Recommendation for duplicating .30-30 factory ammo

[bogie]

Okay - I know bupkis about the .30-30. Want to make up a hundred or so rounds for a friend. I don't think I'm gonna get the chance to work a load up with the particular rifle (Marlin).

Rounds will be used for deer hunting, and I'll probably go with a "premium" bullet (suggestions very welcome, since everything I see on my Sierra poster is sorta pointy).

 

[Mike Irwin]

A friend swears by IMR 3031 in .30-30.

 

[Bruce H]

Bogie Sierra has three 30-30 bullets in their pro hunter line. 125,150,170 gr. at their site under 30 cal bullets. As Mike said 3031 is as good as any.

 

[Lucky Jim]

30-30 Load

I use H322 powder, slightly slower than 3031. Using a 170 grain Sierra Flat Nose 30-30 bullet I get about 2150 FPS with 29.4 grains of powder. It has been a good hunting load for me and may be for you. Of course, as always, reduce this by 10% to start and work your way up. This has worked just as good as any factory round I have used. I use this in a Model 94 Winchester with no problem. There are so many variables in reloading any round. It would be hard to say what was the BEST. What works well in one rifle may be lousy in another. I have seen many post as to what was a good hunting, or accurate load for 30-30. Gather all this info you can, get a reloading manual and make your choice. If you have a chrono and plenty of time, bullets, primers and powder you will find that perfect load. Oh, I forgot to mention $$$$$.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Another vote for 3031 - - -

My hunting buddy Doug put me onto it some years back and it serves well in my old treinta y treinta.

LATE EDIT: We use 32.0 gr of 3031 under the 150 grain Remington RNSP Core-Lokt bullet. This load develops about 2250 in my gun and shoots tighter than I can hold with peep-and-post iron sights. (Pre-64 '94 Winchester cut to 16 inches.)

Best,
Johnny

 

[bogie]

Does the 3031 pretty much fill the case? I may be giving a low-end loading setup to the person who owns the rifle, and I'd prefer that if I do this that the powder be as "idiot friendly" as possible - i.e., with my 6PPC I could do really nasty things with AA2200, but I could hand someone a jug of 133 and a box of Bart's 68 grainers, and say "fill the case with powder" and they wouldn't be in trouble.

 

[Fatelvis]

Using a 170 grn bullet over 30 grains of 3031,(good load), you couldnt double charge a case, without having powder spill everywhere.

 

[winwun]

Looks like we are getting near to a consensus on the 3031 today, aren't we ?

I use it in my rusty, er, trusty 94 with good results.

A tip: large loads rarely, if ever, yield the best accuracy.

With the 125 grain flat nose, I use 28.5 grains of 3031 and it is more accurate than I can shoot it.

I tried larger loads and accuracy suffered.

Hitting is better than speed.

 

[bedlamite]

The best load I've found for my Marlin 336c is 38 gr of W748 under a Hornady #3035 150gr, for 2300fps (close to max, and a compressed load)

It's worth trying the bulk Remington cor-lokt 150gr bullets that Johnny Guest mentioned, they are suprisingly accurate in every 30-30 I've shot them from (about a half dozen), and work very well on deer.