Range Report .30-30

[blarby]

165 gr .311 Whitetails from MBC
7.2 Gr Unique
CCI LRP #200
2.530 COAL
2.5 gr concentrated hope

Wow, what an AMAZING range day !

Not only did I come home with three buckets of mixed range treasure and boxes- but my long awaited test of MBC leadware was a great success.

Sighting in from using a high-power jacketed load to this one was amusing...I actually thought the first shot was a squib, and used my boresnake to verify that the round had in fact exited the rifle.

After that fouling shot, sightin was a snap- albeit at about a 10 inch drop from my jacketed loads.

Very light winds, sorta sunny- beautiful range day with tons of folks, including a fella next to me and my wife with his son shooting his first .30-30...who was nice enough to GIVE me all of their brass

There was a small and nearly insignificant amount of lead removed by the boresnake at ten shot intervals- but nothing compared to trying to remove copper fouling- thats for sure !

This is an amazingly cheap round to produce for punching paper, had only slightly more recoil than my .22, and was EXCITINGLY accurate when I was.

Please see attached photos !


Jech : Great recipe, tons of fun.

Brad : Awesome bullets, keep churnin 'em out. I was very, VERY happy with my results right out of the block. This weekend started rough, but the ending run couldn't have been better thanks to you !

 

[blarby]

Here are the free firing results, after the amusing setup period !

Not bad for 100 yards with a lever ! Especially considering the 15 cent cartridges.

Way past the minute of deer / hour of barnside I was expecting.

Loved it.

Not sure if ya could take a bear with it, but I already have shoulder destroying bullets for that !

 

[ssyoumans]

No doubt, these reduced loads sure make shooting the old 30-30 a lot more fun.

 

[Faret]

The only thing better is casting them yourself!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I shot that bullet over 21.0gr H4895 and from a Marlin Carbine it produced 1340 fps. After sighting in I was able to hit 3 for 3 empty shotshell cases @50 yards. That's plenty accurate IMO.

 

[MarkDozier]

a few questions
Was this done off hand. benched or prone?
scope or iron sights?
Whose load data did you use
what male/model rifle

 

[blarby]

Seated.

Scoped.

Jechs'

Marlin 336 .

 

[ArchAngelCD]

blarby,
That's some good shooting you did there. Did you check the velocity generated by 7.2gr of Unique?

 

[blarby]

Unfortunately no, I'm going to have to trust Jechs chrono results on this one.

Sometimes, things get left at home.


two weeks ago it was my spotting scope..........go figure.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Velocity with that load will be right about 1,250-1,300fps.

About the same as a .22lr

 

[ssyoumans]

1182 - 1200fps is what he measured and reported in another thread.

 

[blarby]

Next batch I'm going to try two loads :

7.5 gr Unique

22 Gr H4895

Now that i'm into processing the brass from this shoot- another benefit : Very little case stretching at all.

of 50 cases, only 7 needed to be cut. I expect great brass life.

 

[PapaG]

Been reloading since 1958, commercial for fifteen years, handgun, rifle, jacketed, lead, shotshell, slugs and I've never heard of "concentrated hope"....what is it?

Maybe it is what I need for that 250 yard shot at the trotting coyote......a hope and prayer.

 

[blarby]

Concentrated hope is a combination of elbow grease and prayer.

It often has a dash of good intentions thrown in for good measure, but its the least reliable of the ingredients.

 

[bglz42]

Great post! Try Red Dot also... its my favorite load of all ...

 

[FROGO207]

I will chime in here and suggest trying Trail Boss if you have any with these bullets. I am using it with some Laser Cast 170's and it is a good load in my 94. Next time I need some I will get them from Brad for sure.

 

[blarby]

Given my current stockpile of unique and h4895- I dont think a new powder is in the works anytime soon.

I will keep that in mind, however.

 

[blarby]

Ok, so...according to hodgdons :

160 GR. CAST LFN Hodgdon H4895 .308" 2.485" 17.5 1351 15,200 CUP 21.0 1562 23,100 CUP

22 grs is a no-no ......but the pressure is far under what this brass can handle.

Are we looking at a limitation based on what the bullet can handle in this instance, not the brass ?

 

[cthulhufan]

Excellent, I've been meaning to get into this very thing for my 336 30/30. Very glad to hear you having good luck.

Question:
You said you used the .311 Whitetails from MissouriBullet? I only see them in .309.

 

[FROGO207]

The loads published will work with all 30-30's even the old ones. The 336 will take a hotter load than the old Winchester is capable of eating. you can try to up the pressure at your own risk while watching for pressure signs along the way. In my 94's and the 336 that I have they all shoot well below max. The savage bolt 30-30 that I have however can take 15% above max. CAUTION I DO THIS IN MY RIFLE ONLY. I can single load with heavier pointed bullets but they will not fit the magazine however. With light pointed jacketed bullets it is a tack driver and will rival my 300 savage all day long. A lot of the problems encountered with lead bullets IMHO is trying to drive them way too fast without a gas check. I use Laser Cast 170's and can drive them almost as fast as the jacketed starting velocity in the 336C with the microgroved barrel and still keep my accuracy. But I am using .309 dia lead bullets. I tried .310 lead and that did not make any detectable difference so I went back to .309 to assure a lower pressure round. YMMV

 

[blarby]

Great accuracy , thankfully, isn't the issue.

Trying to find that last little bit might be, but thats further down the road.



Lets see how I can tune between 19-21 grains.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ljnowell]

Looks like some good results! Another happy Missouri Bullets customer, not a surprise really. Now get yourself some more Missouri Bullets, you can find yourself like me, I reload them in every caliber I reload, except 223.

 

[blarby]

"Excellent, I've been meaning to get into this very thing for my 336 30/30. Very glad to hear you having good luck.

Question:
You said you used the .311 Whitetails from MissouriBullet? I only see them in .309."

You can special order different sizings.

Mail brad, and he'll let ya know what ya gotta do, and if he has any on the shelf for fast shipment !

 

[Jech]

Ok, so...according to hodgdons :

160 GR. CAST LFN Hodgdon H4895 .308" 2.485" 17.5 1351 15,200 CUP 21.0 1562 23,100 CUP

22 grs is a no-no ......but the pressure is far under what this brass can handle.

Are we looking at a limitation based on what the bullet can handle in this instance, not the brass ?

This is a classic example of a powder manufacturer publishing deliberately reduced velocity data for a specific purpose. In this case, they kept their max velocity under 1600fps to control leading with a plain-based bullet.

Personally, I've found that H4895 burns too slow to be effectively down loaded that much, accuracy was atrocious. Until I go sink a few bucks on a pound of 2400, Unique will remain my go-to for these mousefart loads.

Besides, why would you wanna blow 16-20gr of powder per shot when something else will do the same job with 10gr or less? Doesn't seem very fiscally responsible to me!

Edit: I've tried H4895 charges ranging from 16gr to 27gr behind RanchDog's TLC311-165-RF and found that until I hit 25gr, the burn was fairly inconsistent and left a lot of gunk behind. Completely different bullet I know but the important thing I noted was that there were no pressure signs whatsoever throughout that range. Just my $0.02, no fancy equipment to confirm my observation.

 

[blarby]

Well, in the interest of science FWIW I made 50 @ 20, 50 @ 20.5, and 50 @ 21.

Arch says he gets good results in there- just looking for other options.

I'm gonna load a few near the upper end 26-27 after, and see what shakes loose.

Worse case scenario, if they don't turn out real good in the 20's- I can just break em down with the lyman hammer, and start over


Also, at the request of the wife I removed the new bipod...so I'll be back to sandbags next time !

She liked the recoil on the reduced loads, but not the accuracy difference between full power jacketed and these.

I know, its like an inch thing....but .............