30-30 mouse farts RED DOT Berry 110g

[RACWIN375]

Hi,
I saw the sticky on mouse fart 30-06 with other powders, BUT

I have Berry 110g copper plated heads and Red Dot powder I'm going to load in 30-30 for a Marlin lever gun
I have tried 5g Red Dot and I'm gong to drop down to 2g Red Dot

anyone have info on using Red Dot in the light loads for 30-30 ?

Red Dot is all I can get for now

Rick

[racepres]

I have Not been under 6gr with a Boolit in 30-30 nor my 300Savage, which is almost Identical ballistically when loaded to the same level..
I have, however loaded lead balls with 3.0 gr Red Dot in both.. getting 1150 to 1175 FPS and Decent close range accuracy.. still supersonic....

[GhostHawk]

3 gr and 4.6 gr both worked well for me with lighter bullets.

I'm a Red Dot fanboy, love the stuff. Have yet to find a caliber or firearm it won't work in. But it probably won't cycle rifle semi auto's.
By the time you get up to where it will your into too much pressure.

But I use it in everything from .32acp to .444marlin with excellent results.

[Ford SD]

3 gr and 4.6 gr both worked well for me with lighter bullets.

I'm a Red Dot fanboy, love the stuff. Have yet to find a caliber or firearm it won't work in. But it probably won't cycle rifle semi auto's.
By the time you get up to where it will your into too much pressure.

But I use it in everything from .32acp to .444marlin with excellent results.

Can you share the 444 marlin load ?
thanks

[Larry Gibson]

Also suggest 3 - 4.5 gr of Red Dot with that bullet. Should run 800 fps +.

[GhostHawk]

Can you share the 444 marlin load ?
thanks

I started with 13 grains under a 310 grain cast bullet. After pulling the trigger on round #10 I realized I was right at the point of developing a flinch.
Tried some more with lighter boolits, 200 and 220 gr and 10 grains, that also shot well. But for curiousity's sake I went looking at mid level .44 magnum loads.

Ended up with 200 gr cast and 6.5 grains of Red Dot.

The amazing part is all of the loads shot very well. 13 grains with the big bullets gave me cloverleafs at 25, 50, 75, and almost at 100. Operator error, pulled one half an inch up and left and knew that I'd done it the second I pulled the trigger.

The 6.5 grain loads are like shooting a .44mag in a rifle only in long brass. Quiet, accurate, and you can shoot all day long.

So why not load them for where you are comfortable? I'm just popping paper, it does not care about bullet weight or charge.

I did have to adjust the sights a bit.

And if I ever wanted something really really dead at more than 50 yards, yes I'd choose the .444marlin every time.
Inside 50 it would be 12 ga shotgun and slugs.

[Ford SD]

thanks for the load info

i have the Lyman 429667 .432 diam and have to seat it deeper than the crimp groove ... a ball park place to start +-

very little data on the 444 ... its like a wildcat cartridge ...but not..... its a search finding info, look at all the old books

[Photog]

my 110gr cast loads go to 1300-1500fps with 7.5 to 8.5 gr of Power Pistol. Still easy to shoot, very accurate and seals the case for a bit of expansion in the chamber. Found it to be more accurate than subsonics in my M94

[stubshaft]

3.5 grains of Red Dot is what I use in my 30/30 with a 170 NEI FP, I also use the same charge in my 7.62X39 T/C pistol behind a Lee 230 grain bT. It is amazingly accurate in both of them.

[Wilderness]

Hi,
I saw the sticky on mouse fart 30-06 with other powders, BUT

I have Berry 110g copper plated heads and Red Dot powder I'm going to load in 30-30 for a Marlin lever gun
I have tried 5g Red Dot and I'm gong to drop down to 2g Red Dot

anyone have info on using Red Dot in the light loads for 30-30 ?

Red Dot is all I can get for now

Rick

CAUTION: Jacketed and plated bullets with very light loads can be a stuck bullet hazard.

The older references I recall recommend soft cast bullets for these very light loads, and recommend against jacketed bullets due to the stuck bullet risk. Copper is much harder to push down a barrel than lead - try knocking out a stuck jacketed bullet and you'll see what I am talking about.

I use subsonic cast bullet loads in .30-30. The load is a SOFT, GREASED 115 gn #311008 with 5 gns Unique for 1050 fps. A friend uses Red Dot with the same bullets, I think about 4 gns. Being subsonic, these loads group well and hold their angular group to 200 m, the furthest distance tested.

A colleague tried similar loads in .30-30 with Berry 150 gn bullets and stuck several in his barrel. Most shots were OK, but every so often one would stick. Fortunately he was sufficiently aware to recognise what had happened before putting another one through.