What is a good slug for 30/30 hunting, that you have used on deer, etc.?

[koger]

I have several 30/30's, and I want to start hunting with them, with cast. I figure most will be 150yd shots or less, most under 100 yds. Does Lee make a good bullet with a flat nose, that will do the job? I am thinking between 150-180 gr with a gas check? Or a plain base will work, I am thinking, 1500fps or thereabout. I am also powder coating now, so figure that in the equation, if you have any experience with that.

[Chad5005]

yes lee has a 309-170 2 cavity,i think its19.99 at midway,its gas checked,mine and my sons 336 both shoot them well coated with smokes powder

[koger]

Chad thanks for the reply, I have a double cavity Lee 170 but it has the round nose, is yours that one or the flat nose one.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Yes, the Lee 170 gn FN GC is a good bullet. I did run into one mold that cast the nose fatter than a Marlin would take. Another mold of same make and model worked fine. I have a lot of Lee molds, and they work fine. Been using them since the 1970's.

[Winger Ed.]

I shoot a .30 RCBS 170 RN, and have been quite happy with it.
I've only shot 4 deer with it at 80-100 yards, but after they were hit- they never took another step.

Until everybody all crazy about meplats- the world was happy doing most of their hunting
with RN or SPs for well over a hundred years.

The Lee should do a good job for you too.

[Chad5005]

Chad thanks for the reply, I have a double cavity Lee 170 but it has the round nose, is yours that one or the flat nose one.

mine is the flat nose,c309-170-f

[Texas by God]

The 150 and 170 flat nose Lees both shoot great for me. I’ve only killed one buck with the 150gr at 1800 FPS at 40 yards no drama.

[rtyler8140]

I'm shooting both the 150 and 170 Lee flat nose in my 30-06. Hope to take a deer with them this fall. They have proven to be very accurate for me. I gas check and powder coat both of them.

[richhodg66]

The Lyman 311041 is the classic .30-30 bullet. I've also had real good luck with the Ranch Dog bullet, NOE still makes molds in it. If I were gonna start from scratch and my rifle would feed it, I believe I'd opt for the RCBS 180 grain flat point now.

Good read here on the subject; http://www.castbullet.com/reload/meplat.htm

[dg31872]

Plus one for the RCBS 180 FP. With a book load of 2400, it gets the job done.

[atr]

with my bolt action 30-30 I use a 180 gr RN

[725]

I like the 311041, too.

[quilbilly]

I like the 311041, too.

This boolit has worked well for me on deer but I have also used a 130 gr flat nose semi-point boolit out of a Mihec mold and the deer were just as dead. Both size/style boolits left the muzzle at a leisurely 1600-1650 fps.

[koger]

Thanks for the replies guys.

[GregLaROCHE]

If I were power coating and using it for hunting, I would consider skipping the gas check. That’s my personal opinion trying to save a buck to shoot more. Let’s see what others have to say on the subject.

[gumbo333]

If you don't cast there are a bunch of good boolits you can buy, 165 gr on up. Some are HyTek or PC. Get them sized right. If you prefer j bullets, it's hard to beat the Speer 170 gr flat point. It works.

[richhodg66]

with my bolt action 30-30 I use a 180 gr RN

What bolt gun? I used a Savage 340 in .30-30 to kill my first "small bore" cast bullet deer. I'd been doing it with muzzle loaders for years, but that's no real trick. I used an old Ideal 31141 cast of wheel weights plus 2% tin propelled by 25 grains of the B-West BW 36 imported powder they used to sell that burned about like IMR 3031, worked well, but I switched to a softer alloy for subsequent deer hunting after that one.

I like that little 340, not picky at all about cast bullets, seems to shoot any design I load in it pretty well.

[koger]

Gumbo I have been casting close to 40 years, so that is a no brainer. Greg I am planning on trying the PC coated ones without aGC to see how it performs. I have recently started PC and I love it so far.

[gumbo333]

Kroger if you have been casting for 40 years you likely can cast up boolits way better than I can ever buy. I do like the PC or HyTek boolits.

[NorthMoccasin]

+1 on the 311041. I like it hollow pointed driven about 1600-1800fs. If you dont have a HP mold, Forster makes a nifty HP attachment for their trimmer. A shallow Hp and softer alloy works best. works on any 30 cal.