Anyone try the data68 powder? 30-30 especially?

[Tristan]

I see that the data sheet for data68 has loads for the 30-30; has anyone here determined if this is a decent powder for cast in the 30-30 wcf?

It is supposed to be 10% faster than aa-2230, according to the natchez description.

Thanks for any info ya'll would like to share.

- Tristan.

[felix]

Should be excellent for 30-30. It appears to be close to 4198 in burn speed, maybe just a tad slower. So start at 23 grains with a 180 or so. ... felix

[Tristan]

Thanks, Felix. I'll order some up tomorrow and start giving it a try...

I'm planning on using LAR's Carnuba red lube on the GB 170 gr. 30-30 boolit.

I don't (yet) have access to a chrony. Other than the typical case head expansion, primer cratering and etc. to watch out for, is there particular to the 30-30 to be careful of?

If this works out, I'm going to need to get in on another Gator Check GB...

Thanks.

Tristan

[Buckshot]

...............Tristan, Have you reloaded for your 30-30 before with close to factory loads using those primers? You should be familiar with how they look in several type loads before using them as a reference. If you have some factory ammo, unload 5 rounds and substitute the primers you're using. Reload and shoot them for appearance.

Since the factorys have always loaded the 30-30 to safe design pressures the primer appearance will give you a good idea of where you are pressure wise.

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

[felix]

Tristan, our Buckshot is correct when dealing with a sorta' fast powder for the caliber. If you have not ordered the powder as of yet, opt for a slower one in the same price range. Accurate is very good about giving out unique DATA numbers for different lots of WC844/846/852, etc. The DATA68 is a faster lot of 844. ... felix

[rockrat]

I believe that they indicate that it is a powder with a burning speed approximating AA2015br. I find that I need one more grain in the 223 for my full power 55fg fmj loads. Plan on trying it in my 1895s Marlin with a 385gr cast slug.

[Marlin Junky]

Tristan,

Decent for what application? There are better powders for full power 30-30 loads and I'd use something faster (like WC-820) for reduced loads. I just bought a couple jugs of DP68 but for use in the .35 Remington with 180 grain boolits. It should also work in the .444 and 45-70 with 300 to 350 grain boolits. If I was in the market for 30-30 powder, I'd go to: http://www.powdervalleyinc.com and purchase a couple jugs of DP74 at 69 bucks each. The WC-84x's are getting too expensive at 80 bucks a jug. I've had exceptional results with the H380 from Pat's Reloading and his AA2520 (similar to DP74) using RCBS 30-180FN.

MJ

P.S. If you decide to use DP68 in the 30-30, you'll probably find that you'll need to burn a few more grains of powder than with the 4198's/Re7 to give the same velocity with 170 grain boolits and you won't be able to push heavier boolits much beyond 1900 fps before reaching 38K CUP. I'm basing my opinion on AA2200 usage in a M94 Carbine with Lyman 311041, RCBS 30-180FN and Lyman 311644. AA2200 was also claimed to be about 10% faster than AA2230 and looks real close in appearance to DP68.

[felix]

MJ is indeed correct. ... felix

[Marlin Junky]

23 grains of DP68 drove RCBS30-180FN to 1864 fps today from my old 24" 336 but accuracy and stats weren't good (but not as bad as with 22 grains, so things are improving!). I'm going to try 24 grains with a couple different primers. AA says 27 grains of DP68 will drive a 170 Nosler to 2038 fps at 38,600 PSI so 24 grains under RCBS 30-180FN (191+ grains unchecked) should be OK. Maybe I was wrong when I said above, "...and you won't be able to push heavier boolits much beyond 1900 fps before reaching 38K CUP". At about 80 fps/grain of DP68, 24 grains should produce about 1920 fps while 25 grains should yield 2000 fps. If we're still below 38K CUP (equivalent to 42K PSI according to AA) with the 25 grain charge, DP68 may turn out to be a pretty darn efficient powder for the 30-30. After all, it takes 33 grains of H380 to reach 2100 fps with RCBS 30-180FN from my 24" barreled 30-30 and some days I need another grain of H380 to break 2100 fps. It sure would be interesting to gather pressure data for these loads.

MJ

P.S. I just noticed that Accurate published the same data for both 2015 and DP68 using the 170 grain Nosler in the 30-30. In side-by-side comparisons (all else equal), I have found DP68 to be 3% faster than XMR2015.