Spire point 30/30 bullets

SuperCub

SuperCub

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Has anyone tried a spire point in a lever action 30/30? Do they feed ok from the tube? I'm wondering about having one in the chamber and another SINGLE ONE in the mag tube.

DISCLAIMER ...... Anyone who reads this needs to understand that a typical 30/30 cartridge is either a RN or FN bullet to eliminate ignition hazard in the mag tube while firing. I am asking about a single round in the chamber and another in the mag tube.
 
yomomma said:
Just watch out for your fancy dancy new fangle ones...the plain old pointed with flat base should work just fine
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Yes ... I have a bunch of 150gr WW SPs and 165gr RP SPs here that I would try. Probably the 150s would be the ones I'd want to use up first.
 
Your overall length is the problem with the spire points as they make the overall longer and it won't feed up out of the mag tube. Also it won't let a loaded round come out of the chamber. Load up a couple dummie rounds and try it, you will have to set them fairly deep to overcome this. Just my experience.
 
Bassmaster said:
Would they be too long to feed properly from the mag tube, as someone has already suggested?
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Yes, with most new polymer tipped boat tails the case mouth will pass the ogive of the bullet before it is seated to 2.600"
My bolt gun ran into that problem. So I trimmed 0.190" off the neck of the case so I can seat a 150gr nosler ballistic tip to fit in the mag. I have not shot any loaded rounds yet though.

This is the trimmed dummy with a 150gr BST loaded to fit a Savage 340 magazine.
10426237_10152268692699979_1342914137460966011_n.jpg
 
I loaded my 30-30 with .308 marlin express bullets, and they had to be seated deeper in order to fit inside the chamber. This creates an increase in pressure, but with 28,7gr of IMR4064 none of my casings split and none of my primer had overpressure signs. My best grouping was with this load.
 
No reason for 'em not to work just fine. The mag tube issue is the only reason pointy bullets aren't used in lever actions. A pointy bullet will be dandy in a bolt action .30-30. Or a two shot lever.
Oddly, Hodgdon shows the same OAL for a 150 FN as they do a 170 FN. Likely not an issue, but try it and see.
 
sunray said:
Oddly, Hodgdon shows the same OAL for a 150 FN as they do a 170 FN. Likely not an issue, but try it and see.
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The difference between the two is the 150 has a little more taper.

I just tried to load a dummy 150 grain Hornady spire point and it wouldn't cycle in my win 94 until it was seated to the same depth as a flat point which is way past the point the bullet starts to taper.

I started from the cannelure and seated deeper until it cycled. It was ridiculously deep.
 
Lefty #### said:
Why not try those guchi FTX bullets made by Hornady?
It seems like everybody has a pile of them on their shelves too.
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This is what I have resorted to, they are suprisingly accurate when pushed with LVR powder. The 140 monoflex is also a fun bullet to play with, you can gain a couple hundred fps with it over the 160 ftx, if flatter is your direction.
 
Many years ago, I loaded 165gn Remington bulk PSP bullets to extend the range of my Father's Win 94. I had to trim the cases to just below minimum length. Seated the bullet deeper. While they fed fine, the gains weren't all I expected? Better than factory 170's, but with compressed loads, but I wasn't chasing them in a lever action. While the downrange trajectories and energies were better, velocities were not much better than factory FN. This was kind of guesswork. I didn't have a chronograph, but I did have a 300yd range. Perhaps with some of the newer powders, you could get better velocities which would translate into better trajectories and energies.
I was able to get fairly impressive results with the same bullets in 150 gn using a max load of 3031 for a 170gn. Although it wasn't a max load for 150gn, it was compressed enough that it didn't make any noise when I shook it. I know, extremely scientific. But, bear in mind, this was 20+ years ago. Bullet drop had velocity at about 2100. Gave me an extra 200ft/lbs of terminal energy over a 150gn FN.
My father wasn't impressed enough to drop to loading only two rounds in his hunting rifle although I used the rifle with those 150's to drop a large doe at 250yds. But, I'd still do it today. Don't need to because I own a 340, so I use full load 165gn bullets. 2200fps ain't bad for a .30-30 that'll knock a deer down at 300yds.
 
Hornady makes a nice 140 grain Leverrevolution spire point bullet that works very well in lever rifles. It also gives some higher velocities than other bullets of greater weight. Yeah I know Duhh.

Anyway I have only ever come across one box of these and it was supplied by a friend that had around 90 empty cases he wanted reloaded. He gave me the last ten to try out and they shot very well. What was nice is that you could load up the whole tube without issue.

Sorry, I don't know where these bullets came from.
 
Had success with 110 gr soft point RN M1 carbine bullets handloaded into my 30-30.

IIRC, 27.2 gr of IMR-4198 as recommended by Ken Waters.

Impacted higher at 100 yards into a small group. Around 2500 fps I believe.

Low recoil impulse.
 
I've done the ole 2-shot with pointed rounds method in the 30-30 a few times, but I've always had better accuracy with the FP rounds I use, so I don't do it anymore. Probably just my gun, but I know what she likes and I don't like to piss her off too much.
 
It baffles me just a bit as to why a person would be trying to achieve performance of a 300 Savage out of a 30-30.

So, unless you were just trying to plink with, or get rid of some pointed bullets, loading them in a 30-30 seems like an exercise in futility.

The FTX is a little bit different, since it is designed specifically for it's application.

Nevertheless, to each his own!! :) enjoy! Dave.
 
I've had a couple issues with pointy bullets and lever action, tube feed loading.
One was the 94 in 25-35.
Just wouldn't load.
The follower and pointy bullet just wouldn't get along.
Spit the round off to the side in the receiver.
I forget what the other one was, maybe the 33WCF.
Short of removing the follower and smacking the center with a center punch
to grab hold the bullet tip?
Try a newtered round oar tew there SupperFuddly............. :wave:

Then yew'll noze fer shure.
 
Eagleye said:
It baffles me just a bit as to why a person would be trying to achieve performance of a 300 Savage out of a 30-30.

So, unless you were just trying to plink with, or get rid of some pointed bullets, loading them in a 30-30 seems like an exercise in futility.

The FTX is a little bit different, since it is designed specifically for it's application.

Nevertheless, to each his own!! :) enjoy! Dave.
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Give SC some credit. I don't think it has anything to do with hot rodding the wonderful 30-30.

Simple answers: People like to handload and make up their own stuff, think outside the box, experiment with non standard equipment, etc.

My own load posted here, merely places it (very safely) into coyote threat territory. That is a four legged varmint load only.

Cheers!
 
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