180gr in a 30-30 anyone?

freddyfour

freddyfour

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I have an old box of Hornady 180gr round nose here and only two 30-30's for 30 cal rifles. Anyone ever play around wirh this combo? I have BL-C2 and LVR on hand which I think both would be good for them.
 
Hodgdons list a load for up to 170gr with blc2 and lvr. The lvr is a compressed load. I imagine you could probably use that data minus say 5-10%? Be good to have a chrono and watch for pressure signs.
 
The taper of the ogive might be problematic, you will likely find that the crimp groove will be in the wrong place too. You would probably be able to make loads that could be fed singly, but I doubt you would be lucky enough with the bullet dimensions to be able to feed from a magazine, or crimp in the cannelure if you have a tubular magazine. In a single shot there would likely be no problem. Data might be scarce but you could extrapolate with care and attention to detail. Also, most 180 grain bullets are made with a thicker jacket for higher velocity from a .308 or 30-06, and would not expand well at 30-30 velocities except perhaps very close to the game being shot.
 
I've done it and used 30gr of Win 748 /180 RN ............no reason you can't use mild .303 Savage data for their 190gr bullet around 2000fps.It's not exactly a speed demon either,but killed lots of big ugly stuff in it's day.........Harold
 
I used RCBS FL dies with old unknown makers .308 /180gr RN bullets crimped above the canalure and they stayed put but your mileage may vary.Harold
 
Those lead tips are mostly in place to help with feeding. They vaporize, from the heat generated during firing and swaging on their way down the barrel, a few feet in front of the muzzle.

I seriously doubt that the round noses of those bullets up against the primers would cause a detonation. I have a couple of old milsurps with cartridge tubes UNDER the barrel. The original ammo for them is full metal jacket and round nose. They are both more powerful and generate more recoil than a 30-30 Winchester.

If the round nose really bothers you, file it FLAT. Doing this will not effect accuracy at all. Be careful not to file the copper jacket. I used to do this regularly when trying to duplicate loads for the 30-30 cartridge. IMHO it was a waste of my time.

Your rifle, your ammo, your time.
 
bearhunter said:
Those lead tips are mostly in place to help with feeding. They vaporize, from the heat generated during firing and swaging on their way down the barrel, a few feet in front of the muzzle.
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sorry Bearhunter, I couldn't let that one go. There is no possibility that lead tips on 30-30 bullets will vaporize in flight, that occurs rarely and only in cartridges capable of much higher speeds, like 3500 fps not 2000 fps.
 
I'm a little confused why I would be worried about using a round nose for the 30-30? The Remington Core Lokt 30-30 bullet is more round then these 180's.

Just looking at them side by side doesn't look they are a good match at all. Probably will seat in the case longer then the neck. Might also have some feeding issues I'm betting.

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I suspect the 180 bullet has a jacket intended for higher velocity than the 30-30. If this is used as a 75 yard hunting round, the bullet should expand a bit and do the job.

If it is seated down to touch the powder, bullet set-back is less of an issue.

Personally, I would use them as practice ammo to hone my skills from the standing and sitting position, and shooting off the wrong shoulder (unless 30-30 bullet were not available for hunting).
 
You might want to try them before throwing the baby out with the bathwater.Shoot a sealed 5 gallon pail laid endways full of H20 with sandbags behind it.If running them through a lever and the bullet nose shape concerns you load one in the pipe and one in the mag.................Harold
 
I am not planning on hunting with them, just thought I might play around with them because they have been sitting on my self for 5 or 6 years now. I think they will feed better in my 336 then my Won 94.
 
A 180 grain bullet designed for use in a faster 30 cal cartridge might not be suitable for lower 30-30 velocities (jacket thickness/expansion properties).
The best bullets I ever used in the "thutty-thutty" were the lowly remington 170 gr core-lokt and the nosler 170 grain rn sp both designed for 30-30 velocities at hunting ranges.
 
mbogo3 said:
Well .......................170gr Hornady will do 3 feet of moose.
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Dropped 2 big bulls with marlin 336ss.
170 gr nosler parition federal factory ammo.
170 gr remington core-lokt factory ammo.
Both 1 shot kills.
One dropped 10 feet from poi and the other went 30 yds and dropped.
 
Longwalker said:
sorry Bearhunter, I couldn't let that one go. There is no possibility that lead tips on 30-30 bullets will vaporize in flight, that occurs rarely and only in cartridges capable of much higher speeds, like 3500 fps not 2000 fps.
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Longwalker, thanks for that. I remember reading an article in G&A about meplats melting in flight and later seeing an explanation for the lead smears around holes in paper targets. I had always thought they were from carbon that may have coated the bullet when the expanding propellant gasses surrounded the bullet as it leaves the muzzle. When Speer tested these smears, they were found to be lead.

You're right about the velocities. It seems this occurs over 2500+fps depending on the metal content of the meplat, which is often different from that of the lead core.

It's the main reason the commercial bullet makers started experimenting with polymer tips, which was more difficult than they thought as first as well.

Still, filing the noses of the bullets flat will not effect their performance.
 
Longwalker said:
The taper of the ogive might be problematic, you will likely find that the crimp groove will be in the wrong place too. You would probably be able to make loads that could be fed singly, but I doubt you would be lucky enough with the bullet dimensions to be able to feed from a magazine, or crimp in the cannelure if you have a tubular magazine..
Click to expand...

This^. I thought I could load up some Rem RN core lokts and RN Hornady's for my brother's .307 Win 94... finished cartridge was too long to cycle through the action. You might want to make up a dummy cartridge and try it before loading a batch.
 
Hornady 9th Edition lists their 170 gr RNFP as the heaviest bullet for the .30-30

However, disregarding feed issues and cannelure location, QuickLOAD tells me this:

.30-30 Win (SAAMI) pmax = 42,000 psi

case is presumed 44.0 gr H2O overflow @ 2.039" trim length
calculated for 22.0" barrel
COL: 2.550" with full Factory Crimp
Bullet: Hornady #3075 RN 180 gr (1.168" length)

BL-C2 starting load: 26.9 gr / 1,872 fps / 31,456 psi / 84.6% fill
BL-C2 MAXIMUM load: 29.9 gr / 2,075 fps / 41,695 psi / 94.0% fill

Sorry, no data file yet for LEVERevolution powder (I only have QuickLOAD v3.8)

(Needless to say) work up your loads in a safe and disciplined manner and above all else, have fun!
 
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