Any recommendations for Light Load Re-Loading for WINCHESTER 1894 30-30

Does anyone have recommendations for light-load 30-30, what Grns & Type of Powder? I'd like to make some for plinking purposes and teaching the kids with Winchester 1894 30-30. Today I tried some IMR4198, 150gr RN Jacketed bullets, and powder charge at 22grns which is the lowest on the Nosler Chart for this powder and bullet weight, but even that seemed like overkill for plinking. I realize that this isn't a plinking gun, but it's what I have.

I'm trying to balance light recoil with safety of not too little powder charge (% of case volume)

Chronograph data from my ca. 1942 Winchester 94 with 20”barrel:

Remington .307" diameter 110-gr. JSP (.30 M1 Carbine)
28 grs. IMR4198 2359 fps, 32 Sd – explosive varmint performance, requires re-zeroing from factory 150s
5.0 Bullseye, 1039 fps, 10 Sd – on at 50 ft. if zeroed +3-4” at 100 with 150-gr. factory SPs, quiet.
6.0 Bullseye, 1232 fps, 26 Sd – nondestructive small game load as in .32-20, no expansion
7.0 Bullseye, 1396 fps, 14 Sd – noticeably louder than subsonic but accurate, 1” groups 50 yards

Accurate 31-115K “Winchester Small Game” LFN, wheelweights, unsized .311”, LLA
3.5 grs. Bullseye, 901 fps, 11 Sd - 3” low at 25 yds. “Cat Sneeze”
5.0 grs. Bullseye, 1207 fps, 9 Sd – 1” groups at 50 yds. Mild, quiet, like .22 LR HV
6.0 grs. Bullseye, 1350 fps, 6 Sd – shoots flatter, louder, like .32-20. Max. for plain base bullet

Remington .308" 150-gr. SPCL
16 grs. #2400, 1636 fps, 18 Sd – approximates .32-40 energy, only slight bullet expansion
18 grs. #2400, 1804 fps, 22 Sd – good bullet expansion, “light recoil” load for Junior Hunters
22 grs. H4427, 1917 fps, 36 Sd “

Accurate 31-155D, Plain base – wheelweights. Unsized .311”, LLA
15 grs. IMR 4064, 1409 fps, 24 Sd, Accurate, no leading. Do not exceed with plain-based bullet.

Modified RCBS 30-180FN Modified to 174 grain HP plain base by Erik Ohlen
Once-fired brass reloaded with Ideal tong tool, .38 Spl. case as dip measure, 14 grs IMR4064
1293 fps, 32 Sd n=10, no leading, shoots to sights at 50 yards with +3-4” at 100 zero with factory loads. Good utility woods load, approximates .32-40 performance.

This is excellent, thanks! Also, I'm new to re-loading, forgive me but what is the "# and Sd" reference on each of the loads?

Sd is standard deviation in velocity of the shot group. #2400 = number 2400. 2400 is the powder name. Alliant 2400 I believe

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by jreidthompson1

Sd is standard deviation in velocity of the shot group. #2400 = number 2400. 2400 is the powder name. Alliant 2400 I believe

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Correct.

Loading 30-30 with 110 gr. 30 carbine bullet does make for a very light recoil load, many rounds can be fired at the range with no sore shoulder.

Then the is always the H4895 option this would allow you to load 60% of max load, by Hodgon web sight for max load with 150 gr. bullet is 34.0gr and 60% of that is 20.4 gr giving you 1400fsp, this would be a very light recoil load, keep in mind that this rule is only for H4895 powder, and can be checked on there web sight.

I like the Lee .314 90 gr truncated cone TL bullet sized to .311 or 312. Lubed with BLL over 3-5 grains of Red Dot.

Quiet, shoots a bit below the full power loads but shoots well enough to pot a rabbit, or grouse with a little practice.

In my Win 94AE with iron sights I have not tried it at over 50 yards.

But in my Handi Rifle in .30-30 with a 2x Red Dot it will stack them up very nicely at 100 once sights are adjusted.
I like 4.6 grains of Red Dot in most things. It just seems to always be accurate.

Using data from the lever gun performance site;
http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm
I settled in on 5.5 grs. TightGroup under the Lee 170gr. for My Win M94 Trapper. Velocity is about +/- 1200fps. Very mild to shoot and groups about 2" at 50 yds.

Lots of good suggestions above. One other thing I do for light loads and target (out to 100 yards) is buy 32 caliber pistol cast bullets. Bear creek supply makes a nice 100 grain round nose flat point cast with moly coat. They run about 7 cents apiece. Just in case you are wondering about the 32 cal part, 32 cal pistol is not 0.32-- its typically 0.311-0.312. These slide into a 30-30 case with no resizing as long as you use a normal expander die for cast. My favorite load with gthe Bear Creek 32 cal bullets is 5.5 grains of HP-38 or Win 231. With this load my 30-30 will hit a 2 to 3" gong all day long at 100 yards just shooting for fun on the cheap.

I have a308 win savage axis. I use a lot of 32 cal lead pistole bullets sized .311 . I have used the bear creek bullets but now out .I got two lee molds. One the .314 90 gr swc and the .311 100 2R. I use 3.2 of bulseye with each bullet for a plinking load. Don’t see why they would not work for the 30/30. This is a great load like shooting a 22 lr. Very accurate up to 50 yards.

While I use it mostly in my 32-20 the Lee 120 grain mold is another good one for light loading. For the 30-30 I use either 150 or 170 grain bullets as I have the 32-20 for the real light loads. Also have a 357 which can also be loaded light.


DEP

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Welcome to the forum, D-D !

Please keep in mind that the factory sights are regulated for normal 150gr-170gr factory loads, and may not have enough adjustment to be able to zero the rifle with very light loads.

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I used 18 gr. Vihtavouri n110 with a cheap 110 gr. Jacketed bullet. 21 gr. Of n110 got it shooting pretty close to factory 150 gr. loads at 100m. N110 is a very good powder for light loads

I've used 8.0 grains of Unique with several 90-98 grain PB boolits with excellent results. The Lyman 311-245, the RCBS 32-98 swc, a 95 grain RN SAECO boolit, and a Lyman 313-226 have all worked, with the 311-245 and the RCBS having been perhaps the best

Ah, many thanks! Sincerely appreciate everyone's insights, going to try several of these over the next month or two. Lot's of extra time without the AM and PM commute these days.

My Model 1894 Winchesters are each.30 WCF, one is a Rifle mfg 1896 with 26" Bbl. The other 2 are Carbines with 20" Bbls, mfg in 1914 and 1930 respectively. These old guns were really made to last if you take care of them. Heck, I've seen many that weren't taken care of that are still solid shooters and can be brought back aesthetically with some TLC.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dh2

Loading 30-30 with 110 gr. 30 carbine bullet does make for a very light recoil load, many rounds can be fired at the range with no sore shoulder.

Then the is always the H4895 option this would allow you to load 60% of max load, by Hodgon web sight for max load with 150 gr. bullet is 34.0gr and 60% of that is 20.4 gr giving you 1400fsp, this would be a very light recoil load, keep in mind that this rule is only for H4895 powder, and can be checked on there web sight.

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Just ordered some H4895 from Cabelas (backordered) looking forward to giving that one a try!

Welcome to the friendliest gun related forum on the web, Doolin-Dalton! Your Winchester Model 94s are excellent cast boolit rifles.

My most accurate plinking load is the Lyman 311291, pushed by 5.5 gr. of Alliant Red Dot powder. I tried the 311291 using the gas check and without the gas check and leaving the GC off resulted in a much more accurate load. My grandson can shoot sub 1" groups on demand with this load @ 50 yards, sandbagged in, from the bench. I was stunned by this level of accuracy!
Semper Fi, Treetop

I use the lee 113gr. boolit and 6 grains of greendot and it is very mild and shoots good. It is very quiet and I can keep it in a squirrels head at 25 yards if I can hold still...………………….curdog

6 to 9 grains of unique under either Lymans 31108 or 311316 shoot very well in my Savage m-24 30-30. 17.0 5744 does well also. the Accurate 311 118gc is good to. Cheap on both powder and lead.

Here's my compiled data for a Savage 340E loading 165gr PB with Red Dot powder:
5.5 gr - 1090 fps - this is my preferred load as I prefer to stay subsonic.
5.7 gr - 1113 fps
5.9 gr - 1140 fps
6.1 gr - 1160 fps
6.3 gr - 1172 fps
6.5 gr - 1204 fps

These were all 5-shot strings out of a 22" barrel.
Chronograph was a Oehler 35P @ 10 feet.