recipe : duplicating 30-30 in .308 with RN bullets?
- Thread starter vpsalin
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- Golden Lake
Just use the "starting" loads for the .308 listed in the manuals. They pretty much equal .30-30 velocities.
I had a 1943 03A3 that was very hard on brass because of the large diameter of the chamber and SAAMI cases that were minimum base diameter. These cases over expanded and warped because of unequal case wall thickness when loaded to normal 30-06 pressures. Meaning the cases ended up banana shaped, the base of the case would no longer be 90 degrees to the axis of the bore and accuracy suffered.
Bottom line I used Hornady 170 grain bullets designed for the 30-30 at approximately 2,500 - 2,600 fps. The Hornady bullets are "Interlock" and do not come apart or lose their lead core. I shot quite a few deer with this load and it worked very well and was easy on the brass.
I highly recommend the Hornady 170 grain bullet for what you want to do with your .308 Winchester. Whatever bullet you decide to use look at the designed velocities for these bullets in the reloading manuals. The lead core in 30-30 bullets will be softer and the jacket thinner for the 30-30s lower velocities. Meaning don't shoot these bullets too fast or they may come apart too soon when hunting.
These Hornady 170 grain bullets were the most accurate bullet fired from my 30-06 and are .300 in front of the crimping groove and .308 behind the crimping groove.
Bottom line I used Hornady 170 grain bullets designed for the 30-30 at approximately 2,500 - 2,600 fps. The Hornady bullets are "Interlock" and do not come apart or lose their lead core. I shot quite a few deer with this load and it worked very well and was easy on the brass.
I highly recommend the Hornady 170 grain bullet for what you want to do with your .308 Winchester. Whatever bullet you decide to use look at the designed velocities for these bullets in the reloading manuals. The lead core in 30-30 bullets will be softer and the jacket thinner for the 30-30s lower velocities. Meaning don't shoot these bullets too fast or they may come apart too soon when hunting.
These Hornady 170 grain bullets were the most accurate bullet fired from my 30-06 and are .300 in front of the crimping groove and .308 behind the crimping groove.
I wouldn't even bother with a RN bullet unless that is what you want. I would use the regular .308 bullets and use .30-30 load data for a bullet of the same weight. The lower volume will produce lower pressure and lower velocity as a result though.
I've loaded my .300WM down to .30-30 velocities but accuracy really suffered. Right now I have a couple loads shooting with .308 velocities that are within 1/4 MoA of PoI of my full house .300WM loads.
If you want to experiment with reduced loads I recommend buying a copy of the Lyman cast bullet handbook. I have exchanged regular jacketed bullets for cast with the reduced loads published in that book to great effect. Lower velocity, reduced recoil, and still excellent accuracy.
I've loaded my .300WM down to .30-30 velocities but accuracy really suffered. Right now I have a couple loads shooting with .308 velocities that are within 1/4 MoA of PoI of my full house .300WM loads.
If you want to experiment with reduced loads I recommend buying a copy of the Lyman cast bullet handbook. I have exchanged regular jacketed bullets for cast with the reduced loads published in that book to great effect. Lower velocity, reduced recoil, and still excellent accuracy.
Yes, very easy to achieve what you want, 30-30 velocity in a 308. As has been stated, just use the 30-30 loading information for your 308.
However, from here we go all over the map. For many years a 170 grain bullet in the 30-30 was rated at 2200 fps. I recently chronographed some old CIL Dominion 170 grain loads and they actually did come very close to that velocity.
When we look at the loading charts with 3031 powder, we see Hodgdon's online show a starting load of 27.5 grains for 1959 fps and a "max" load of 29.2 grs for 2085.
An old du Pont loading chart I have shows 32 grains of 3031 for a vel of 2120. This is very close to what I get on the chronograph with 32 grains.
Thus, if you have access to a chronograph you can get exactly 30-30 velocity. But you will not come close to 30-30 velocity using modern loading charts.
However, from here we go all over the map. For many years a 170 grain bullet in the 30-30 was rated at 2200 fps. I recently chronographed some old CIL Dominion 170 grain loads and they actually did come very close to that velocity.
When we look at the loading charts with 3031 powder, we see Hodgdon's online show a starting load of 27.5 grains for 1959 fps and a "max" load of 29.2 grs for 2085.
An old du Pont loading chart I have shows 32 grains of 3031 for a vel of 2120. This is very close to what I get on the chronograph with 32 grains.
Thus, if you have access to a chronograph you can get exactly 30-30 velocity. But you will not come close to 30-30 velocity using modern loading charts.
The Hornady manual list the optimal velocity range for the 170 grain flat point #3060 as 2,000 to 2,500 fps on page 95 of the 9th edition. This can be easily be obtained with the loading data for 165 and 168 grain bullets on page 417 for the .308 Win.
If you look at the loading data for the .300 Savage on page 398 you will also see the load data starting at 2,000 fps and max as 2,500 fps with the .300 Savage using approximately 3.0 grains less powder than the .308 Win with the same powders.
Bottom line the .308 starting loads should be very close to normal 30-30 loads and there is nothing wrong with loading this bullet to its 2,500 fps potential. (30-30 magnum)
If you look at the loading data for the .300 Savage on page 398 you will also see the load data starting at 2,000 fps and max as 2,500 fps with the .300 Savage using approximately 3.0 grains less powder than the .308 Win with the same powders.
Bottom line the .308 starting loads should be very close to normal 30-30 loads and there is nothing wrong with loading this bullet to its 2,500 fps potential. (30-30 magnum)
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