30 cal @ 1700-1800 fps

[lead chucker]

Any one hunt with a 30 cal at 17-1800 fps for deer and black bear? I have a 308 win and am shooting a 311299 I limit my self to under 200 yards. My best accuracy is in the 17-1800 velocity. I would think that would be more than adequate but would like to hear from some one that has done it. My bullets have a real shallow hp so it's like having a flat nose with a shallow cup in it. BHN is 14-15.

[303Guy]

I am planning on it with my pig gun. My boolits are going to be in the 205gr to 216gr range, most likely 208gr at similar velocities to you, maybe a bit slower as my gun has a short barrel. What weight does your mold cast? I'm not familiar with mold numbers.

[quilbilly]

Having done my usual terminal ballistics test with my 30/30 with a 160 gr RNGC at 1550, I have absolutely no doubt 15-1700 FPS is more than adequate for any deer you might encounter as well as any small to medium black bear (less than 250#) all out to 150 yards. My target is 20" of soaked phone books with a piece of thin plywood at 3" at a distance of 40 yards.

[lead chucker]

303Guy
311299 is a 200 gr and it's a Lyman mold and with two parts WW to 1 part lead + 2% tin for the pure lead part and heat treated they run 199-200 gr with aluminum gc. I have a free checks II in the 30 cal I use aluminum flashing I got from the lumber yard.

[lead chucker]

Quilbilly does it shoot clean through all that? I was thinking of doing something similar. Shag carpet for hide and har then 1/4 ply wood for ribbs and two water jugs for lungs and then plywood and carpet then something to catch the bullet for examination. What do you think?

[clodhopper]

Cant vouch for 30 cal. But 35 cal RCBS 200 grain flat point at 1800 makes every deer I ever shot with it fall over dead.
Only tried it on four whitetails.
Put the bullet where it counts, the heart lung zone, and you will be busy dragging

[lead chucker]

Yup things don't go very far with holes in there lungs. I think it would punch right through a shoulder too. I have lots of time to do some testing before deer season starts but Black bears are coming out right now. I have shot Black bear with my ruger 77/44 with cast bullets but have not yet with my 30 cal cast bullets.

[Gelandangan]

not sure about bears, we don't shoot koalas, and I'm way too lazy to get the rare deer.

I can definitely vouch that solid point 311299 at 1600fps are deadly on goats and pigs.

[1kshooter]

I think that the spped with the weight is fine and more than enough ...accuracy is key and if you put it where it needs to go then it's game on....the grill lol!
Jonathan

[runfiverun]

200 yds will be pushing it a bit.
pushing my 175 gr fp in my 8mm to 1950 fps. i drop 2-1/2" from 50 to 100 yds.
so i sight in at 100 then i am 2-1/2" high at 50 and @ 2-1/2" low at 150 yds.
i'm comfortable with those numbers and distances in case i don't get the perfect broadside shot,
i still have enough oomph to penetrate.
but i am accused of not using enough boolit

[GabbyM]

The RCBS 30-180-FN cast from soft lead fired at subsonic levels will two step a big deer.
Range is of course limited. Not sure if the bullet expands or just tumbles due to low velocity yielding low stability. Bullets pass through with adequate exit hole. Deer generally drop within fifty feet of shot. It’s a bit uncanny as the energy is hand gun level.
From soft lead the RCBS 180 FN weighs in at about 200 grains and is long. It seams to me that long for caliber bullets kill well. 160 grain 6.5mm has a big rep for dropping game for instance.

[303Guy]

I used my pig gun for a coup de grâce on a goat (head shot) and the effects were quite encouraging. I'm guessing the velocity was around 1500/1600fps. No idea what kind of penetration those boolits would have but I don't see them stopping too easily and the above posts confirm that notion.

[Larry Gibson]

303Guy
311299 is a 200 gr and it's a Lyman mold and with two parts WW to 1 part lead + 2% tin for the pure lead part and heat treated they run 199-200 gr with aluminum gc. I have a free checks II in the 30 cal I use aluminum flashing I got from the lumber yard.

Let me make a suggestion for your hunting bullets. Get a box of Hornady GCs. Yes you can make the aluminum ones much cheaper but the accuracy problems above 1800 fps are probably GC related. My own .014 thick aluminum GCs give accuracy problems above 1800 fps also. The crimp on Hornady won't as they will stay on the bullet. A box of 1,000 GCs may seem expensive but for hunting they will last many years.

Another suggestion is to soften up your alloy. Mix 2% tin with the COWWs, then add 50% lead to that. Let the bullets AC for 10 days before sizing, GCing, lubing and using. A soft lube like Javelina or 2500+ will work best. Start with a clean barrel and clean the barrel every 8 - 10 shots to maintain best accuracy. Yes I know all about "seasoning" and "cold bore flyers" but we're talking hunting here and wanting the best in terminal ballistics along with hunting accuracy. The clean bore with these soft cast bullets driven hard will give the best accuracy for 5 - 10 shots. After that groups will open. I think of it this way; if I've not got the deer in 5 shots I might as well go home and clean the rifle anyway.......

Use a medium burning powder such as 4895 with a 1/2 - 3/4 gr dacron filler. Start at 28 gr and work up until accuracy exceeds your accuracy expectations for hunting. I consider 200 yards to be the practical limit for most rifle cast bullet loads. If pushed to 2000 - 2200 fps the 311299 is a 200 yard capable cast bullet. I also have killed a lot of deer with 3 moa capable rifles. If your rifle has a 10" twist barrel then 2000 fps is probable. You should be able to work up a load that will keep the 1st five shots from a cold clean bore in 3 moa or better at 200 yards. If your .308W has a 12" twist then 2100 - 2200 fps is in the cards for the sam 3 moa capability at 200 yards.

With the 311299 cast soft and pushed to at least 2000 fps it will be much more effective on deer and Blk bear. It pretty much will equal the old 303 Savage in hunting performance, especially if you slightly flatten or HP the 311299s.

With your load at 17-1800 fps the bullet is down to 1350 - 1440 fps at 200 yards. That is not much velocity to get any reasonable expansion from the 311299 and unless the bullets hit something quite solid they will slip right through. Yes the deer will be dead but it can go a long ways before it decides it's dead. At 2100 fps that 311299 will still have 1700 fps at 200 yards, just about what the other does at the muzzle. With you 17-1800 fps and the alloy you are using I would limit it to no more than 100 yards.

Larry Gibson

[lead chucker]

Thanks for all that info. did not know about the aluminum gc being a problem over 1800 fps.

[Larry Gibson]

Thanks for all that info. did not know about the aluminum gc being a problem over 1800 fps.

Problem is it doesn't happen all the time with all bullets. I use .014 thick aluminum and it fits tighter on some bullet shanks than others and it depends on how much they get sized also. I recently got a lots of dings in the Oehler diffusors on Skyscreens when chronographing some 30-30 loads at 1900 - 2200 fps. I know it was the GC because i dug a chunk of one out of a diffusor. Accuracy was lousy with numerous flyers from the GCs coming off like that. The face of the middle screen got a good chunk knocked out also. Doesn't happen with the brass .014 GCs I make. Start screen was at 12 feet BTW.

Larry Gibson

[lead chucker]

Larry I have some hornady gc's I will try them also I posted the other day that I had to seat my bullets a little deeper than I would like the top of the gas check is right at the bottom of the neck. Currently I'm averaging 1770 fps with real good groups one with three touching clover leaf and one with three touching and one real close I'm using 24 gr xmp5744. I have found some gc in the snow on the back side of my plywood target. Have not found Any on the way to the target. Have recovered a few bullets and none have gc on them. These are the aluminum ones. If I aneele my aluminum and make the gc real soft I wonder if they would be tighter.

[lead chucker]

Nice looking bullet. Making them is kind of involved isn't it? You need two melting pots. Right. I saw a YouTube vid once by ammo smith he was showing how to make them.

[Frank]

No, one melting pot. I make the SP's with a SP mold. Then I change the alloy in the pot to my hard alloy. I get the bullet mold hot, drop in the "point", crush it in with a wood dowel so it heats up and melts, then I pour the hard alloy. The two alloys bond together. It works great.

[lead chucker]

This is what the hp looks like it's pretty shallow so I don't think it would over expand.

[Lead Fred]

I use the RD mold @ 2200fps. Got no bears in my backyard, so I have no test subjects