30 cal CB for hunting

[kelbro]

Just getting started in this hobby and want to cast some hunting bullets. I have a 170gr FN and both 160 and 180gr RN molds. All three are GC.

I was planning to shoot the 170 FN out of my '94 30-30 and the 160-180gr out of a 308 and/or a 30-06.

I have WW and linotype.

What should I be trying to achieve for hardness for a good hunting bullet that won't lead up my barrels but will still expand fairly well?

What velocities should I target with my loads?

Thanks for any help you can offer this rookie.

[runfiverun]

i would go with the 30-30.
look at h-414 powder about 37 grs.
mix your ww's and some pure or stick on ww's 50-50 and water drop you get hard and soft here.
hard enough to push to 2200 soft enough to mush up on contact.

[Buckshot]

................WW alloy, or WW with 10/15% soft lead will expand nicely with an impact velocity above about 1400 fps. The more pure lead you add the more the slug will have a tendancy to hang together while expanding. I'd work for a MV of no less then 1800 fps with a 30 cal for big game.

...............Buckshot

[Throwback]

Welcome to Cast Boolits kelbro! Opinions on velocity and bullet hardness will vary a great deal and the reason is that there are many "right" answers. Generally speaking, the lower your velocity is, the softer your alloy must be. I use 9 or 10 ingots of WW to 1 of Lino. This puts you in the neighborhood of 14BHN, which will work well at 1,800 to perhaps as much as 2,200 fps although I have pretty much decided to stop at 2,000 and call it good. Accuracy gets more and more challenging the faster you go.

Your .30-30 will be the easiest to load for. The best powders I have tried for hunting loads are Win 748, H335 & H4895. My 20" carbine likes 30 grains of H335 for 2,005 fps best. This is a max load in the manual so start at perhaps 25 grains and work up. The .30-30 should prove very friendly in the fouling department as well.

Moving up to the '06 or the .308 it is also possible to get excellent performance but it requires a little bit more experimentation and effort. In the .308 I really like the 311299 (a little over 200 grains). I am still developing loads there but IMR & Hodgdon 4895's seem to work well so far. In the Krag and in the .30-06 I like the 214 grain 311284. My favorite .30-06 hunting load is 36.5 gr IMR 4895 for a little over 2,000 fps. This delivered good accuracy in my rifle with little fouling. I shot my last deer with this load and I am very happy with the results.

Any of your bullet or caliber choices will work well as long as you have sufficient accuracy.

I shoot slower loads most of the time. 1,400 to 1,600 fps loads are very well mannered and usually shoot well regardless of the powder you have available. I like 2400, 5744, and SR4759 for these purposes. The best aspect of these loads is that you generally do not have to clean any lead out of your barrel.

[kelbro]

I appreciate the responses. That gives me some direction. I have plenty of H4895 and W748. Both have worked well for jacketed bullets and I was hoping that they would work for CB.

Thanks!

[IcerUSA]

Make sure to slug your bore and size accordingly , best load in the world is any good if the boolit don't fit .

H4895 should do you good in all the calibers you have , start low and work up to best accuracy , usually long before you reach max loads .

Should have plenty of meat in the freezer with your guns and lead boolits and as a bonus you can eat right up to the hole as they say . :)

Keith

[Thumbcocker]

I have gotten 2000 fps with acww and aa8700. Boolits sized .311 and fired in a .3006.

[Bret4207]

I would be inclined to stick with the FN in all 3 guns. RN work too, but many guys expect mushrooming with a RN and that depends on your alloy and speed. A good FN design at speeds over 1600 fps will work in any 30 cal on average deer. Up it to the 2K+ range and you duplicate or better the standard 30-30 loadings.

[kelbro]

Thanks guys.

Bret, I was thinking the same way when I bought the FN mold but I have learned that some guns just won't shoot some bullets, no matter how much you want them to :)

[Blammer]

I like the 311284 (225gr) cast of WW's air cooled, sized to .309 with 30gr of IMR3031 for about 1850fps out of my 30-06.