30-30 Round Nose

[JudgeBAC]

How round does the nose need to be on a cast boolit for a 30-30 lever gun to avoid potential detonation of the rounds in the magazine?

[Buckshot]

How round does the nose need to be on a cast boolit for a 30-30 lever gun to avoid potential detonation of the rounds in the magazine?

..............Actually a flat is better. It's a matter of spreading the rebound force of the cartridges in the magazine, to have the boolit's nose bear pretty much across the entire width of the primer. Even a round nose of max radius (~.154") will still concentrate it's impact force against a much smaller area if it does impact the primer perfectly 'dead on'.

................Buckshot

[Gerry N.]

..............Actually a flat is better. It's a matter of spreading the rebound force of the cartridges in the magazine, to have the boolit's nose bear pretty much across the entire width of the primer. Even a round nose of max radius (~.154") will still concentrate it's impact force against a much smaller area if it does impact the primer perfectly 'dead on'.

................Buckshot


On the other hand, the 311291, a round nose boolit, has been considered more or less the standard cast boolit for .30-30 lever rifles since before WWI.

Sometimes we allow "Perfect" to be the enemy of "Good Enough".

Gerry N.

[w30wcf]

JudgeBAC,
If you line up two .30-30 rounds on a table, you will see that the nose does not line up directly on the primer so a round nosed bullet is no issue. At one time, full patch round nosed .30-30 ammunition was available from the factory.

As Gerry N, indicated the 311291 round nosed cast bullet was designed especially for the .30-30. It dates back to 1906.

w30wcf

[Larry Gibson]

FYI

Issue ammo for many police agencies that carried M94 30-30s a few years back was RNFMJ (Winchester Western 170 gr MC). I've shot several hundred of the RN FMJs through several M94s when we discontinued carrying the M94s back in '74. No one else wanted the ammo so I took all we had at the station. The OSP firearms instructor gave me the ammo when he brought the new shotguns. I'd asked him if there'd ever been a problem with the RN FMJs in the magazine. He said OSP had probably fired thousands of those very rounds through all the M94s across the state since the mid '30s and never had a single problem. He knew of many other agencies that carried the same ammo and never had any problems. He attributed the then "new" idea to never use RNs as a myth generated by a couple gun magazine articles. He said if it was dangerous with the 30-30 the police angencies would have discovered the problem given the amount of ammo they shot vs what any civilians shot. He said there might be a problem in the harder recoiling M71 .348 if someone make the RNFMJ for it but since thy didn't there wasn't a problem other than in someone's head.

As has been stated the 311291 has been the quintisentual 30-30 cast bullet for close to a century. I along with thousands of others have shot who knows how many though M94/M336's without any problems. The original warning was no spitzer or pointed bullets in the magazine tubes. Some how "spitzer" has come to include RNs also. Such is the force of the printed word in gun rags and on the internet. RNs are fine in tube fed 30-30s, always have been and always will be.

Larry Gibson

[Boerrancher]

I use the Lee C309-180-R all the time in my 30-30. I am sure that there have been instances of pointed nosed bullets causing detonation in the tube, but like was pointed out if you line them up on your table top the nose will be nowhere in contact with the primer.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[Gerry N.]

Aren't Federal and Remington .30-30's round nosed? I bought some Hansen, now PRVI Partisan .30-30 ammo some years back and I remember it too, having round nosed bullets. All the bullet makers sell 150 and 170 grain round nosed j-word projectiles specifically for .30-30.

This morning I cast up a pile of Lee C130-1R boolits out of WW. Before beddy-bye tonight I'll tumble 'em in Mule Snot, So I can load 'em up in the AM and go to the range. I have an urge to try 'em in my shiny "new" .30-30 Topper. Yep, I'm definitely falling back in love with the .30-30.

Gerry N.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I've fired squillions of 38s with 158Gn RN Lead boolits, case I have boxes of them loaded up. Worked fine, mind you I was a bit leery of putting my hand too close to the action and kept it well forward for the first few hundred. In fact that is what I am shooting in my el cheapo Rossi 38/357 in my avitar.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I forgot, I gave a lot of them a tap on the nose with a hammer to cause a FN, but figured that I had fired so many that were already loaded it would be ok.

[corvette8n]

I have a box of Hornady round nose j-words given to me by a friend who retired and moved away, He shot thousands of rounds in competition, loaded with black powder, he never had a problem with his Win 94.

[northmn]

I flatten the nose on a 30-30 bullet I use but it helps in overall length. Some claim a flat nose gives better expansion, but even that I wonder about. I used a blunt round nose in my 303 Brit to take a deer (A Lee 1R bullet) and there was definitely no expansion problem. Some claim that spitzers expand as well as round nose in jacketed bullets. Likely at higher velocities. I have continued to flatten the nose on my 30-30 load mostly because it does help in OAL and because it works and I hate to fix it.

Northmn