Nice little 30-06 rabbit load.........

[3006guns]

I was bored yesterday, so I warmed up the loading bench and started experimenting with "mouse fart" loads for my 1903a3. Powder was Unique, 4.6 grains (per a Lee .5 cc scoop) topped off with a 100 grain 32-20 pistol boolit, sized to .313. Brass was full length resized and the neck opened up with a Lyman M die to .311 with a gentle flare. Boolits were then seated and the neck closed just enough that it was straight....no crimp.

Now, most of us shoot cast because of the cost reduction and the accuracy challenge. So do I, but I was trying to cut everything down to the bare minimum, just for fun. And brother, these little loads are fun!

The report was above what I'd call a "mouse fart", more like a muffled .32 pistol and ear protection really isn't required. Recoil was non existent, in fact I think I'll have my 6 year old grand daughter shoot a few. Although I didn't set up a paper target, with the sights at 500 yards (or so) I could easily plink bits of rock at 100 yards..........and do it all day.

Try it!

[charlie b]

LOL another convert!

They are a hoot. Even more fun is to shoot a little group with them. For a challenge I try to hit soda cans at 200yd. Makes you pay attention to even a slight breeze.

[3006guns]

Hey, that DOES sound like fun! I have another handful of brass in the tumbler right now and will load more tonight. The reason I called it a "rabbit load" is that I live right on the Nevada border and jack rabbits are plentiful and require no license to hunt. Nasty things anyway, so the more that are eradicated, the better.

[fiberoptik]

May have to try them in my Mosin & 03A3. Been looking for the Lee TL314-90 mould to no avail. Knew a guy in Yuma who would kill jacks, skin them with latex gloves on & pressure cook them till the meat fell off the bones . Said they made good tacos .


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[Bad Ass Wallace]

My "MF" load for my 308 is either a 110gn cast boolit or a 71gn 'J' pistol boolit over 8gn of Redot!

[Gewehr-Guy]

Wish I could help with shooting those jacks, that and hunting gophers was what I lived for growing up in South Dakota. Now jacks are rare around here, haven't shot one in years. Yeah, mouse fart loads are a hoot to shoot,and if accurate, are a practical small game load. Also a good way to shoot up those old partial cans of shotgun powders that people give you.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

You might check that your brass doesn't shorten/have the shoulder pushed back by firing pin strike. Drilling the flash hole can prevent this. There are multiple discussions about brass shoulder movement and drilling/enlarging the flash hole to prevent on this forum. The light loads do make shooting more fun. If recoil makes you feel tough, have a good time, reducing recoil to allow better/more accurate shooting is still being chased. You should separate the cases used for very mild loads to avoid possible case head separations if the shoulder does move.

[Wilderness]

I load "squibs" in .30-30 with 115 gn and 163 gn bullets and in .32-40 with 120 gn bullets, both to 1050 fps (per chronograph). The .30-30 requires 5 gns Unique/AP70/Universal for 115 gn and 5.5 for 163 gn, and the .32-40 requires 5.5 gns. Both .30-30 loads shoot under 1" for 5 shots at 50 meters in my 1949 Marlin 336A, and on a still day can do around 4" at 200 meters. The .32-40 loads have done close to the inch at 50 m for 10 shots. Avoiding the transonic, i.e. starting subsonic, seemingly ensures groups don't go to pieces at distance.

The 115 gn .30-30 subsonics work just fine on the LAS chickens, and the 163 gn subsonics (5.5 gns Unique) get the pigs and turkeys over, though sometimes in slow motion.

Squibs are best loaded with SOFT lead bullets. A friend tried some .30-30s with 150 gn copper plated Berry bullets and had multiple instances of bullets stuck in the barrel.

[Three44s]

A rimmed cartridge such as the 30-30 etc would preclude the shoulder being pushed back.

Three44s

[Larry Gibson]

Shoulder set back (cartridge headspace) with a rimmed cartridge in a CRF rifle such as the OPs M1903A3 isn't a real problem as the case will only set back as much as the extractor allows. It is with PF (push feed) actions where shoulder set back can be a problem.

Drilling out the flash hole with a #28 or #30 drill will alleviate shoulder set back entirely. Drilling out the flash holes will not be dangerous nor increase pressure if a full load is inadvertently used.

[3006guns]

Thanks Larry & MostlyLeverGuns..........I had forgotten about enlarging the flash holes. I just processed a bunch of brass for reloading tomorrow and will follow the advice.

Fortunately, I live in an area where 'Le Jaques Rabbeets are plentiful. After reading about some of the diseases they can carry though, I'll leave them to the coyotes........

[charlie b]

Yep, drill the flash holes. The nice thing is they seem to shoot better that way as well. I can get some low extreme spread numbers with modified brass.

Jackrabbits. Used to hunt them a lot on the in-laws property. Used everything from .22 (Stingers) to .30-06 and 12ga. They lived in the same area as Skeeter Skelton. He wrote a story once about growing up in the midwest(?) and making money by shooting cottontails. One .22 per meant a 'profit' of several cents per rabbit. They moved out west and he found that it usually took more than one round to hit/kill one jackrabbit (they are skittish, fast, and tough). He started losing money at the game. IIRC the story went to that's how he started casting and reloading. Father-in-law met him a few times. They had common friends in the customs office.

[Rich/WIS]

Use 5 grs of Bullseye and a 122 gr bullet in my 03A3 and 30/40. Lots of fun, minimal noise and recoil, and cheap to shoot. Used to bring box of 50 06 with me to the club I belonged to in WI and invariably there would be a dad with a kid too small to handle full power loads in dad's rifle. Stood shotshell hulls up at 25 yards and the kids had no problem knocking them down with just about every shot. Think I enjoyed it as much as the kids did.

Drilled the flash hole in the 06, but not needed in the 30/40 rimmed case.

[3006guns]

Nothing to do with my original posting, but.....

The black tail jack rabbits we have in this area are technically NOT rabbits.........they are a hare, as found in Europe. The difference? Primarily in the way their young are born. Cottontails (or bush bunnies as I call them) give birth to their kits, who are blind and hairless at birth. They are completely defenseless and the Momma rabbit nurtures them for many days, teaching them about hiding, eating, etc. Frankly, I consider cottontails "cute" and would only shoot one if I was hungry. A hunting license is also required.

Jack rabbit young are born with their eyes open and fully covered with hair. The young are usually "ready to go" in a matter of hours and it's quite common for "Momma jack" to leave the birthing nest and her babies only hours after delivery. You're on your own kids.....good luck! Then she takes off looking for another male jack to repeat the process. The darn things can decimate a rancher's garden and are considered a blatant nuisance with some ranchers/farmers providing ammo to kids to get rid of them. Of course, that was before the latest ammo "shortage"......

Anyway, they make for a fast moving, interesting target.

The other "no license required" animal in Nevada is the coyote. Now, I've never actually shot an 'oyte, but came close once. I was with two other companions on a camping trip and had just stopped our vehicle for a look around. Out of the sage came a young coyote, who stopped and stared at us curiously. Obviously he'd had no experience with humans.....yet. I had the front sight of my AR trained on his boiler room and was squeezing the trigger, when I saw the magnificent tuft of reddish hair on his chest. Very unusual, something like a lion. At that point I lowered the rifle and he sauntered away casually. Next time buddy. Next time.

[legendhunter]

What size bit is used to drill out the flash hole?

[RedlegEd]

What size bit is used to drill out the flash hole?

Hi,
As Larry said, #28 or #30, or you can use a 9/64ths if that's all you have.
Ed