30-30 plinkers with unique

07blackwater

07blackwater

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I loaded up some 150 grain Berry's over 9 grains unique and they were surprisingly accurate! They were hitting about 4" lower @ 50 yards than the factory federals I was shooting so I suspect they were a bit anemic. Next I'll up the charge to a max 10 grains and see how that goes. It was drizzling and I didn't have my chrony so I have no idea what velocity was.

Anyone else fart around with these loads?

BTW I throw a charge then immediately seat the bullet to avoid double charges in case anyone was going to bring that up.
 
I loaded up some Cannons 170's over 700x a few years back and it was like shooting a .22! The shots were also 3" lower at 50 yards and I didn't have my Chrony that day at the range either.

Punching paper, with these loads, sucks. They're meant to hit something reactive and have fun.
 
Ya for sure. It was my first go with these but I'm impressed enough to carry through with it for summer time fun with the kids.
I figure it's a good way to transition my son from his youth sized 22 to a heavier full stock rifle. And hey, damn cheap for me too! LOL

Just enough punch and bang to make it fun but anyone could shoot these loads all day.
 
My favourite 30-30 load with the Lee 113 Gr soupcan boolit is just 7 Gr of Bullseye. It is a very accurate load at 50 meters, grouping around a quarter size circle. I didn't attempt further than 50m cos with my irons sights then, I could not see further than that. The same load could also drive the 170 Gr Lee boolit too. I also use Bullseye in my 303 for gallery loads.

I've been experimenting with other powders as well, such as Unique, but haven't done enough to confirm loads publicly yet. I KNOW for a fact mu Bullseye loads are deadly accurate, and seriously, its just a pinch of powder.
 
Somewhere around 10 grains of Unique seems to be a good starting point for reduced loads in most rifles. I have also done the same thing with Universal Clays in .223 and .303.
 
I think 10 grains unique is about as high as you would want to go in the 30-30. If I wanted more speed I'd switch to H4895 with a reduced load. The Berry's 150's are supposedly maxed out at 1700 fps. I guesstimate 25 grains H4895 might be about right. 20 grains is the minimum if you go by the 60 percent min load rule with it and that would be about the same velocity as a max load of unique I figger.

That would kind of defeat the whole 'pinch of powder' idea of these loads though.
 
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Definitely have thrown a bunch of plinker loads through the Marlin 30AS. That rifle saw maybe a box of factory at most every year or two, and then I went crazy with cast boolits. Over 500 rounds in one season IIRC. I have the Lee C309-113-F (soupcan) and light charges of Unique, 6-10 grains. Don't bother trying gas check bullets without the gas check, they go all over once you start going heavier on the powder.

I have a note here in my reload book, a load from Lyman #47, 7 grains starting load and 10.6 grains max Unique for a 170 grain cast bullet.

My idiot proof way of checking loads?? I use a flashlight to eyeball the cases to make sure the powder levels are the same, or use a skinny pen to check the levels.
 
saskgunowner101 said:
I have a note here in my reload book, a load from Lyman #47, 7 grains starting load and 10.6 grains max Unique for a 170 grain cast bullet.
Click to expand...

Funny. I noticed, while going through cast load data, that the max for unique with 170gr was over 10gr but with 150's the highest I found listed was 9gr.

It must be to keep velocities down because a lighter bullet will have lower pressure with the same powder weight right?

Berry's bullets suggests using cast bullet data for their bullets but since they're plated my thinking is they can be driven a tad faster so upping the charge a fraction can't hurt. From what I've read plated bullets require a little more powder to reach the same speeds as lead as well so that's how I came about my personal 10 gr limit with the 150's.

Thoughts?
 
07blackwater said:
I think 10 grains unique is about as high as you would want to go in the 30-30. If I wanted more speed I'd switch to H4895 with a reduced load. The Berry's 150's are supposedly maxed out at 1700 fps. I guesstimate 25 grains H4895 might be about right. 20 grains is the minimum if you go by the 60 percent min load rule with it and that would be about the same velocity as a max load of unique I figger.

That would kind of defeat the whole 'pinch of powder' idea of these loads though.
Click to expand...

The original copy of Lyman, Handbook of Cast Bullets, with 30-30, 150 grain flat base and Unique, shows starting load of 9 grains and a max. load of 15 grains of Unique.
 
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H4831 said:
The original copy of Lyman, Handbook of Cast Bullets, with 30-30, 150 grain flat base and Unique, shows starting load of 14 grains and a max. load of XX grains of Unique.
Click to expand...

My how things have changed then Bruce! I'm looking at Lyman's 4th here and it says starting 7 and max 8.7. That's quite the difference!
 
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07blackwater said:
Funny. I noticed, while going through cast load data, that the max for unique with 170gr was over 10gr but with 150's the highest I found listed was 9gr.

It must be to keep velocities down because a lighter bullet will have lower pressure with the same powder weight right?

Berry's bullets suggests using cast bullet data for their bullets but since they're plated my thinking is they can be driven a tad faster so upping the charge a fraction can't hurt. From what I've read plated bullets require a little more powder to reach the same speeds as lead as well so that's how I came about my personal 10 gr limit with the 150's.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
One of my books is showing max 11 grains Unique with a 151 grain cast, just under 1700 fps, so probably just slight variations between different books. As for the plated bullets, I'd use cast bullet data for them and pay attention when you get to the bullets (1700 fps on the Berrys) velocity. I don't know if copper plated will shed their plating or what happens past that speed.
 
saskgunowner101 said:
One of my books is showing max 11 grains Unique with a 151 grain cast, just under 1700 fps, so probably just slight variations between different books. As for the plated bullets, I'd use cast bullet data for them and pay attention when you get to the bullets (1700 fps on the Berrys) velocity. I don't know if copper plated will shed their plating or what happens past that speed.
Click to expand...

The numbers look good. I've read on other forums where guys have pushed the Berry's to near 2000 fps without shedding the plating but that's not what I'm trying to accomplish. I just want to see if I can get the plinkers hitting near the same poi as a hunting load.

It looks like I have 2 grains wiggle room instead of 1. Like I said before, I didn't take my chrony up because it was raining but I'm going to load some at 10gr and a few at 11gr just to check the speeds. I'm very curious now.

Ah, the fun of hand loading!
 
I shoot 38/55 (30-30 is necked down from that) with cast using mostly Universal. It is next down the list from Unique on the burn table and seems to work well. At around 9 gr with a 249 gr bullet I get good results at 50 and 100 yds. I have used 9.7 gr but was getting leading in an old barrel. Had that gun rebarrelled and have not put enough through it to determine results. I've also used 21-23 gr of 4895 but have not shot enough to really know the accuracy. I also have tried a few Gas Checked with 4895. They seem to hit very near Winchester factory rounds at 100 yds. They hit about 5 inches higher that the Universal loaded rounds at 100 yds. Note: our range is only 100 yds, have to drive north to find a longer one.... Unfortunately our local cowboy ranges do not permit gas checked bullets so have to keep them aside for the regular range.
 
H4831 said:
The original copy of Lyman, Handbook of Cast Bullets, with 30-30, 150 grain flat base and Unique, shows starting load of xx grains and a max. load of xx grains of Unique.
Click to expand...

I have an idea that was a misprint. I have a very old 45Edition of the Lyman Reloading Handbook copyright 1970 that lists max load at 10.6 gr. under the 31141 boolit. 20 gr of Unique might take an old gun apart.

Take Care

Bob
 
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Why you should never post in a hurry.
Why you should always recheck your post.
Why you should never go by what other people post.
OK.
Enough excuses!
It was 2400 powder I was looking at, instead of Unique.
Unique with 150 grain bullet was starting of 9 grains, for 1360 and
max of 15 grains for 1850.
Sorry guys.
 
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