beagle
03-31-2005, 12:07 PM
This has been a project many of us have worked on in the past with varied degrees of success.
Paco Kelley wrote a fine article about it years ago using the Lyman 311440 bullet. I picked that up and attempted to duplicate the loads to no avail.
His theory was that the bullet had to be traveling at least 1200 FPS to stabilize in the relatively slow spin of the Blackhawk .30 Carbine barrel. In my testing, I found this to be true, almost to the last FPS.
There are several problems associated with the project. The first is that pushing a 150 grain +/- bullet at 1200 FPS out of this cartridge is right at the top of the pressure envelope. The second problem is that many of these peeestols require a bullet diameter of .310-.311" to shoot acurately. The third and probably more critical problem is that most of the .30 Carbine Blackhawks have fairly abrupt throats preventing you from seating the bullet out to take advantage of the full cylinder length.
Deep seating depth, the high pressure envionment and a heavy,fat bullet make for high pressures. My original attempts at developing this load met with failure. I could get the 1200 FPS but extraction was very sticky and that was a no go.
In the end, two powders that I tried will probably make the cut in these loads. 2400,and N110. Unfortunately, I ran out of N110 before I could pin down the loads that I wanted that would work.
After the first attempt, the project sat on the bench for a while but I'd think about it. I didn't want to modify the throats. Then I had a brainstorm. Don't throat the gun, throat the bullets.
I took some 311440s that were sized and nose first sized the driving band to .309". This allowed me to seat the bullets out to the full length of the cylinder or in my case, 1.745" OAL on the cartridge.
Now, this load chronographed last week at 1228 FPS and accuracy was good and extraction was easy. I'd done it.
Specs:
311440 sized to .310"/.309" on the driving band.
CCI Small Pistol Primer
10.9 grains of 2400
WW Commercial cases
1.745" OAL
1228 FPS
Then, I was casting some 30-150-CM RCBS bullets for another project and got to thinking....
Yep! They were a bit shorter,weighed a little less and needed no gas check. Being as I am frugual...well, lets say tight, I wondered if.... I sized the front band to .309" and loaded 15 rounds to try.
Another success and at the end of the session, no leading either and they shot with good plinking accuracy at 100 yards.
Specs:
30-150-CM RCBS
Sized .310"/.309" on the front band
CCI Small Pistol primer
10.5 grains 2400
1.745" OAL
1230 FPS
Now, these 30-150s look like an LBT bullet loaded in that long, thin case. Initial results with both bullets look good and I know the 311440s shoot well as I've shot several hundred of them.
So, if you're hankering for a heavy load for the .30 Carbine Ruger, here's a couple to try.
Be careful and use this data at your own risk. Don't substitute rifle primers for the pistol primers. Use only a very light taper crimp. Do not seat deeper. These are very finely balanced loads in my gun and your gun may be different so start a couple tenths grain off and work up./beagle
Paco Kelley wrote a fine article about it years ago using the Lyman 311440 bullet. I picked that up and attempted to duplicate the loads to no avail.
His theory was that the bullet had to be traveling at least 1200 FPS to stabilize in the relatively slow spin of the Blackhawk .30 Carbine barrel. In my testing, I found this to be true, almost to the last FPS.
There are several problems associated with the project. The first is that pushing a 150 grain +/- bullet at 1200 FPS out of this cartridge is right at the top of the pressure envelope. The second problem is that many of these peeestols require a bullet diameter of .310-.311" to shoot acurately. The third and probably more critical problem is that most of the .30 Carbine Blackhawks have fairly abrupt throats preventing you from seating the bullet out to take advantage of the full cylinder length.
Deep seating depth, the high pressure envionment and a heavy,fat bullet make for high pressures. My original attempts at developing this load met with failure. I could get the 1200 FPS but extraction was very sticky and that was a no go.
In the end, two powders that I tried will probably make the cut in these loads. 2400,and N110. Unfortunately, I ran out of N110 before I could pin down the loads that I wanted that would work.
After the first attempt, the project sat on the bench for a while but I'd think about it. I didn't want to modify the throats. Then I had a brainstorm. Don't throat the gun, throat the bullets.
I took some 311440s that were sized and nose first sized the driving band to .309". This allowed me to seat the bullets out to the full length of the cylinder or in my case, 1.745" OAL on the cartridge.
Now, this load chronographed last week at 1228 FPS and accuracy was good and extraction was easy. I'd done it.
Specs:
311440 sized to .310"/.309" on the driving band.
CCI Small Pistol Primer
10.9 grains of 2400
WW Commercial cases
1.745" OAL
1228 FPS
Then, I was casting some 30-150-CM RCBS bullets for another project and got to thinking....
Yep! They were a bit shorter,weighed a little less and needed no gas check. Being as I am frugual...well, lets say tight, I wondered if.... I sized the front band to .309" and loaded 15 rounds to try.
Another success and at the end of the session, no leading either and they shot with good plinking accuracy at 100 yards.
Specs:
30-150-CM RCBS
Sized .310"/.309" on the front band
CCI Small Pistol primer
10.5 grains 2400
1.745" OAL
1230 FPS
Now, these 30-150s look like an LBT bullet loaded in that long, thin case. Initial results with both bullets look good and I know the 311440s shoot well as I've shot several hundred of them.
So, if you're hankering for a heavy load for the .30 Carbine Ruger, here's a couple to try.
Be careful and use this data at your own risk. Don't substitute rifle primers for the pistol primers. Use only a very light taper crimp. Do not seat deeper. These are very finely balanced loads in my gun and your gun may be different so start a couple tenths grain off and work up./beagle