30-30 loads
OK Guys, What is your favorite load,brand, bullet weight for game that this caliber is suitable for like whitetails, small black bear etc.I have to load some for a friend and I have some Hornady 150 rn's handy.What's your favorite brand of bullet to load? I know shot placement is more important than energy balony and I know that different loads shoot better or worse for every gun but I ask for real world experience in hunting situations inside 100 yds. Neck shots are ....well anything legal to hunt deer sized game will do but sometimes you don't have a chance to hit the neck or high shoulder to plant one down.So, basically is the 150 better because it can be loaded faster or the 170 because it's heavier altho it's slower even if they shoot equally well with-in reason? Recoil is a non-factor.I realize I'm asking a lot but it would be easy for you experienced hunters to answer.I have experience in 22-250,243,308,30'06,7mm Rem Mag,303 British but not 30-30. I can tell YOU about those calibers and even a few pistol.Thanks
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Duck I have used both and to be honest I can't tell much difference but if you are going after bears then I like the 170 grain--I prefer Hornady but have used Federal and Remington ammo. I have a box of the new Hornady 160 grain Leverevolution ammo but have not shot it yet. I also don't think the deer will know the difference[;)] 0 -
PERSONALLY I'd use the standard 170 gr flat-point bullet. I've still got a couple boxes of Winchester Silver Tips in my stash that I'd load, but Remington Core Lokt's are good. I don't think you can go wrong in the 30-30 with any of the name brands - Speer, Sierra, Hornady - but I don't think the little extra speed of the 150 gr, in the 30-30, makes up for the extra weight of the 170 gr. Just my $.02 and I'm sure you'll get other opinions equally valid.
yooper0 -
If you have 150gr bullets laying around that is what I would use. I dont know that you will see a real difference in weight on deer or similar animals. For the bear I think the 170gr might hold a slight edge but not enough to go out and buy some if you have other stuff on hand.
I have not shot any in the .30-30 yet either but I plan on loading the Hornady Leverevolution bullets when I do load for it again. I have shot some out of my .45-70 and was very impressed.0 -
Although you spend more on them, the Hornady Leverevolution 165gr loads in 30-30 are far and away the best deer round in this caliber. My family has taken between 15-20 whitetail deer with 30-30's and I have seen a real difference between the effects out to 150 yards between these new Hornady loads and the traditional 170 gr Remington and Winchester rounds. The Core-Lokt etc bullets are still lethal, it's just that I see better accuracy and terminal effects with the Levereveloution Hornady bullets. 0 -
I've used both the Hornady 170 gr FP #3060 and the Sierra 170 gr FP #2010. Recently I recovered one of the Sierras from an eight pointer I shot front to back at abot 30 yds and as a result am now loading only the Sierra's for hunting. The bullet expanded in perfect rose petal configuration to a diameter of .6645" with 12 sharp cutting edges of about .3" to .275" measured from the edge of the lead mushroom. There was no blood trail because of the nature of the wound, but the deer went down in 30 to 40 yards. My son-in-law shot a big doe with the Sierra bullet - a lung shot at about 40 yds where the bullet exited leaving a very large exit wound and a clear blood trail. I prefer the heavier bullet for woods hunting on the theory big and slow will deflect less if it hits a twig. I'm using a load of 33 gr of Varget to yield a velocity of 2168 FPS taken from the Hodgden website. Since you note that you have a .308 I'll mention that after talking to the Sierra bullet techs I'm also loading the Sierra 170 FP ahead of 34.9 gr of Varget for use in my .308 Rem 7600 with excellent results. 0 -
Since the introduction of Hornady's "leverevolution ammo I've taken several whitetails with both my 30-30 and 35Rem with it and have not had to "track" any. all were shot from a distance of from about 25 yds. to 130 yds. every deer went in a heap where shot with the exception of the one that was running full tilt and that one went about 10 yds. thanks to knetic energy! One deer went in a heap at about 65yds. and the bullet never touched any vitle area. My hunting partner shot a small deer the same day at 45yds. with his 30-06, hit it thru both lungs and exited thru the opposite front sholder and we had to track it about 100yds. in heavy brush. Up to that time he laughed at me for using "gimmic" bullets, He now uses the 35 Rem. that I sold him! I'm not saying that these bullets are the only thing that will kill deer but after hunting whitetail for about 50 years they work the best for me! Thats my story and I'm sticking to it[:)] 0 -
Great! This is what I'm looking for.I wasn't aware that the leverevolution was available as a component already. I only have 30 or so of the 150's by Hornady and am impressed by the comments and results from Sierra and the leverevolution bullets.I know Core-Locks and well,any bullet will work and I like the slow and heavy school for close shots.I have to change tactics for deer in Pa. now and stump sitting just don't get it no more. I have to hunt them up like rabbits and shoot quick and accurate,don't need any of my bigger guns for this altho my 760 in '06 is a real killer with 165gr Ballistic tips but it is scoped like all my others and my 94 has open sights.I don't believe in brush bucking qualities of flat nose or round nose bullets. I tell my friends if you think my pointed bullets will deflect and miss you, go stand behind some jagger bushes and let me shoot at you. I haven't gotten a taker yet!Seriously, I wouldn't shoot at my friends but you get the drift.Maybe Mythbusters will do an episode on that subject? I'll look for the new Hornady's first and if they shoot good I'll stick to them and load some. If not Sierra's are next. I have a year to experiment. Thanks for your responses. 0 -
I have a pre 64 winchester 94. originaly as a kid my dad loaded the sierra 150's but I was having trouble planting them (deer) consistantly..I told him I needed more umff and he switched me to the 17o gr sierra. now that I am much older and load my own for the last 25+yrs it is still loaded the same. I firmly believe the heavier bullets in this peticular gun to be much more effective. when dealing with a cartridge that isnt very powerful per se its best to utilize heavier bullets they hit harder and penetrate deeper due to the difference in energy retained on impact. I personaly load the sierra 170gr flatnose with a charge of imr 3031 and a cci 200 primer. actual loads vary from rifle to rifle and so I have purposely omitted the powder weight. I recomend using the sierra loading manual and working up your load with their recomendations. I am partial to sierra bullets but admit that surely there are good bullets from other manufacturers too that perform equally or maybe better. I live by a motto...If it aint broke, dont fix it, and the loading remains unchanged for over 30years......I only got a 30-30 as a kid because of the western movies we all grew up with and loved. I wanted one of them cowboy guns that you never had to load and just kept on shooting!!! LOL I still havent figured out how them cowboys could drop a mountain buck at impossible ranges but hey...we all thought it was pretty cool! thankyou Mr. Wayne.....the ulimate cowboy! rest in peace.... 0 -
YEARS ago deer hunters were asked by one of the sporting magazines to let them know which caliber and bullet gave them the most ONE SHOT kills...In the 30-30 the 150 Grain out-paced the 170 grainers... 0 -
No offense mean't but that survey won't tell the whole story. You can drop a whitetail with a 22 LR hit behind the ear. Ask a poacher,they'll tell you.Gut shot with even an '06 is still a gut shot. I'm just looking for quick kills with hits in the boiler room.I guess what I'm really after is if one brand or type hardly opens up or one brand opens too fast.I don't want 30 cal. holes in and out. I had lung shot deer at up to 100 yds. run 50 yds with a 2" exit hole and blood spraying out both holes and the nose and mouth using an '06 w/165gr hpbt Gamekings from Sierra. Made tracking easy.If a 30-30 could come close to that inside 50-60 yds.I'd be happy but I really don't expect it. Neck shots are great if they hold still long enough and you ain't shaking with buck fever,being winded from climbing a steep hill, or cold.(Don't forget I'll be using open sights and yes, I still get the fever and if I ever lose it I'll quit!) Thanks for the replies. 0
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