30-30 plinkers with unique

Holleyman said:
What issues do you run into as far a lead fouling the barrel?
Does anyone have a recipe for 30-30 using Unique with a cast 165 over it? Start loads/max loads.

Thanks
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Lyman 's 4th edition says (for a 170 grain lead bullet and unique) 7.0 starting @ 1211 fps and 10.6 @ 1568 max.
Nothing is listed for 165 so going to the next higher keeps you safe.

Personally I've never had leading issues as long as you start from a clean bore and don't push the bullets faster than they were meant to go . Also don't go back and forth between lead and copper without scrubbing the bore.
 
Holleyman said:
What issues do you run into as far a lead fouling the barrel?
Does anyone have a recipe for 30-30 using Unique with a cast 165 over it? Start loads/max loads.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Use the same loading data for 165gr bullets as are listed for 170 gr. Performance will be about the same. My old Winchester I had wouldn't shoot cast worth a darn. I know the Winchester 94's will shoot lead, mine just wouldn't. I now have a Marlin 336 and I get excellent accuracy out of my loads now. With Unique I get the best results at the higher end of the loadings. I know guys who do shoot very light 7 gr loads and get good results. The Hogdon website has a very good Load Data centre. Lyman has a a couple of very good manuals out which should be on every ones book shelf if you are going to shoot lead boolits.

I shoot a lot of gas checked boolits so leading is not an issue. If you do experience leading just wrap 100% copper Chor Boy strands around a cleaning brush and a few runs with it will eliminate any lead fouling in a hurry.

Take Care

Bob
 
Here are some pics for reference. You can see how far this load can penetrate a solid clay bank.

Another thing. Some guys say that you can't crimp plated loads too much because it will cut the plating and cause it to shed.
I crimped these with a lee factory crimp die until my rockchucker over centered. So it's a fairly stout crimp and the plating was fine. You can also see in this pic how thick the plating actually is on berry's bullets.
A bit of plating peeled off but it doesn't look, to me, that it was from crimping but rather from hitting stones in the clay.

They seem to be a pretty tough bullet.

vNDzst1.jpg


UhYopyx.jpg
 
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.
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The Lyman book of cast bullets, show a 30-30 with 150 grain flat base cast bullet, 9 grains of Unique at 1360 fps, and 15 grains of Unique at 1850 fps.
They show the 150 grain cast gas check at close to identical figures.
With fast powders like Unique you can forget about loading to any given percentage of full load.
In other words, use enough Unique to be sure and get the bullet out the barrel, probably 3 or 4 grains would safely do it, but don't go higher than what the books state as maximum.
Bruce
 
H4831 said:
The Lyman book of cast bullets, show a 30-30 with 150 grain flat base cast bullet, 9 grains of Unique at 1360 fps,
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I got 1337 fps with 9 grains so it's pretty close to Lyman's listed Bruce. Since I was loading plated bullets and they tend to run a bit slower than lead the numbers makes sense.

Cheers, Don



Oh, another thing. I'm using Lyman's 4th edition and it lists under 11 grains for a 170 grain bullet. I know older books list higher.

I loaded 11 grains with cci 200 primers but since I have some older WLR primers to get rid of I loaded them up with 10 grains and I'm getting close to the same velocity. Makes sense since the WLR's are hotter.

I'm sure you're familiar with the other thread I started about full power 30-30 loads. I was using LVR powder and I found WLR primers gave me pressure signs at max loads, cci 200's were fine. I've decided to use the WLR's in my plinking loads because I've simply found them too hot for higher end loads. They build pressure too fast and you end up losing velocity from what I've seen. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
 
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Yeah, I was pretty surprised too!

I removed the busted up clay to get the bullet out but that's how much was upset by the impact.



I forgot to say that the angle the tape measure is on is the direction of the shot. I was shooting on a road and it was about 15 feet or so.
 
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