Wanted 30/30 plinker loads for kids

[wiljen]

I tried 10gr of Unique with the 311407 and found it to be a pleasant, but not substantially reduced load. I am looking for something a 9 year old can shoot with basically no recoil. I was wondering about 5-6gr of bullseye and a pistol primer. Any thoughts on seriously reduced loads?

[corvette8n]

I've used 8gr of Unique and the 150gr fngc frm Lee

[Junior1942]

Try round balls. See http://www.castbullet.com/shooting/rb30.htm

[KCSO]

I used a 32 apc bullet of 71 to 90 grains and 4.0 of Unique or 3.5 or Red Dot. From a rifle case this is about 750 Fps and is almost silent. These will shoot into 3/4" at 25 yards and should hit about ON at that distance if the rifle is sighted for regular loads at 100 yards.

[DanWalker]

I loaded the LEE 150 gr 30 cal gc boolit over 2 .5cc scoops of Unique for my nephew to shoot in his Savage 340.

[Junior1942]

I used a 32 apc bullet of 71 to 90 grains and 4.0 of Unique or 3.5 or Red Dot. From a rifle case this is about 750 Fps and is almost silent. These will shoot into 3/4" at 25 yards and should hit about ON at that distance if the rifle is sighted for regular loads at 100 yards.I just tried one round of this with a .309" resized 115 gr Laser-Cast and .5cc/4 grs of Unique, and it hit the ant hill at which I aimed at 30 yards. About as loud as a 22lr. It also fed from the action. I'll do some more work with this!

[grumpy one]

I use 7-8 grains of Universal (Unique should give the same results) behind a Lyman 311255, which is a 119 grain plain-base. It groups into 1.2 inches at 55 yards if all goes well. Other PB bullets of the same weight should do much the same. I have also found that 5-7 grains of W231 behind the same bullet groups into 1.5-1.6 inches at 55 yards, on a good day. (I seem to see some variability with these plinker loads - might be a bullet hardness issue; I've been using 12-14 BHN).

In my 20" Marlin 336 these loads have more recoil than a 22 rimfire but way, way less than a 1700 fps target load from the 30-30. I don't think they would hurt the average 8 year old, or frighten him/her either. They do give a feeling of the rifle pushing back toward the shooter's shoulder, which (provided it doesn't hurt of course) is IMO a useful part of learning to shoot.

[Chuck 100 yd]

150-180 gr cast and 6.5 gr Trail Boss. Super soft, clean burning,and accurate.:-D

[srayc]

140 gr NEI boolit and 8.5 gr Unique for a very mild and accurate load.

[pumpguy]

311041 in front of 6.0 grains of Red Dot. My then 9 year old daughter shot it and loved shooting "the big gun."

[johnly]

My favorite is the Saeco 120 gr. RN GC sized 309" and launched with Trail Boss.

Not that I've tried it, but I don't link that you can overload this bullet & powder combination.

John

[NickSS]

I have loaded thousands of plinking rounds for myself and kids using a Lyman 31108 115 gr flat point plain base boolit. Most were loaded with 6 gr of Red Dot or 7 gr of Unique. They sound like a 22 lr going off and are about as powerful as a factory 32-20 round. I have killed numerous critters with this load including Racoon, coyote, rabbits and squirrels. Works well out to 100 yards or so giving around 2 inch groups in my 336 Marlin. All my kids started shooting this load when they were 5 and I never had a complaint about recoil or noise. I recently gave the extra butt stock I had cut down to kids size so that they could shoulder the rifle.

[jlchucker]

My brother just recently tried loading the 311008 Lyman bullet, sized 312, over 8.5 grains Unique and found it to be a great plinking load with virtually no recoil. He lives close to M & P Cast Bullets and buys his components from them. He said that although this was his first box of ammo loaded with this combination, he says he's found his plinking and small game load.

[Larry Gibson]

Lee' TL314-90-SWC or the Hornady swaged 90 gr SWC .32 bullets over 2.7 gr Bullseye for 800 fps or so. Run them through a .311 sizer for the 30-30. Makes a really nice plinking and smal game load. About like a .22LR recoil wise with seeming less noise.

Larry Gibson

[ebner glocken]

6.0 gr of red dot behind a 170 grain lee. Never killed a thing with it but have banged plenty of plates with it. Low noise and non existant recoil. Shoots pretty well through winchesters and marlins.

Ebner

[Rustyleee]

I read Junior's story on his website and got inspired some time back. I wanted something as quiet as an air rifle for shooting around the home place. Not that I can't shoot here, I just don't want some of the neighbors to realize hey there's s lot of gunfire coming from over there and put 2 and 2 together. So the idea is to keep a low profile.
I used the .311 RB's from Hornady but starting from the bottom end I took 5 .30-30 cases and enlarged the flash holes. When primed with a magnum rifle primer three of them cam out of the barrel, but just barely hit the bottom of the paper at 25 yards. The 4th round stuck in the barrel and had to be drive out with a cleaning rod. This was with no powder and what might have been the biggest problem, no lube of any kind. I'll try again with the same combination and a drop of Lee Alox on top of each ball and see if that changes the results any.

[woody1]

I shoot most any boolit from the 70's up to about 120 grains with 3.1 grains of Bullseye using fireformed cases with enlarged flashholes. Also round balls with same load and cases. It seemed to me that I get better consistency using large rifle magnum primers (Winchester)/. Next load up the ladder is 115-120's using 7.4 grains Green Dot or 8 grains of Unique. Either load should be OK for kids providing they can hold the rifle. Regards, Woody