Herco gets 30-30 barrel too hot.

[CGT80]

For lever action competition, I shoot my grandfather's deer rifle, a 1973 or so win 94 in 30-30. The barrel is short, maybe 16 inches, and it is not a heavy barrel.
I have worked my load up to 11.0 grains of herco under an noe saeco #315 180 fn gc boolit. At 10.3 grains it wasn't bad, but this load (11.0 grains) shoots great with a cold barrel and point of impact rises so much that at the end of a 10 target string, I have to aim at the base of the target, even on 18 inch tall pigs at 80 yards.

What powder would be good?

I suspect herco is too fast and heats the barrel more than a slower powder would.

Imr 4895 youth load is next on my list. I have a small amount of imr 4759, which think was discontinued. Accurate 5744 works great in mid 460 mag pistol loads. 2400 and h335/win 748 are also in my stash. Unique is another. The hotter herco loads are more consistent than lighter loads and knock targets down better. Full power j words are a huge pain in the shoulder and my body can't take heavy recoil or the noise that comes with it due to some medical issues.

Any advice is welcome. Targets are 50-110 yards right now, with the ram at 110 but the body is only 6-7 inches tall.....less than the distance from my finger tip to the back of my palm.

[Chief]

We shoot the targets at 50yds to 200yds and I have 3 loads that I like to use for this depending on what components I have on hand at the time. 10.5 Herco/185gr SAECO cast bullet, 15.5 2400/same bullet, and, 34 4831/ 180 Speer RN jacked bullet. I have no issues with the Herco load and it can knock down the 55# rams at 200 yds. the 2400 load is a bit speedier and very accurate(my shooting pard uses 12 grs successfully), and the 4831 load(50 yr old batch of powder) is a little speedier, not much but it poleaxes the rams and is not too awful with the recoil(this powder loading also works well with the Saeco mold bollit). Unique works well with the same loading as the Herco. The more volume of powder you use the hotter the barrel will get, consider that when loading. If you have plenty of time to shoot the targets, leave the action open for a few extra seconds before cycling the next round into the chamber, this will help in cooling the barrel, also holding the barrel a little more vertical will accelerate the cooling a little. Good luck

[nagantguy]

You should find something useful in the 20-24 Grandma n range of 4895; you can go lower or higher but our house load of 4895 varying by bullet weight is a humdinger on the target ; we’ve had several pass through shots on large mi whitetail and at the low 20s it’s a powder puff on the shoulders. To be totally honest I do not know if we’ve ever racked off enough of them at one time to get a barrel hot but using a similar loading in my Nagants I know I’ve shot a pile of brass and boolits at a time with H4895 and never had an issue with a hot/over heated barrel nor a sore shoulder. I will also mention that my handgun shooting mentor and training partner has a shorty 94 in 30-30 and it does seem to me to have a sharper stouter recoil impulse over my full size 94 30-30 of 1928 vintage.

[Bird]

It does not matter what powder you use, 10 consecutive shots through a 94 carbine will cause the barrel to heat up and decrease your accuracy. 4 shots or so is about the limit. By 6 shots they will really start to wander.
You can do some forend and barrel band adjustments will help a bit.
The best way to go, is a short rifle with a 20'' octagonal barrel. or a 24'' if you can handle the extra weight.
I can get 10 cast 180 grain bullets with 10 grains unique down my 24'' without loss of accuracy.

[Hannibal]

It does not matter what powder you use, 10 consecutive shots through a 94 carbine will cause the barrel to heat up and decrease your accuracy. 4 shots or so is about the limit. By 6 shots they will really start to wander.
You can do some forend and barrel band adjustments will help a bit.
The best way to go, is a short rifle with a 20'' octagonal barrel. or a 24'' if you can handle the extra weight.
I can get 10 cast 180 grain bullets with 10 grains unique down my 24'' without loss of accuracy.

Good advice here.

The only time I've witnessed someone run a full tube through a Win 94 30-30 was when the guy was shooting at a running deer and swinging up to catch it while watching the dirt fly. Finally caught up to it on the 9th round. Shot it in the *** and required a finishing shot while it was kicking and bellowing on the ground, literally.

First and last time I hunted with that SOB.

[CGT80]

I have been out of town and just got a chance to check back. Thanks for all the replies.

My shooting buddies use octagon barrels in the 20"+ length. Unfortunately, I don't do well with heavier rifles or carbines. For 3 gun, I also run a light rifle and actually use a 3 gun hold for the lever action match, vs. balancing the rifle on my palm as most shooters do.

The lighter herco loads were fine for 10-20 round strings, but that is a great point about the round barrel not being well suited for more than a few shots.

Right now we run a short distance, but in the next year may have another rifle range on the property to set rams at 200 yards and shoot the proper distances.

I figured a conservative load of 4895 would be a good shooter and with the reported results here, I will see how it does in this light barrel gun. 5744 seems to be well liked by others so it will get tested. Unique is well liked but I'm not sure if it will be much better than Herco, based on the burn rate chart.

Thanks again!