Experimenting with NOE 247 gr 300 Whisper boolit in a 30-30 Win 94

[wellfedirishman]

Recently I picked up one of the excellent NOE 247 gr .311 caliber molds to use with a 300 Whisper AR-15.

I cast a bunch up and just for kicks started experimenting with them in a Winchester 94 in 30-30.

These are some nice looking 'Cruise Missile' style boolits (boolit photo courtesy of Swede Nelson I believe).

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm138/wellfedirishman/RangeReports/311247GrFNWhisper006.jpg

I cast the boolit up from a medium hardness WW mix, probably about 1:1 WW to Pb. I tumble lubed it twice (unsized) in homemade JPW lube. I seated them to an OAL of about 2.52", so there was a considerable portion of the boolit deep inside the case past the shoulder.

Using Trailboss (my favorite cast boolit powder by far) I worked up loads for 7, 8, 9, and 10 grains with this boolit, and shot them out of a 20" barrel Winchester 1894 30-30, with a 1/12 twist rate. I was initially skeptical that this twist could stabilize such a heavy boolit.

Results below. It was too dark to use my chrony so I don't have any muzzle velocity (MV) figures, hopefully I can update this post with some later.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm138/wellfedirishman/RangeReports/30-30247grTrailbossresults.jpg

These groups were all shot with iron sights at 25 yards off sandbags. With a scope I am sure they would be tighter. For reference, these are 6" sandwich plates, with a 1.5" black Shoot-N-C dot stuck on.

The best result was with a load of 9 gr of Trailboss, my first 6 shots went into a single ragged hole the size of a dime, then the next 4 widened it out a little. The other groups have fewer shots as I saved some rounds to test velocity later.

7 grains of Trailboss was insufficient to stabilize the bullet, as it was yawing slightly entering the paper. 8 grains was better, and 9 grains was just right.

With 9 grains, the recoil was light. I am fairly sure that load was just subsonic, as there was no noticable 'crack' sound. The 10 grain load was considerably louder (and a bit less accurate with one keyhole apparently), with a bit more recoil.

Next time, I will dial the sights in for a 9 grain load and get some chrony figures to see what MVs I am getting.

What is interesting with this load is the retained energy as it reaches out. Assuming (without chrony data) a velocity of 1050 fps and BC of 0.5, the energy figures look like:

yds ft-lbs FPS
0 605 1050
50 577 1026
100 552 1004
150 530 983
200 511 965
250 492 947

I am guestimating the BC, so velocity/energy may be off a bit here.

Note, these loads were used in my modern (1970s vintage) rifle without any pressure signs, problems extracting, or other red flags. Recoil was quite mild (far less than factory loads). However, use this data at your own risk.

Anyone else try this boolit in a levergun?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Sold all my 30-30´s or turned them into something else ..
But bought one myself to play with in Interarms Mark X 30-06 with a 1-10 twist.... has a hammered twist barrel. Thought it would be a dandy under 50 yard big critter thumper.
Mike in Peru

[wellfedirishman]

Bill, I did not use any gas checks.

[wellfedirishman]

Update with chrony figures, all velocities from a 20 inch barrel.
7 grains Trailboss = 900 fps
8 grains = 940 fps
9 grains = 1025 fps, subsonic.
10 grains = 1100 fps, supersonic and louder.

The 9 grain load is accurate enough to consistently ring a 9 inch gong at 100 yards with iron sights.

I had no leading whatsoever using plain base boolits tumble lubed with JPW/alox lube.

[chrispy]

I like the 'knife edge' entry with the ten grain TB load!! Looks promising.

[wellfedirishman]

I like the 'knife edge' entry with the ten grain TB load!! Looks promising.

Yes that knife edge was the new high-tech hunting bullet I am developing :-) No expansion required.

I am guessing there was a low powder charge load in that round and hence poor stabiity.

I shot about 50 rounds of the 9 grain load yesterday and had good hunting / steel plate accuracy at 100 yards with this load.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I like that boolit alot! I can see a variety of uses for it.

I feel a need to have this mould if it ever comes up.

Seems alot like throwing a javelin at something. I doubt penetration will be a issue.

Randy

[heathydee]

Thanks for the write-up on that long boolit . Good news that it will stabilize in the Winchester . I have long believed that a heavy for caliber cast boolit will stabilize at low velocities . I currently have Lee 30 caliber 200 grainers leaving a 1 in 13 twist barrel at 1000fps and shooting near MOA on a good day.
An upcoming project is a 250 gn plus flat pointed paper patched boolit which I am sure will stabilize in a 1 in 10 twist 30-06 at sub-sonic velocities .
Your write-up has given me a deal of encouragement.
Heath

[Junior1942]

I'm betting that bullet would work fine in a Mosin-Nagant.

[greywuuf]

DANG IT!
this weekend FOR SURE I have to trim some brass back and get some of these run through my FN/FAL

Anyone recoverd any of these from anything yet? I am curious what that big ole HP is capable of, though I half expect a destabilized tumbling bullet of that length to be more impresive damage wise andyway ( yes there are issue's with it going where its intended when that happens, but I dont think it is realy a dangerous game bullet at subsonic velocities anyway)

[castblaster]

I'm trying to get a rerun of this mold started here.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=132362

I missed the first one




Matt Hooper

[Alferd Packer]

old posting but the only one I stumbled upon using this bullet in 30/30.
Trying to revive interest in the 247 grainers even though lead, formerly common as dirt, has become so hard to find.
To the top!
Anyone shooting this in 30/30?

[0verkill]

I've bought the similar Lee mould recently and thought about trying this if I ever get around to casting with it.