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Thread: 3030 deer setup, thoughts?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Nice setup you just have to shoot the gun from field postions and become familure with it like any gun. The combination you posted simp,entry for deer provided you put the bullet in the vitals.

    Good Luck and have fun.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master Slow Elk 45/70's Avatar
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    Yup, 30/30 w@ 160-170 gr boolit @ 1700-1800 fps will anchor any deer you do your part on...put the boolit where it counts....good hunting
    Slow Elk 45/70

    Praise the Lord & Pass the Ammo

  3. #23
    Boolit Bub
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    I'd be wantin close to 1,000ft/lbs energy at the buck with a bullet that has a wide flat nose or the jacketed softnose that can mushroom at the right velosity. A wide flat nose(that can transfer energy) like 50cal. can move slow and give the very minimum energy of 500 ft/lbs.

    I'd be wondering,since brute bucks are tough, ifin a 30-30 with the bullet it was intended fer at the velosity and range it was intended fer wouldn't be the best fer a quick clean kill. I wouldn't feel well armed with a rifle shootin slower than intended with the wrong type bullet.

    A bullet half lead and half wheel weight wouldn't mushroom much(deer bein thin skinned so to speak) so 30cal. is kinda small diamerter if not using the bullet the 30-30 was designed around(jacketed soft point) at a good velosity the rifle was designed fer.

    The 30-30 killed a lot of deer,they say, but that wasn't with slower lead alloy bullets was it? Maybe if an Hombre couldn't get jacketed bullets and had a small cashe ofpowder to work with.

    Sure....people kill deer with the 22 long rifle bullet but....why,if you don't really have to, would a hunter take an inferior bullet to a buck fight? They are tough and can go long distances on half their normal blood pressure and blood quantity. Don't drop that blood pressure enough they don't go down quick at all.

    Energy on paper is informative but....when the selected bullet hits the density of the selected target animal what happens there means an awful lot. Knock Out energy. Tissue damage.

  4. #24
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    I've cleanly killed three deer with similar .30 caliber loads to what the OP mentioned (.30-30, .308 and .300 Savage respectively) all were FP cast of similar alloys at similar speeds. None went any farther than they typically go with jacketed full power loads from some good deer cartridges in my experience.

    All three were in pretty good conditions; from a tree stand at unsuspecting deer, farthest was about 60 yards, closest about 20 feet. Not much of a test perhaps, but all chest cavity hits and the bullets performed well. If he's a reasonably decent deer hunter, which it sounds like he is, he'll do fine with that set up.

  5. #25
    Boolit Buddy
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    As far as being familiar with the gun that is not an issue I have shot lever actions all my life, mostly my 88, some savage 99s and I have killed deer with a model 94, so I am famiier with the gun, I also have shot close to 100 deer with rifles, recurve bows and a cap lock muzzleloader. My question is related to the performance of the cast bullet I'm using and the powder charge I listed. In a nutshell, I am not new to shooting deer just new to shooting them with a cast bullet, therefore my original question.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master
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    so you will be fine go hunt enjoy the expereince and you will be casting for all you're rifles.

  7. #27
    Boolit Buddy Driver man's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Elbow View Post
    As far as being familiar with the gun that is not an issue I have shot lever actions all my life, mostly my 88, some savage 99s and I have killed deer with a model 94, so I am famiier with the gun, I also have shot close to 100 deer with rifles, recurve bows and a cap lock muzzleloader. My question is related to the performance of the cast bullet I'm using and the powder charge I listed. In a nutshell, I am not new to shooting deer just new to shooting them with a cast bullet, therefore my original question.
    The general opinion of all is that you will be successful with rifle and load. Go and do it and post your results. I dont think you will recover many boolits.
    The Bird of Time has but a little way
    To fly-and Lo! the bird is on the wing

  8. #28
    Boolit Bub
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    I guess I'd have to concede my opinions to the Hombre that have physically killed deer with the type gun and boolit and velosity mentioned. I can't back up my opinions with hands on evidense since I've not shot any deer with a 30-30 movin a lead alloy boolit at below listed velosities(loadin manual).

    I've only killed deer with slow movin(1,200fps) pure lead from a 45/70 barreled Hawken I made and the lead ball from other muzzleloaders movin faster.

    One example....large buck..32 paces front on neck shot 45/70 520gr. boolit pure lead movin with 75gr.FFg blackpowder. Dead buck but.....the neck stopped that boolit. Hit the bones and exploded into pieces against the sharp shards of bone. Never exited. That's a heavy bullet with lots ft/lbs and a large 45cal. flat on the nose of the boolit. The flat the same diameter as the base of the boolit like a long 45cal. wadcutter.

    Other buck shot frontal with the same boolit same load with the pure lead expanded found in the hip joint.

    That's the kinda stuff I know.

    Shootin light weight lead alloy from smaller diameter calibers movin faster is not my field of expertise. All I know is to follow the book when it comes to smokeless powder.

    I guess I'm simply sayin....take my opinion about the 30-30 with lead alloy movin slower than listed in the book(loadin manual) with....a grain of salt.

    Never killed a brute buck with a lil boolit movin 1,600ft/sec.
    I believe that could kill a big buck but I'd want to place the boolit somewhere to shut down the central nervous system or the vascular system rather fast. Just behind the ear or directly into the heart at rather close range.

    Can't hunt deer in Ohio with the venerable 30-30. Wish I could.

    All that said, ifin I did use the venerable Winchester Model 94 it would be with a jacketed bullet(170gr.) movin at least 2,000ft/sec. That's just me and me ain't no exxxxxpert. Just an old hunter that's still kickin.

    I will be huntin fer the first time ever this year with a lever action rifle the Winchester 1886 45/70 with a 405gr. bullet an the startin loads usin Accurate 5744 and IMR 3031 powder. That will have my vertebre slightly out of place fer a week er two after 30-40 practise shots. I'll be hobblin all stiffed and stoved up out in the field deer season. Only thing good bout that is I won't have trouble still huntin SLOW.

  9. #29
    Boolit Master helice's Avatar
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    Post us the pictures of the hunt and I get dibbs of the liver.

  10. #30
    Boolit Grand Master

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    In a nutshell, I am not new to shooting deer just new to shooting them with a cast bullet, therefore my original question.-Elbow

    Only problem you'll have is what to do with your leftover j-words. Haven't had much use for j-words since the first one fell to a cast boolit.
    Endowment Life Member NRA, Life Member TSRA, Member WACA, NRA Whittington Center, BBHC
    Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
    I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
    Some of my favorite recipes start out with a handful of depleted counterbalance devices.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
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    I wouldnt sweat that load, just worry about boolit placement. Pop them in the shoulders, and they don't go very far, hit the lungs and it may wind up a long tracking session. With a load that slow you need to hit bones, and take out there steering!

  12. #32
    Boolit Buddy Driver man's Avatar
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    How about an update on your results
    The Bird of Time has but a little way
    To fly-and Lo! the bird is on the wing

  13. #33
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I shot several in The NEK where I'm from with my trusty 30-30 and a 150gr and a Williams peep. 100yrds and in it will drop one easy. It will do it out to 150 if you can see it well enough. My buddy just got a nice 180lb 8pt near my camp in Island Pond. Good luck.
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

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  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    Sorry for the high jack but this thread seems to have drawn a lot of cast boolit deer hunters.

    My question: What do you guys think about a Lee .313" 160gr 2R TL as a whitetail deer boolit. Actual weight is around 168gr with gas check. Lead / linotype alloy is 16bhn. Velocity is 1850f/s.

    Thanks,

    Motor

  15. #35
    Boolit Master


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    I shoot a 175 grain lee lead bullet going a zipping 1800 ft/sec. Have killed many deer with one shot. Best kill zone is high in the neck or just below the ear from the side..If you don't have confidence in your shot, shoot just behind the front shoulder and a little lower than middle, no meat ruined with either shot and both are deadly.
    You don't need a 300 Win mag to kill a deer, shot placement is where it is at... You load is hotter than mine, I'm jealous

    300 win mags are good for trophy hunting on the edge of your property line, when you need the deer dead before it hits the ground.

  16. #36
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    Blammer's Avatar
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    IF you don't kill a deer with that setup it's the nut behind the butt's fault, not the gun or set up.

  17. #37
    Boolit Master
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    I have killed several dozen with the Lee 150 grain boolit over 14.5 grains of 2400. That is around a hundred FPS slower than what yo listed. I doubt that an extra hundred FPS and 20 more grains of lead will hurt the results.
    Boolit placement is not everything but if you miss power does not matter. I have never recovered a Boolit so i have no data on expansion. If you are confident in your accuracy go hunting.
    I use a NEF so i can't advise on follow up shots.
    The man who invented the plow was not bored. He was hungry.

  18. #38
    Boolit Grand Master

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    One of the hardest lesssons I've had to learn about cast boolits for hunting is that a properly alloyed and placed boolit of reasonable mass does not have to be going particularly fast to kill deer sized game. The fact that deer and hogs seem to fall faster and with less meat damage is a pleasant surprise as well. The only thing I can't figure out is why more than a few experienced casters still use j-words. I understand that a few hunt at distances that seem extreme to this TX brush hunter and I can accept that as I'm not a long-distance shooter.
    I'd like to echo Driver man's request for a field report, I hope the OP's season is going well for him.
    Endowment Life Member NRA, Life Member TSRA, Member WACA, NRA Whittington Center, BBHC
    Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
    I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
    Some of my favorite recipes start out with a handful of depleted counterbalance devices.

  19. #39
    Boolit Grand Master FergusonTO35's Avatar
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    I've been thinking about giving a shallow hollow point to my Lee 150's. Make a center indentation with a prick punch, then drill a cavity of 1/8 or so, just enough to help it expand if only soft tissue is hit. Some j-word pistol and rifle bullets for hunting use this design.
    Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check