Do they make a 308 round that looks like a 30-30

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matt35750

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In my experience 30-30 performs better than 308 on deer, but I prefer using 308 rifles. Do they make a 308 round that looks like and performs like a 30-30 round with the flat head?
 
Flat pointed .308 rounds are pretty rare, if they made them at all. You can get round nose, i think i remeber seeing them as light as 150, but this was a while ago.

If your looking for faster kills with the .308 try a softer bullet like an sst, or balistic tips. Just stick to 150s or 165s, as they do tend to shed weight.

Personally ive never found the .30-30 particularly impressive at causing bangflops, but its always been pretty reliable. Infact the only .30-30 i kept for any length of time was an old h&r topper, which i loaded 125 balistic tips for.

Equally, Ive never been a .308 fan, so most of my experience, and opinion is bassed on the .30-06. Other folks may have a better idea of whats available, and other suggestions.
 
Deer aren't that hard to kill, especially at the ranges where the majority of hunters would be capable with a 30-30. The flat head is a safety feature since most 30-30 rifles use a tube magazine. It impedes accuracy. Terminal performance is secondary to the round getting where it needs to be in the first place in order to perform. Why do you think the 30-30 provides better terminal performance than 308 on impact with a deer? Is it solely based on your experiences? I don't think it could be based on terminal ballistics, inherent accuracy, and ft pounds of energy at similar given distances with projectiles of similar weight .
 
If you handload, you can load .30-30 bullets into .308 brass. They are designed to open up at lower velocity so you make a light load for your .308 brass. They will not have great ballistic coefficients and you will need to experiment with it. Do bear in mind that the .308 has a shorter neck than the .30-30.

Here is an old THR thread about it.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/170-grain-30-30-bullet-in-a-308.718608/
 
I do the exact same thing boom boom suggests. 170 grain rem corelokt bullets on top of modest powder charge listed in a manual. winds up being super accurate in my m70 win.
 
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ster-180-grain-core-lokt-soft-point-box-of-20

You could see if you can order this from somewhere. I would just hand load a 170 grain round nose. I think you are correct that a round nose is more effective that a pointed bullet. My wife's whole family hunts with a factory federal 270 150 grain round nose and it is one heck of a big game round. Leaves a 2" entrance and exit which is something I've never seen with a pointed bullet
 
I've never shot a deer with a 30-30. I had two uncles that killed their deer for fifty years with one and it worked great for them. I've killed a number of hogs with a 30-30 at distances to around 150 yards. Nothing scientific about my observations but I like the way 150 grain 30-30 Core-Lokts perform on hogs. I've shot hogs with 30-06,.270, 6.5x55, .243 and .223. For my purpose none of them outperformed my 30-30.

If I were shooting hogs at 200+ yards it obviously would be a different story.
 
From the opening post im fairly sure the op is speaking specifically of loaded, store bought ammo, and flat (or more likely available round nose) ammo.

someguy2800 said:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ster-180-grain-core-lokt-soft-point-box-of-20

You could see if you can order this from somewhere. I would just hand load a 170 grain round nose. I think you are correct that a round nose is more effective that a pointed bullet. My wife's whole family hunts with a factory federal 270 150 grain round nose and it is one heck of a big game round. Leaves a 2" entrance and exit which is something I've never seen with a pointed bullet
Click to expand...


Amusingly enough, my wifes family is the same way. Only her Dad and I shoot anything besides .270s loaded with 150 round nose....tho i suppose my wife will shoot anything she gets handed. Nailed a nice doe with a 180 grn round nose factory round, from an 06, at about 200yds. Exit wound looked pretty much like the buck i hit with my 300 an hour or so later with an Interbond handload.

A 308 firing the same bullet would probably produce pretty much the same wounding.
 
Remington lists a 180gr Corlokt Round Nose. MidwayUSA has a listing but shows out of stock.

I agree with walkalong. A well hit deer won't go far hit with that.

However, what you want may not be available commercially.
I suggest just getting a box of Federal Vital-shok 150gr, or Winchester 150gr PowerPoint, or Remington 150gr Corlokts.
Sight in +2" high at 100yds. Go HUNTING!

But----- practice, practice, practice.... with a .22. Not from a bench, but field positions at 50yds on paper plates. Sitting,kneeling, standing.
Shot placement is king.
 
Every deer I shot with my old .30-30 went down. Never lost one. My favorite load is the W/W 150 hollow point. I like it because it works well & you can load & unload them as much as you want without the bullet being deformed as it is covered in copper jacket. You can load your .308 with .30-30 bullets, but keep the power about that of a .30-30.
 
reload and you can use the exact same bullets.. strange question as both are .308 diameter.. maybe download your .308 so it reacts similar?
 
During the ammo drought, I lucked into 1,000 160-grain .30 cal LeveRevolution bullets -- these are designed for the .30-30. I load them in .30-30, .30-40 Krag, .308 Win, and .30-06. I hold velocity down to around 2400 fps, and they kill like lightening.
 
Try Federal Fusion reduced recoil 308. They use 170 gr flat point bullets, probably at around 30-30 velocity.
 
What about the Hornady FTX line? Not a flat point per say, but might perform in similar fashion since it’s designed for lever action rifles, ie 30-30

Assuming the OP hand loads. If not, disregard
 
"...like the 307 Winchester..." Isn't available. 'Limited Production' only.
"...prefer using 308 rifles..." You need a Savage M340. A bolt action .30-30. If you can find one.
The flat head has nothing to do with "performance". It's about not having a pointy bullet on the primer ahead of it in the mag tube.
"...They use 170 gr flat point..." 150, 165 or 180. No 170. No FP. At least none are listed on Federal's site.
 
Nature Boy said:
What about the Hornady FTX line? Not a flat point per say, but might perform in similar fashion since it’s designed for lever action rifles, ie 30-30

Assuming the OP hand loads. If not, disregard
Click to expand...

I'll say "yes and no," to the comparison between the FTX and a round nose soft point. Every now and then I'll get one of those really nice, traditional looking cup and core mushrooms, but more often, the FTX doesn't behave that way on game. Yes, they kill fast like a round nose, but they perform pretty differently through the wound channel. If you google image search Hornady FTX expansion, you'll see what I mean by that. I generally see the FTX's behaving a bit more like a high speed TTSX - the tip gets rolled back hard and fast, sheds a bit, doesn't reach a big diameter, and the shank penetrates deep. The FTX's kill fast, because that initial expansion makes good use of the impact, and they cause great wound channels since the shank penetrates and wants to exit, but the wound is really different compared to a round nose. Of course - a guy would have to recognize the need to draw down the muzzle velocity if they were shooting FTX's in 308win.

I think a lot of folks are surprised by how fast the FTX's expand - they're made to expand at low velocity, so they're a very lightly constructed bullet.

I used a bunch of the 180grn Round nosed Core-Lokt's when I was younger, and I will say, I've never met a Core-Lokt which wouldn't kill deer well, but the round noses did SMACK upon impact. Any expanding 308win bullet will kill deer quickly - I'm kinda surprised to see the OP's assertion of the 30-30 killing deer better than the 308win.
 
Varminterror said:
Of course - a guy would have to recognize the need to draw down the muzzle velocity if they were shooting FTX's in 308win
.
Click to expand...
I shoot the LeveRevolution in my Model 99 Savage in .308 Win. The Model 99 really wasn't designed for high pressures like the .308 Win generates -- you sometimes get failures to extract. No problem -- just stick with suggested starting loads and everything turns out fine.
 
I've shot quite a bit of FTX bullets from 30-30, .308, 30-06 (reduced load) and my favorite for that bullet - 7.62x39. In every case, the FTX bullets were exceptionally accurate. They really surprised me with their accuracy. I bought them for good expansion at lower velocities (which they do very well) but the accuracy is an added bonus. They are as accurate as any bullet I've used, including the Nosler Accubond and BT's
 
Yup (as noted by HC Jack), Federal Fusion reduced recoil 308
Puuurfect exposed-lead flat point -- if you can find it now.
 
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