30 Carbine heavy bullets - 150 gr.

[Karen]

Has anyone here shot 150gr bullets from 30 Carbine? I don't care about the autoloading system. I can shoot one at a time. The 110 gr bullet is too little. I want to hunt deer, but my 30-06 rifle is too heavy.

Thanks.

[9.3X62AL]

Karen--

Welcome to the board, ma'am!

Most 30 U.S. M1 Carbines have a rifling twist rate of 1-20". I don't think a 150 grain bullet/boolit would be stabilized by that twist rate at the velocities possible in a 30 Carbine.

A lot of hunters would decry the use of a 30 Carbine on deer. For large Canadian whitetails, I would agree. For the far smaller coast blacktails or muleys I see where I live (central/east CA), the 30 Carbine with good round-nose soft-point bullets would be adequate with good shot selection and placement--but not ideal. It is legal in CA, with soft-point ammunition.

My wife and daughters are VERY fond of a small rifle I have, a Ruger 77RC. Mine is chambered in 223 Remington, but it also is available in 243 Winchester, 260 Remington, 7mm-08 (I think), and 308. Scope and all, I doubt it weighs more than 8 pounds. The little critter is ACCURATE, too. Since the usual run of bolt rifles is a bit much for folks your size to lug around, you might take a look at a lighter-weight variants to increase your game-taking ability. At its best, the 30 Carbine is a little lacking as a deer caliber.

[Shiloh]

That is pretty heavy boolit for a carbine. As stated above, it is too light for humane kills on deer.

Although many deer have been taken with the M-1 Carbine, that hardly qualifies it as a deer caliber. If that is what you have to use, up close head shots may be the best bet.
The '06 would be a better choice.

SHiloh

[oldhickory]

What 9.3X62AL said about the rifling twist is correct, the little bugger just won't stabilize a 150gr boolit. A 130gr is about as heavy as it gets for the little carbine as far as accuracy goes. I load the Lyman 311410, 130gr. boolit with 12.5gr of H4227 for around 1550fps. I've also made a few rds. using the LEE flat nose mold for 32/20, shoots o.k, but won't feed from the magazine.

You can duplicate any 32/20 loading with the .30 carbine. Some old timers swore by the 32/20 as a deer round. I don't think the M1 carbine is as accurate as a 32/20 lever gun in most cases though.

Besides a nice light bolt gun, a 92' Winchester or copy there-of in.44/40, .38/40, .44 mag, .45 Colt would work out nicely, I think.

[R.C. Hatter]

The .30 Carbine was never designed for use with 150 grain bullets. The Carbine was designed to be a replacement for pistols, and use by second line troops, i.e. mortar crewmen, artillerymen, signal people, truck drivers etc. The 150 grain bullet you mention would never be stabilized by the rifling of the carbine, and therefore never be accurate. Also, although legal for deer in a few states, it is woefully underpowered for the task, lacking adequate energy for quick, humane, kills. You would be more satisfactorily served by a lightweight bolt action rifle, in a caliber somewhere between .260 Remington and .30-06. The lightweight Ruger rifles are an excellent starting place.

[Leftoverdj]

Karen, I'm pretty sure it could be done, single loading and with the right cast 150 grain bullet, but the velocity would be pitiful, down under 1600 fps. If you must hunt with an M-1 Carbine, you are not going to improve on factory soft point 110 grain bullets. They'll do the job if put through the lungs. You'd have to have the discipline to wait for a close range broadside shot.

If your finances permit, there are far better choices. I'm partial to a CZ 452 in 7.62x39. The weight is comparable to your carbine and the cartridge is comparable to the .30-30. The budget alternative would be an NEF single shot in the same caliber or in .30-30. I regularly see used NEFs and H&Rs (same thing), at about $150.

[jonk]

If you handload a 123 grain soft point might be the ticket.

I still agree though, that carbines aren't really deer caliber guns. If it is what you have, they are certainly on par with many a handgun and fine for close range- say under 50 yards, with a good lung or spine shot. But I wouldn't bother replacing the 110 gr bullet.

[beagle]

Karen, it may be possible as I have shot both the Lyman #311440HP and the RCBS 30-150-FN in the .30 Carbine Ruger pistol and these are in the 150 grain range. However, due to the limited case capacity of the .30 Carbine and the length of the 150 grain bullets and the density of the powders involved, it would be a balancing act to get a bullet/cartridge combination that would even chamber in the rifle and that would be a single loading proposition at best.

In the above experiments, I was able to obtain only 1200 FPS with my usable loads. This was obtainned by some shennigans such as sizing the front bands on the bullets and seating them way out (as long as the cylinder would take). Even then, I showed pressure signs that I didn't like.

Then, there's the twist as had been mentioned.

I'm not saying it's impossible because as soon as I do, someone will do it, but from the standpoint of my technical knowledge, it's not doeable./beagle

[StarMetal]

Karen,

When I first got my carbine I didn't have a suitable mould. I sized down two bullets. One was a 124 gr RCBS TC nose 9mm and the other was a 150 gr RCBS SWC. I used a series of dies to size them down while they were lubed so the metal wouldn't migrate in to the lube groove. The 124 gr bullet shot real good. I then try the 150 gr and it shot ok. In speaking with another member on the board, I won't mention by name, said to try them at 50 yards which I did and they didn't keyhole. He said I may have a rare faster twist carbine, which I know nothing about. I checked the rifling twist using the cleaning rod, very tight patched jag, tape, and tape measure. It's the traditional 1-20 twist alright. The member then said my bullet is stubby for a 150 gr and more then likely why it stabilized. I think he's right about all that. I interpolated loads for the 150 gr.

So to answer part of your question it can be done and in shooting mine I didn't see any hard abuse on the action. The loads were really pretty low ones. Since then I've acquired a proper mould.

Joe

[Leftoverdj]

We know the 311410 stabilizes. It's length, not weight that counts, so blunt 150s no longer than the pointy 130 will stabilize, too, if you can get them into the chamber. Beagle's 311440 is a prime example.

I'm sure it can be done, just equally sure that it's not worth doing.

[StarMetal]

We know the 311410 stabilizes. It's length, not weight that counts, so blunt 150s no longer than the pointy 130 will stabilize, too, if you can get them into the chamber. Beagle's 311440 is a prime example.

I'm sure it can be done, just equally sure that it's not worth doing.

I agree. I feel that a jacketed bullet driven to the book max would suffice if you had to use a carbine. The poster may look into a 7.62x39 rifle of some sort.

Joe

[high standard 40]

My brother has had good luck with the 30 Carbine and 150 gr bullets in a Contender for Silhouette. I know the twist is different though. He uses 296 powder. I'll try to find the load for you.

[StarMetal]

Ok... I'm going to try this.

And yes, I could buy a new rifle.... but that's not the point.

Maybe I won't use it to hunt deer. But i need to keep a promise, and go hunt something.

I'll buy some 130 and 150 bullets to test and then buy a mold later. I'll get blunt 150's.
Ok, what powder and how much? These will be slow, so no worries about lead melting in the barrel or piston?

Thanks everyone....

I'm sure some members would be more then happy to send you some 130's. All of mine are loaded. If I were going to cast soon I'd send you some ready to go, that is lubed and gaschecked as mine is a gascheck style.

A good powder is 4227. For a 130 you can load between 10.6 to 12.7 grains. For 120 grain, should someone send you some in that weight, again 4227 and 11.0 to 13.1 grains. Best to start with the beginning load. Lyman shows the max for both those loads as the bullet compressing the powder.

Joe

[StarMetal]

yea, I have 4227 and 296. The lyman book said don't experiment with 296. Mr Lyman sure liked unique, it's in almost every lead bullet list for rifles. My friend has extra unique, 2400, and some others I can use to test.

All those are really good. The thing about 296 is not to reduce load it. It can become dangerous that way. Don't let that discourage you from using it the right way. Used that way it's a great powder. Using a powder the right way can be said of any powder.

Joe

[303Guy]

Karen

That's an interesting proposition! I'm thinking you could drive a 120gr RN to about 2000fps using Lil'Gun. You may have to compress the charge to get enough in but it compresses real well. I have used a loading technique with Lil'Gun in my 22 hornet which allowed me to drive a 55gr bullet to around 2700fps. The same technique may or may not work in the carbine but magazine loading would likely not work with it and gasport pressure may be too high for the action. Still, Lil'Gun produces good performance at moderate pressure with normal loading methods.

[high standard 40]

I'm sending a PM with load data for 296.

[carpetman]

Karen---I am very guilty of being what many consider undergunned hunting deer. I use .243 and even .22 centerfires. Both around double the velocity you will get from the 30 carbine. I think you are undergunned---now I get to tell someone that. If I were using it, I would use jacketed vs cast. You mentioned another gun is not a problem---really I'd go that route.

[StarMetal]

Karen---I am very guilty of being what many consider undergunned hunting deer. I use .243 and even .22 centerfires. Both around double the velocity you will get from the 30 carbine. I think you are undergunned---now I get to tell someone that. If I were using it, I would use jacketed vs cast. You mentioned another gun is not a problem---really I'd go that route.

Ray,

I'll never accuse you of the 243 making you under gunned for deer. I thinks it's quite an excellent round for deer along with it's cousin the 6mm. My first rifle was a 243 Sako.

Karen I believe you would be better with a good jacketed soft nose for your carbine if you intend to hunt deer with it like Ray said. I'd also set the loads up to function the carbine fully because, hey, you may need a real quick follow up shot.

Joe

[beagle]

Just be careful. Using a bullet that heavy will eat up powder space so you'll have to seat pretty deep. With that dinky .30 Carbine case, you can get into pressure problems real easy with traditional loads. Even Lyman's published loads for cast, with their seating depths, are compressed except for the Unique load. Just no wiggle room in this situation. Be careful as the carbines not the strongest thing in town./beagle

[deltaenterprizes]

When I lived in the New Orleans area a couple people I knew were using 30 Carbines and SKSs to hunt wild pigs with great success with factory loads because they got good penetration.