Son's 336, replacement for 170 grain Sierra Pro-Hunter FP?

[huntinlever]

Going to start to reload my son's 30-30. Previous load of 28.5 grain IMR 3031 and 170 grain Sierra Pro-Hunter Bullets JFN was great. Basically was aping Core Lokt's IIRC.

Not sure of the status of the Sierra's, so looking for alternatives in 170 grain flat nosed.

Open btw to other powders. Sierra's own recommendation gave me a good load with the same bullet, 29.4 grains H322, avg. velocity 2158, ES 24, SD 11. Don't have chrony notes but my notes indicate 29.0 grains IMR 4064 performed nicely as well.

[RickinTN]

If you want to stick with a jacketed load any of the other manufacturers 170 grain flat or round nose should work well. Ammoseek.com would be a place to look and see if any retailer has your Sierra bullets.
Good Luck to you!
Rick

[Pereira]

I've had good luck with 29.2 grs of 3031 under the Sierra 170's as well as Speer's. That's in 3 different marlins.
Luckily, I have 5+ boxes of the Sierra's, so I'm in good shape for a while.
Hornady has a 170gr pill that looks a lot like the Sierra's but I haven't tried any.
Someone a few days ago, was saying that Tac was a solid replacement for 3031. But I haven't looked it up myself.

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[Shawlerbrook]

The Speer 170’s hot cor.

[Texas by God]

Grafs has 150 gr flat nose PPU and Hornady 150 gr flat nose but I didn’t see any 170 gr.
A 150gr shoots through a deer just like a 170 gr in my experience. Good luck in your search.


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[huntinlever]

Thanks a lot guys - picked up the RCBS set and shell holder, LFCD, and the Hornady 170's - agree Pereira they do look a lot like the Sierra's to me. On the hunt for powder and we're ready to roll. Thanks again.

Edit: Grabbed up a pound of IMR 3031.

[FergusonTO35]

30 grains IMR 4064 under a Hornady 170 or 32 under a 150. All my rifles like it and Hornady slugs are (relatively) cheap and easy to find. I love Sierras but not paying $10.00 more a box. 3031 is also a good choice. I'm getting into H335 because it's cheaper and easy to find in my area. Really like it so far. Meters great, modest charge weights, and superb accuracy.

[Scorpion8]

The Speer 170’s hot cor.

MidwayUSA had them back in stock last night.

[Mk42gunner]

Reloader 15 worked pretty well with Hornady 170's for me.

But I have always been more of a fan of the 150's in factory fodder for the .30-30. Federal used to make a 125 JHP that did well on Missouri Whitetail.

Speer also used to make (Meaning I don't know if it is still available) a 130 gr FP that I always thought would work pretty good.

Robert

[huntinlever]

Reloader 15 worked pretty well with Hornady 170's for me.

But I have always been more of a fan of the 150's in factory fodder for the .30-30. Federal used to make a 125 JHP that did well on Missouri Whitetail.

Speer also used to make (Meaning I don't know if it is still available) a 130 gr FP that I always thought would work pretty good.

Robert

Thanks. Not sure what happened but I'd thought I'd bought the 170's. Flurry lately of getting dies and components and must have missed it. Just bought the 150's Hot Cor. Both 150's and 170's have done great.

[sigep1764]

NOE has a 165 grain hollow point mold I use. 748 has been great with it. I think TexasByGod gave me the loading, but he used a Lee boolit.

[Bigslug]

If you can find Leverevolution, it safely boosts your velocity just like Hodgdon says.

I believe the 31-170EN was what my Dad had Tom at Accurate Molds cook up for his 336, and it's worked extremely well as his practice bullet (we have to hunt with copper here). If you aren't casting for the .30-30 yet, you should - the long neck and peak velocity make for a nearly perfect round for it.

[huntinlever]

Thanks guys. I'll slug the bore at some point as it cries out for CB, but he loves his jacketed FP's like the Sierras. Did buy some of the Speer 150's, getting him going on those. Neither one of us are too fond of the LeverRevolutions, not exactly sure why.

[Bigslug]

Not necessarily the bullet or the factory ammo, but rather the powder.

[huntinlever]

Not necessarily the bullet or the factory ammo, but rather the powder.

Interesting, thanks. On my 45-70, same LeverRevolution "sting" recoil v. "smack," stronger but duller, more pleasant, even when the recoil (425 grain over 39.7 Grain IMR 4198) is considerably more. Don't know enough about the "rocket" effect of different powders.

[Bigslug]

With 400-plus grain .45-70 in field weight rifles, I've found it's a matter of "pain begins at 1600 fps" than anything else.

For the .30-30, the Keebler Elves at Hodgdon have keyed into the ideal burn and expansion rate for these 30 to 40 (ish) grain capacity cartridges, and 20 (ish) inch barrels, and you can pick up a bit over 100 (ish) fps over older load data at same pressure levels.

My dad's got various joint issues that prevent him from quickly lifting the handle on a bolt action, but he can still run a lever, so flattening the trajectories of what he can operate has been a priority. Leverevolution plus the 140 grain Hornady Monoflex gets him to point-and-click for about 200 yards.

But what really impressed me about the powder was that it delivered a mind-bogglingly consistent progression of velocity increase from round to round as we did our ladder test over the chronograph. If you graphed it, the line would be almost ruler-straight as opposed to the more common plateau with a jump to the next plateau. GOOD stuff!