Winchester Power Max .30-30 Ammo.

[Farva]

Hello all,

I was in the local Canadian Tire the other day and spied some of the red box Winchester .30-30Win ammo in the 150gr PHP style for a respectable price. So I did what any respectable gun nut does, and bought two boxes.

However, when I got it home, and tried to feed it though my Mossberg 470PCA, they're too long to feed properly. They'll come out of the magazine, onto the lifter, but then slam into the bottom edge of the chamber. I've never had a problem with Winchester grey box 170gr RN, Federal 150gr RN and 170gr RN, or Remington's core-loct in 150gr. The Prvi Partizan 170gr FP give me the same troubles occasionally. Enough for me to not buy it again.

I suspected cartridge OAL was too long, so I took the caliper to a round of each, and here's what I've concluded:
Winchester grey box 170gr RN: 2.477"
Prvi Partizan 170gr FP: 2.512"
Winchester Red Box 150gr PHP: 2.542"

I didn't measure the Federal or Remington because I was too lazy to dig it out of my ammo cupboard. I haven't looked up the max OAL in my handloading books because I don't have them with me at the moment, but I'm certain this is the problem.

Anyone else run into this or perhaps have another theory?

 

[H4831]

Put them in your press and push the bullet in a little deeper, until they feed OK.
If they are crimped in a groove, it may be a problem.

 

[JerryJeffWalker]

Put them in your press and push the bullet in a little deeper, until they feed OK.
If they are crimped in a groove, it may be a problem.

they will be crimped

 

[bcsteve]

They are within SAAMI specs, max CAOL of 2.550".

 

[MacGonnigal]

I recently bought a box of those, and just measured them to see: 2.533" or 2.534" on the first 5 I measured, so very consistent.

They cycle well thru my 336.

 

[jeff270]

Edit:
You may disregard this post as the power max bullets apparently have a bonded core and the stuff I was using was sold in grey boxes and was not bonded.

If you get them to feed try not to shoot them at animals bigger than coyotes.
I tried them out on impala and they wouldnt even shoot through on a more or less broadside shot,the bullet just went to pieces in less than 10".

 

[jethunter]

It sounds like the bullet shape is causing your feeding probs, not the oal, in which case seating the bullets deeper probably won't do anything for you. If it were me i'd solve it by not using them.

 

[shoota]

If you get them to feed try not to shoot them at animals bigger than coyotes.
I tried them out on impala and they wouldnt even shoot through on a more or less broadside shot,the bullet just went to pieces in less than 10".

What cal were you shooting at the impala? I usually use the cheap Winchester Super X power points in .30-06 180grain as my Whitetail round, but last box I bought some of the tips looked like this, deformed and not uniform. So I was very worried about accuracy. I found a few in the box that were uniform and they got me my deer last season.

My local CT always has the power max bonded in 180grain for $26.99 but I have been looking to go down to 150grain for Whitetail, low and behold I came across 150grain for the cheap price of $19.99 even cheaper than the Winchester Super X which is usually around $21.99-22.99, anyways I have read good reviews on Cabelas(US) about this ammo, so I plan on giving it a try and the thing that makes me happy is the PHP tips are always uniform. And if I do come across a blackie this year I plan on using this ammo as well, I am sure it will work well.

 

[jeff270]

shoota:
NOT POWER MAX BONDED,the ones I used were in a grey box.
I was using Winchester 30-30 150gr hollow points.I brought the ammo to africa on the off chance that my friends over there
might need to "repel boarders" some night.
After a few days of hunting I was overcome with an urge to test out that ammo.
So after a little luck and a bit of a duck walk I put the front sight on the ribs of a nice ram @ 40 yards or so and he went down DRT.No exit wound ! Even a big impala is a lot smaller than an average whitetail buck.Later the skinners said the bullet went to pieces in the liver.Oh well I didn't bring that ammo all the way to RSA. to shoot animals with.

No people were harmed in this test.