able to give you a pretty good low velocity small game load using Unique. I'd personally save the 150-170gr jacketed bullets for big game and either cast or buy some .311-.312"(for a 336) cast bullets or Hornady 100gr short jackets to plink with.

 

[Steve C]

Back to the OP equestion. I'd suggest you get some large rifle primers as large pistol primers are shorter in height than the rifle primers and since the primer polcket in the .30-30 case is deeper for the LRP you may experience FTF if the rifle's firing pin is of minimal length. The LPP may work but don't load up a bunch until you check to see if the go off reliably.

Lyman has published loads using Unique and other pistol powders with their lead bullets for the 30=30 for many years so no need to get a different powder.

 

[popper]

Carolina bullets has a good 170 LFN with GC for a good price(win 94 version). H4895 will let you go from youth to full loads in 30-30, unique works OK. Rifle primers, only way to go, but I've used LP before. Unique isn't position sensitive. Half jacket hornady are fun(~$15/100) with unique but accuracy is poor past 50 . Set your die for correct HS, probably won't need to trim.

 

[mbopp]

Remember - if you're going to load cast bullets you'll need to expand and flare the case neck with a Lyman "M" die or equivalent. This will prevent shaving lead off the bullet and ruining accuracy.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have been shooting 165gr Hard Cast bullets in the 30-30 using H4895 and a LR primer. They are very accurate out to 100 yards and probably more but I haven't shot them past 200 yards yet. I get no leading at all from the Missouri Bullets I'm shooting.

 

[rsrocket1]

My favorite plinker for .308 is a 110g Xtreme plated bullet (designated as 30 carbine) with 11 grains of Unique or 10 grains of Bullsye with a LRP. 1800 fps, 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards, recoil and noise of a 22 magnum.

100g Hornady short jacket #3005's work well also, but are more expensive.

 

[popper]

CB Co. has .311 lubed and GC, MBC and lazercast only have .310, no GC. Xtreme in 40SW are very good, but I changed to cast for everything.

 

[Dudemeister]

OK, so I've taken "some" of the advice here, and got a 1K box of CCI #200 rifle primers. I also bought 500 rounds of Bear Creek, 115gr. .309 molly lubed cast bullets.

I will start loading these with Trail Boss, but I still plan on (eventually) using the Unique powder.

I've already cleaned, deprimed, resized and reprimed the cases, but I still have some questions:

1. This is my first experience reloading for a rifle (I've previously reloaded pistol), and I realized the dies do not include a means to flare the case neck to accept the bullet. I can barely fit the bullet in the neck, is this how it should be?

2. While a 170gr bullet fits nearly half it's length in the case, the 115gr has less then 3/16" to the crimp groove. Is this going to be enough to properly hold the bullet? Should I push the bullet in further (up the line indicated by the green arrow). It will reduce the OAL from 2.55" to 2.50"

3. As you can see from the pictures above, the lead bullet groove is pretty deep. Do I crimp the bullet into this? It would be a pretty dramatic crimp and I don't think the case mouth would last too long.

4. The Lee die set I got also included a factory crimp die. Should I use it? I don't think it would work on the deep groove of the lead bullet anyway. I can see it work on the 170gr. or if I push the lead bullet deeper into the case, past the groove. Obviously it's not necessary, or it wouldn't be optional, but now that I have it, should I bother with it?

Meanwhile, I'm still looking for a reduced load recipe, but this time for the 115gr. lead with Trail Boss (or Unique).

 

[James2]

Go back and read #19. Yes, you should bell for cast bullets. Yes, I would seat to the green arrow.

3031 is a good powder for 30-30 and jacketed bullets.

Sorry, I am not much help on lead bullets for 30-30 rifle. I have always used jacketed. I work up a good load for my rifle, and stick to it, since I hunt a lot I want to know what my rifle will do and always do, so messing around with different loads fouls up that "always do" theory. Once the load is found and the sights adjusted, no more fooling around. Just shoot.... plenty..... and pretty soon making a good score with that 30-30 is just second nature and no need to remember what load is in it today, hold high or low to compensate for the load. You ain't got time for that when game is in your sights.

I do cast for handguns, but have never used lead in a rifle. You should be able to get some inexpensive plinking loads worked up with lead bullets and Unique.

Have fun.

PS I do not like the "factory crimp die" and would never use it.

 

[James2]

My old Lyman manual lists for 30-30 and a 125 grain cast bullet: suggested gr 13.0 Unique.