30-30 load suggestions

[mthom1957]

I have some of those Berry's copper plated 150gr bullets for the 30-30. Does anyone have any experience with these and have any load suggestions for this combination?

[Doc Highwall]

mthon1957, welcome to the Cast Boolits forum. What kind of gun are you going to shoot these out of, hunting or plinking and what distance?

Also what kind of dies do you have and do they include a die to expand/bell the case mouth?

[Jr.]

Not with the Berry's but I use 34 grns or acurate 2015 for my 150 grn rn more a bench rest powder and hard to find anymore I've heard of h110 and 4350 working well but never tried them myself

[mthom1957]

Doc, I will be shooting them out of a Marlin 336 and they will be probably plinking and possibly hunting if applicable. I have RCBS standard 30-30 dies with no die for belling the case mouth.

[Doc Highwall]

What diameter are the Barry's bullets hopefully .310"?

[Echo]

Since the die set doesn't include an expander/beller (expansion is obtained by the decapper plug being pulled out through the neck), you should do something about belling the case mouth. The case neck should be belled enough for the Berry (or cast) bullet to enter a touch, to keep from shaving lead, said shaving due to the case neck being expanded enough for condom bullets, but not for lead boolits. A Lyman M die is usually suggested, rightfully so, but belling can also be accomplished by twisting a set of needle-nosed pliers in the case mouth. I use this technique on cases for which I have no M die.

[jimwill48]

My everyday shooting/plinking load with a 150gr Lead Cast (Berry's is plated Lead and can be treated as cast) in .30/30 is 8.0 gr of Unigue. About 1200 fps, quite and no recoil to speak of.......

[dale2242]

10 gr. Unique will work for you.....dale

[runfiverun]

treat them as a plain based cast boolit and you'll do fine.

[mthom1957]

Doc, I just checked a couple and I,m getting .307

[Doc Highwall]

The first three rules of shooting cast bullets are, bullet fit, bullet fit, and bullet fit. With the bullet being large enough to actually seal the bore preventing powder gases from jetting by stripping lube and melting the lead is what makes cast bullets shoot. I and others here normally shoot a bullet of .310" and use a neck expander of .309".

What are you using to measure the bullets with? I suggest a micrometer that will measure in .0001" increments, dial calipers are good for measuring over all length to within .001" at best.

[leadman]

If you have either H4895 or IMR4895 you can use this for reduced loads or full powder hunting loads. Look on the Hodgdon site for the youth loads. I use 28grs of H4895 with a Lyman 311041 in my Contender carbine for a hunting load.
The light loads of 10 to 12 grains of powder like Red Dot, Unique, and other similar burning powders work great for plinking. The Berry plated bullets should be considered cast for these purposes.
Some of the old books show a .307" jacketed bullet for the 30-30 but later books show the .308" as a jacketed standard.
With a Marlin with micro-groove rifling a cast bullet or soft bullet like the Berry's should be .310".

[fatelvis]

I've been having great luck with a Lyman 311041 cast of WWs, sized to .310" over 25.0 grns 8208 powder. It shoots beautifully from my pre-64 94, 1957 vintage 336 (ballard rifling), and custom 14" Contender barrel.

[pls1911]

26 grains RL-7... you won't regret it...

[George Mabry]

If you like plinking, try Speer's Plinker. It's a 100 grain round nose, copper base bullet and it will fly true. Great little round. I'd load it up with 31 grains of RL-7 and that rascal would move but it also performed well with reduced loads of Unique, Red Dot, and Bullseye.

For my 150 grain jacketed stuff I prefer 27 grains of RL-7.

[Captain Capsize]

I have been shooting my Marlin 30-30 with 110 g. copper plated bullets over 26 g. of H4198 at 2150 fps. The accuracy is astounding. 3 shot clover leafs at 100 yds. between barrel cool downs. It might do as well with a pistol powder but my goal was to have the same POI at 100 as a Remington 170 j-bul.

[1006]

This is an old thread, but I load 14.5 grains of 2400, large pistol primer, and a Berry 150. It yields 1550 fps and decent 50 yard accuracy from my Winchester Trapper -- 16 inch barrel.

[PAndy]

I have been using a light load of h4895 ...well below 25 gr...with good results. Also about 1550 fps. The plated bullets are slippery, and I need to crimp to keep bullets in place through the tube magazine.
I also tried the 180 gr "wedge" plated bullet...that didn't work at all through my rifle