Powder choice for 30-30 Winchester

Skinny 1950

Skinny 1950

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I have a 4 hole turret press and load .45 Colt and .45ACP using Unique powder, I have a Model 94 Winchester and would like to re-load for that in 30-30. It would be nice if I could use Unique but I don't see any data for it so can anyone suggest a suitable powder for the 30-30 cartridge.
I have never loaded a necked cartridge before and was wondering if there is anything that I need to look out for to avoid any problems.
Thanks for any input.
 
No, it is not practical, to load Unique in a 30-30. you could only load low velocity loads, but they would still be quite high pressure.
Get a can of mid speed rifle powder, such as 3031, 4320, 4895, etc.
 
The .30-30 is easy to load. The only problem I've ever run into is the occasional cartridge failure if I've tried to load a case too many times.

My favourite load is 38 grs H335 with a 150 gr jacketed bullet. According to the Lyman #37 manual 39 grs of H335 is MAX.

42 grs H335 and a 100 gr Speer Plinker is a great varmint load.

Unique works well in the .30-30 for cast bullets. I use 7 grs Unique with a 170 gr Lee cast flat nose.

Another good load is 26 grs of H4895 with a 170 cast bullet.
 
Thanks everyone,seems like a lot of powders will work. I will make a list and see which ones are available off the shelf.
I am going to start with Berry's copper plated 150 grain flat nosed bullets because I can get them locally, if I start to shoot a lot I may get a mould and cast my own.
 
Those copper plated rounds usually need to be capped at 1500 fps or less. You'll want to reduce your loads quite a lot to stay within the parameters. For jacketed rounds, I go with 30.2 grains of H4895 with a 1500 grain Sierra bullet. It's not a screaming hot load, but it lays down whitetails without any difficulty.
 
slammer1 said:
Those copper plated rounds usually need to be capped at 1500 fps or less. You'll want to reduce your loads quite a lot to stay within the parameters. For jacketed rounds, I go with 30.2 grains of H4895 with a 1500 grain Sierra bullet. It's not a screaming hot load, but it lays down whitetails without any difficulty.
Click to expand...

I know you probably mean 150 gr. Sierra but I laughed out loud when I read the 1500 gr!!Now that would be a cruise missile for sure,still wiping the coffee off of my monitor.
 
Do you want a 50 yard plinker load? Or full power hunting load? For a plinker, the Berrys plated bullet will do a good job, and you can use your Unique. Try 8 to 11 gr and see what works. The plated bullet uses cast bullet data.


If you want to load high velocity hunting ammo, the Berrys plated is not the choice. You want jacketed hunting bullets. There are flat-nosed bullets made for 30-30 tubular magazines, so a pointed bullet does not rest against the primer in the magazine. They will also expand properly at 30-30 velocities.

There are many powders available for the 30-30 hunting round. Two of the best are H335 and Win 748. These two will get the highest velocity and will meter perfectly through a powder thrower.

If you have not yet bought large Rifle primes, I suggest Winchester. They are hot and ignite the ball powder reliably.
 
it is good to know about the plated bullets and the lower velocity, i am just using the rifle at the range and poking holes in paper so a mild load would be fine. if i ever go hunting i can buy some proper ammo. Thanks again for the information everyone, now I can buy some dies and other stuff and get started.
 
Win 748 32gr for a 170gr bullet and 34.5 for a 150gr.Win cases Fed mag primers........moose/ deer /bear.............Harold
 
I have a 120 gr. mold that I use for plinkers in my 30-30. 5-6 grs. of Universal works great so Unique should work fine as well. Lots of fun and cheap to shoot. I've also used Reloder 7 for mid-range varmint cartridges, and Varget for full power stuff.
 
Speer 110 grain Varminter HP, 27.2 grains of IMR-4198. A low recoiling handload recommended in "Pet Loads" by Ken Waters. One drawback is the big, wide and soft hollow point is easily mashed up in a full magazine. This one would travel better with one maybe two in the magazine only.

Very accurate but hits higher @100 yards compared to 150 grain factory ammunition. Nice one for beginner shooters.
 
Unique works very well for sub100yd plinking loads with cast bullets. Cases have to be trimmed when overlength, and a means found to flare the neck for cast bullets(a tapered steel rod will do in a pinch, else lyman m-die.). Some are against unique because there is room for a double or triple. Be cautious!
 
The Alliant handbook lists 34 grs. of RL15, 170 gr. bullet, and this is the load I use. Gives 2,250 out of a 20" barrel. I use 170's for everything, just makes life simpler.
 
Well, for a good old "deer load", you don't necessarily need some exotic, hard-to-find powder. Good old IMR 3031 has probably fueled more home-cooked 30-30 loads than one could carry in one of them funny looking dual-wheeled wheelbarrows.
 
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