Pressures in Winchester model 94

[CyberPirate]

ok, sorry if this has been covered in another thread, but here goes, I am the proud owner of a post 64 winchester model 94 in 30-30 caliber, its a 67 to be exact, bought it used, a few dings a little light rust which im working to remove, my question is in everyones opinon what is a good pressure threshold to maximize gun life and will give the most number of case reloadings, in other words what pressure would you consider to be optimal for the gun and cases to last the longest? I am asking this because i want to be able to hand this gun down to my son, but still be able to plink with it and use it for fairly short range woods deer hunting. Thank you for anyones opinon in either PSI or CUP since I have manuals listing both,

Thanks,

CyberPirate

[Scharfschuetze]

Cyber,

Will you be loading for hunting, plinking or target shooting and will you be using jacketed bullets or cast boolits? I've loaded for the 30/30 from pipsqueak loads small game loads with 110 grain cast bullets to 170 grain jacketed bullets for hunting deer. It covers quite a bit of territory pressure wise and the 30/30 does pretty well over that spectrum, although it is not an action that can take the pressures that modern rounds are designed to operate at.

For the maximum life of your barrel, moderate loads with cast bullets will ensure that your son passes this rifle down to his son.

My favorite cast bullet for the 30/30 is the Lyman 31141 GC boolit loaded to around 1600 fps It's great for kids and plinking at targets of oportunity and holds its accuracy well out to 200 yards. I wouldn't personally use this load for deer, but others here will argue that point. Your rifle will last forever with a similar load.

[CyberPirate]

Im hoping to shoot cast, I have the Lee .308 flat nose 170 grain mold, and a ample supply of wheel weights, plus a good chunk of pure lead, I already cast for my .45, and ill be plinking and hunting with this gun. thank you for the reply.

CyberPirate

[Scharfschuetze]

Cyber,

Your Lee 170 grain cast boolit is about the same weight wise as the Lyman 31141 that I use.

My load is:

Bullet: Lyman 31141 sized to .309 with Hornady gas checks cast to about Lyman No 2 hardness or a commercially cast of a harder alloy
Cases: Winchester with a moderate crimp
Primers: Remington 9 1/2 LR
COAL: 2.532"
Powder: 15 grains of IMR SR 4759. No filler

Velocity: 1615 fps, ES 18, SD 7.3 for an 8 shot string

I have no idea what the pressure is, but it isn't much and accuracy is everything that you could want out to 200 yards in a couple Marlins and Winchesters.

[ShooterAZ]

The 30-30 is not a high pressure cartridge. I believe the real limiting factor is your brass. 30-30 brass is relatively thin, compared to a 308 Win case. I am shooting the same exact boolit as you (Lee C309-170F) in my 94. For plinking loads I shoot it with 9 grains of Unique, or 8 grains of Red Dot. Very accurate and pleasant to shoot! 16 grains of 2400 would be a mid-range very accurate load. For hunting, I try to go to 2000 fps +/-. I won't mention the load, because you will need to work up to it. The powder is either IMR4198, AA5744, or IMR3031 for my hunting level loads. Brass life will be much better with the lighter loads. Don't use CUP for determining your Load! For example, IMR4198 will give higher velocities, with a lower CUP than some other powders. I suggest that if you are really going to get into casting, that you buy the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. It is a wealth of good info, as is this site.

[35remington]

The limiting factor isn't just the brass......it's mostly the rifle. When pressures exceed a certain level the bolt moves rearward with the case head and the brass thins, leading to case separations. The higher the pressure, the shorter the case life. Loads that would give long life in a bolt action rifle will give shorter life in a rear locking lever even using the same case.

Easy to prolong case life. Load to or below what the manuals say, preferably below. Forget the "CUP" measurement as they're essentially nonsensical these days. Just load to moderate levels.

[ShooterAZ]

The limiting factor isn't just the brass......it's mostly the rifle. When pressures exceed a certain level the bolt moves rearward with the case head and the brass thins, leading to case separations. The higher the pressure, the shorter the case life. Loads that would give long life in a bolt action rifle will give shorter life in a rear locking lever even using the same case.

Easy to prolong case life. Load to or below what the manuals say, preferably below. Forget the "CUP" measurement as they're essentially nonsensical these days. Just load to moderate levels.

Very true, it is both the rifle and the brass strength. Please don't try to "hot rod" the old 30-30. Yeah, you can get to 2200 fps+...but you are way better off to stay between 1800-2000 max for hunting. 15-16 fps is where you want to be for the best accuracy IMHO.