30-30 load?

[randyrat]

I need some ideas for a tirdy-tirdy load. God i love this gun... I bought a 30-115-SP RCBS GC mold (#311359).. It drops nice bullets. But, i don't know where to start. I'm looking for several different loads (my god get a book on cast bullet loads Randy) yes in time i will.. I would like some 1000 to 1300 or so using IMR 30-31 and some plinkin loads using pistol powders - Unique,red dot,titegroup. ect...... Or are there better powders i need to look at. I plan on using this bullet for Yotes/ varmits this winter. Also some plinkin.......

[Trailblazer]

I have been using 8 gr. Unique with the Lyman 311316 which is a GC design of about the same weight as your RCBS. It is very accurate and chronoed at 1400 FPS from a 20" barrel.

[mtgrs737]

I have the Lyman 311041 170 grain boolit that I load over 10 grains of unique, it is very accurate and pleasant to shoot.

[Thumbcocker]

I use 6 grns of red dot with the lee 120 grn rn with or without a gc.

[HeavyMetal]

Suggestions for 30-30 loads will vary depending on the gun, type, your shooting.

In my contender I can shoot any boolit type I want in a 94 not so much.

The old Speer reloading manual # 10 actually listed pistol powders like H-110 and W 296 for loads in the contender.

Strangely I stumbled across an 8# bottle of AA 2200 and was planning to use it in my 7.62X39. I saw 30-30 loads listed in the reloading info I got with the powder and tied it just for grins.

Holy Cow This stuff shoots! Last family get together I gave my Niece a Savage 340/840 in 30-30. While she was trying it out, using standard open sights, her and her husband got several nice 3 shot groups that touched at 50 yards and I was able to keep 2 hits on a gallon milk jug filled with water at 200 yards! I only shot at it twice to boot!

The boolit was Lee's 90385 a 155 gas check design cast with my 24BHN alloy sized .309!

My load notes are in the garage but if you want the specific powder charge I used I will list that for you, but I don't know where you'll get any of the 2200 it's out of "print".

[Larry Gibson]

randyrat

So, ok, what is the "gun" that you love?

Try your 115 gr bullet over the 8 gr of Unique as recommended by Trailblazer, it is a very good load at 1400 fps from 20" barrels. 10 gr of unique will give you around 1750 fps. 18 - 20gr of 4227 will give you 1800 1900 fos and gives a decent .30 Carbine equivelent load.
A very good currently available light weight bullet is the Lee C309-113-F. If your thinking about a medium weight cast bullet I'd recomend the RCBS 30-150-FN as it shoots well in both my M94s and my TC carbine. The Lyman 311041 is always a hard bullet to beat. The flat point (meplat) on those bullets will kill much better than the SP of the RCBS bullet.

A great plinking 30-30 load is the Lee TL314-90-SWC Sized to .311 and lightly TL'd with LLA. Over 2.7 gr Bullseye the run right at 800 fps out of a 20" barrel. No recoil, little noise and great accuracy. Marvelous for plinking and small game or for just letting the kids shoot. The Hornady swaged lead SWC .32 bullets are also very good to use. I push them base first through a Lee .311 sizer and no additional lubing is needed.

Larry Gibson

[randyrat]

"The Gun" is a 1949 336 w/ballard riffling with a Nikon BDC scope because it shoots better than i can see at 50-75-100 yds with the 170 gr Lee Gc bullets. I haven't tried it any farther yet. I really would like to see if it will shoot 200 yds. Possibly later today.

[jimkim]

Heavy metal I would like to see that load. randyrat I use ten gr of unique in my 30-30. It works with every bullet Ive tried it with. Another load I like is 13 gr of Bluedot with 100,110,130,150 and 170 gr bullets.

[HeavyMetal]

JimKim:
The load was Federal brass trimmed to length, Federal Mag rifle primer, AA 2200 is a ball powder, and 24.5 Grains AA 2200. I loaded this behind the already mentioned Lee 90385 which runs 156 grains in my alloy. I also ran some some 125 grain Noslers on 26.5 of the same powder.

Both the Contender and the Savage 340 loved it. Please be aware this is not a load for a lever gun as the bullets are pointed. You can certainly substitute several brand of flat tips but I'll suggest you load down from my starting point and work up.

By the way my load was a 10% reduction of the printed load supplied by Accurate and I felt these were a bit hotter than factory loads. The Nosler load was what I used on the milk jug at 200 yards.

If you have some AA 2200 this is a good powder to try in your 30-30!

[jh45gun]

16 to 17 grains of 2400 with a 170 grain boolit makes a good load that has a bit more snoose to it that you could use for hunting if you wanted too yet cheap enough to load for plinking too.

[kir_kenix]

I have tried maybe a dozen different powders but unique makes a great plinker load. I've found 9gr's to be very accurate and very mild in several different weight ranges, as well as being plenty accurate for plinking.

[jimkim]

Thanks so much HM I really appreciate that. I have used some old 135gr Sierra spire points for years. I bought two hundred of them 15 years ago. They shot very well. I never chronograph-ed them though. I loaded one in the chamber and only one in the mag. If your at all forgetful never do this.

[HeavyMetal]

JimKim:
I never have hunted with a full mag. Truth is a second shot is rare on running game, and thats what they are if you miss, so a third shot seems highly unlikely!

Try this AA 2200 load in your 30-30 I think you'll be impressed! I never got to shoot the cast load, The Niece burned it all up while I was playing with my Contender, but it showed huge potential.

I think that 135 Sierra will surprise you. The Nosler load was vaporizing full 10oz Pepsi bottle at 50 yards with the Contender.

[jimkim]

Thanks I really appreciate it.

[fourarmed]

I have recently been testing loads for a 1971-vintage 336. I haven't tried any plinking class loads yet., as I have been working up a cowboy silhouette load. This rifle seems to shoot very well with almost any reasonable powder charge behind the 311041 sized .310 and seated to the crimp groove and crimped. The most impressive so far has been 23 gr. of Reloader 7. After shooting a few groups of it, I took the scope off and put on the sights. I haven't chronoed it yet, but according to the book and the recoil, I think it is doing about 1900 or a little better.