Plinking Loads for 30-30. Use Filler?

[hunter64]

I would like some light <1800 fps plinking loads for the 30-30 and I have read about various light loads with 12 Grn of Unique or 10 grn. of Blue Dot or 10 Grn of Herco etc. I put in 12 grn of Unique in the case and it hardly is any powder at all. Do I need to use some filler like corn meal or something to at least get the case 3/4 full? I have visions of having to hold the rifle up and then slowly bringing down to level before I can fire it.

[Dale53]

I see little need for a filler with the correct loads. This is directly off Hodgdon's web site Data Center:

160 GR. CAST LFN 160 H4895 .308" 2.485" 17.5 1351 15,200 CUP 21.0 1562 23,100 CUP
160 GR. CAST LFN 160 H4198 .308" 2.485" 15.0 1420 15,000 CUP 17.0 1616 20,600 CUP
160 GR. CAST LFN 160 Trail Boss .308" 2.485" 6.5 997 20,500 CUP 9.0 1195 29,100 CUP

Dale53

[racepres]

I would like some light <1800 fps plinking loads for the 30-30 and I have read about various light loads with 12 Grn of Unique or 10 grn. of Blue Dot or 10 Grn of Herco etc. I put in 12 grn of Unique in the case and it hardly is any powder at all. Do I need to use some filler like corn meal or something to at least get the case 3/4 full? I have visions of having to hold the rifle up and then slowly bringing down to level before I can fire it.

I have used those loads [esp. the unique one] for years.. no fillers, Generally they shoot better than me, w/o having to position the powder! HTH.. MV

[Newtire]

I have used those loads [esp. the unique one] for years.. no fillers, Generally they shoot better than me, w/o having to position the powder! HTH.. MV

Amen on the above.

[Throckmorton]

I"ve had good success also using no fillers with my plinking loads.
sure saves on powder,and fun ta boot.

[35remington]

hunter64, you're contemplating the wrong filler in the wrong application.

Mostly incompressible filler like corn meal, IMO, should be avoided in a bottleneck case. You're wedging it from a larger volume into a smaller one on firing - "bottleneck" is apt in describing what is happening. This would probably be the most pressure boosting of all the filler applications, again, IMO.

When using filler, 3/4 full defeats the purpose. A shake or two and you've got a hang or misfiring load as the powder and filler will intermix. If filler is used it should be employed so that powder and filler will never combine due to rough handling, or even normal handling.

Try the loads without filler first and see how they do. Unique does pretty well with airspace in the case as it ignites easily. If you want to try filler, research its proper use as advised on this board. Many threads on the subject. Read 'em and make up your own mind about how to proceed.

[ebner glocken]

I've had good luck with 8 gr of red dot, no filler, 170 gr lee.

[Chuck 100 yd]

170 gr.cast over 18.0 IMR4198 is a super accurate load. Also good loads can be had with TrailBoss.

[hunter64]

Thanks guys for the input, I have lots of Unique and Trailboss. I have the week off so I am going to do some loading and we will see how things go.

[corvette8n]

I've use 8.0 gr of Unique in both 30-30 and .32 WS
like shooting a .22 of course these are just plinking loads to test out function at fifty yards.
I loaded and shot 100 rounds of 30-30 in one outing.

[NickSS]

I have shot hundreds of 173 gr Lyman and 170 gr Lee boolits in a 30-30 using either 8 gr of red dot or 9 gr of Unique with good accuracy out to 200 yards. In fact they are supirior to condum bullets in the same rifle accuracy wise. Another load that I have litterally shot thousands of is 7 Gr of Unique and a Lyman 31108 32-20 bullet in a 30-30. It is a great plinking load and shounds like a 22 short going off. It works very well for elimination of racoons, badgers and other animals around the house. I even got a Coyote with one of them at about 20 yards range.

[hunter64]

Well I headed to the range today to do some testing and some plinking. I loaded up my 30-30 with the Lee 160 grn sized to 309 ( I slugged the barrel and it was .308 , did it twice to make sure) and NRA lube and for good measure a dunking in Lee Liquid Lube. Tried Trail boss, loved how it metered and filled the case so no possible chance of a double charge, problem is the rifle didn't like it. Best group I got at 100 yards was 6" and that is with 10 shots. I tried Unique and right away with my first trial I got 3" with 8 grn. My best group was a hair under 2" for 10 shots and no flyer's with 9.5 grn of Unique. All cases were primed with WLR primers, slightly flared at the mouth and then I used the Lee Crimp die to finish them off. Hardly any recoil at all and lots of fun. I was worried about not igniting the Unique with such a low amount of powder and a huge case but all ignited just fine. Double checked to make sure there were no double charges before I seated the bullet. There was no evidence of leading and I am really happy with the results, I can plink with the Winchester cheaper than I can with my .44 magnum, just takes longer to load as all.