Speer 100gr "plinker" in .30-30

[Echd]

Looking for a good idea of where to start- I got a few boxes of these for $10 each and they look like just the ticket for my Contender.

I'm not sure of how fast they can go or if there is any reason to push them quickly. If there were a good load with bullseye it might be fun. I would try it with unique but I can't find any around here anymore.

[imashooter2]

I had good results with 31.0 grains of Reloder 7 in a Marlin 30AS. They didn't group worth spit until I crimped the heck out of them with a Lee FCD.

That's not exactly a Bullseye pop gun load though. As I recall it was up over 2,400 fps.

[Echd]

I would love to try that if powder pickins weren't so slim around here. 3031, 4064, 335, Bullseye, and a couple of super-slow powders that very few people use around here (like Retumbo) are all I can find. They're also all around $35 each, but the price doesn't bother me as much as the lack of selection... and online vendors are hardly better at the moment for selection...

[TXGunNut]

I had some fun with that bullet in a 30-06 many years ago but I must confess I didn't charge the cases with a plinker load. ;-) BE is a pretty fast powder and I'd be a little hesitant to put it in a case as large as the 30-30. Got anything slower? Hard to go wrong with a pound of 3031 if you have a 30-30 to feed.

[JWFilips]

Looking for a good idea of where to start- I got a few boxes of these for $10 each and they look like just the ticket for my Contender.

I'm not sure of how fast they can go or if there is any reason to push them quickly. If there were a good load with bullseye it might be fun. I would try it with unique but I can't find any around here anymore.

I'm using 3 gr Bullseye in my 30-30 marlin 336 with a 90 grain Lee cast boolit probably about 800 fps. Groups pretty good at 50 yds

[Lonegun1894]

I went through a few boxes of those in .30-30, .308W, and .30-06 back before I started casting, and used around 5grs of either BE or Unique in any of those cases. Mostly used them for punching paper long enough to get sighted in and then to take a few rabbits with. They make a decent small game bullet, but you will have to experiment a bit cause if they're moving too slow, they just pencil on through, but get explosive and ruin meat if driven too fast.

Yes, BE and Unique are both faster than the usual powders used in a .30-30, but in small amounts, they can be used safely and effectively. Just remember than there is a fine line. For what it's worth, I use a 150gr LEE FNGC on top of 2.7grs BE in a .30-30 Marlin 336 for quiet close range loads, but have gone up to 12.0grs on Unique with a Lee 170gr FNGC in the same rifle without any pressure signs, but I wasn't really trying to push things to the max with any of these loads. With your 100gr bullet, I would start at around 4.0grs BE and SLOWLY work up, remembering that this is a small game bullet at best so focus on accuracy and don't go chasing high velocities.

[popper]

I used the Hornadys version with unique. Using jacketed sizer, I got radial neck splits at the bottom of the half jacket. Fun to shoot, no recoil, not very accurate. Still have a couple boxes but you gave me an idea, cup makes a good bore cleaner.

[dg31872]

Been shooting that slug in 30-30 for over 50 years with light load of Unique. A lot of armadillos have fallen to that slug.

[smilin jack]

My daughter has shot of few of the Speer "100 gr Plinkers" in the 30-30 Handi Rifle and liked them OK. My son likes them in my 30-06 Ruger 77, pushed very fast. We got several rock chucks at long range with them. Nice boolit, even with the "gas check base".

I haven't found any for sale in several years and my supply is about gone.

Dave

[rsrocket1]

The 110g .308 plated bullets from Xtreme worked very well for me in .308 before I started casting for myself with the C309-113-F. 10g of anything faster than Power Pistol works great in .308 and will work even better with a little less in 30-30. 7g Bullseye should get you about 1600 fps with those Speer bullets in a 20" barrel with a very mild recoil and a good clean burn. Well at least about as clean as Bullseye can get. :)

Good luck

[w30wcf]

Here's a target fired with the Hornady 1/2 jacket which is the same as the Speer except that the forward portion is more pointed.
Velocity is close to 1500 f.p.s.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o25/w30wcf/target336AHornadySJ.jpg

w30wcf