CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.
~ 1999 I bought a 45/70 handi rifle from a guy in a wheel chair at a gun show. He wanted $150, I offered $100, and he went for it.
I had been handloading for a year, and the Speer 12 that came with my rockchucker kit showed (3) 45/70 loads; 1) Trapdoor, 2) Lever Action, and 3) Ruger #1.
They did not list anything for the NEF Handi Rifle or H&R Buffalo rifle, so I set off to calculate how strong was the Handi Rifle.
I fumbled around with the calculations, but got help from a mechanical engineering professor on rec.guns and from my father, who was chief engineer of a Fortune 500 company and has dozens of gun patents. I had never heard of "section modulus" or "double shear" before that time.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec....+group:rec.guns+author:Clark#f781afee7cca6f11
It turns out the break action handi rifle was stronger than the brass would ever be.
Some on the internet questioned my credentials to do gun calculations. I pointed out that my father has the same BSEE UW education as me and he has sold lots of guns he designed. But I was still doubted, so I worked up to more than double the published Ruger #1 load and the brass flowed. Still I was doubted. That says something about the lowest common denominator on the internet.
Armed with that analysis, I spotted an OEM Stevens .410 break action at a gun show for $50 and bought it to over load it too. I got beyond 454 Casull loads with 45 Colt brass and large rifle primers. The stock wrist broke from recoil and the .385" choke blew out from .452" FMJ bullets, but the action survived. I have been banned from a couple forums on the topic of 454 brass vs 45 Colt brass for mentioning my data.
Then I saw a Savage 219L 30-30 in minty condition for ~$100 at a gun show.
I thought, "I could overload 30-30 and dispel some Speer load book BS about 30-30 brass."
"Speer 12" 1994:
"Some bolt-action and single-shot rifles have been chambered for this cartridge. Reloaders can sue spritzer-type bullets in these rifles, but should keep the weight to 150 grains or less. Heavier spritzer bullets cannot be drive fast enough in the 30-30 to expand reliably. We are occasionally asked if the 30-30 can be loaded to higher velocities in a modern bolt action like the Remington model 788. The answer is NO! The 30-30 case is an old design with relatively thin walls. Attempting to load "hotter" would risk a dangerous case failure."
So I went to shoot it, and the firing pin was broken.
I got a new firing pin and took it apart.
Not all gun writers are idiots; De Haas had the mind of an engineer.
De Haas "A Potpourri of single shot Rifles and Actions" 1993
Of the three different Model 219 rifles, I consider the Model 219L to be the poorest one."
I really learned to hate that design too.
The action is strong, but knock out the pins and take it a part and see how hard the trigger assembly is to get back in, and you may feel the hate too.
But I drilled and tapped and modified a Sav24 scope mount on it.
The tip off rimfire like scope rail that Savage put on that rifle is not going to stand up to the recoil from my loads listed below.
1 in 12" twist
26" long.
7 pound rifle
mixed brand once fired 30-30 brass
220 gr HNDY round nose moly
W748 2.92" 26" barrel, 30-30
Quickload prediction:
33 gr 51 kpsi 2176 fps
34 gr 56 kpsi 2232 fps
35 gr 62 kpsi 2287 fps
36 gr 68 kpsi 2340 fps
37 gr 75 kpsi 2394 fps
38 gr 83 kpsi 2446 fps brass and primer still look good
39 gr 92 kpsi 2498 fps primer very cratered, case full of powder, ball powder compresses a hair below 2.92"
I fired those rounds last month, and I still have not verified with the chronograph, but Quickload is usually very good with bottle necked cartridges.
Also this last month, I made a bushing and got a Win94 barrel chambered in 25/35 screw into a VZ24 action. I turned down some of my mixed brand once fired 30-30 brass, and necked it down and shot that 25/35 with the kind of hot loads that Colonel Townsend Whelen did with HIS 25/35 Win1885 nearly a century ago.
Still the 30-30 brass holds up.
