Loading spitzer style boolit in 30-30

[Hank Zudd]

bought a box of what I thought was .308 110gr RN HP's; turned out to be spitzer style 110gr HP's. The HP opening is flat, but can I run it thru a Marlin 336 without worry?

Would the bullet be worth any added accuracy or added trouble in using it in the gun as a 2 shot if not able to fill up the tube?

I can probably take em' back, but just wondering?   thanks

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Hank, I have shot a lot of 110's and 125's out of my Marlin .30-30. It is a 24 in. barrel with half mag. As you said, I only loaded one in the chamber and one in the magazine. If you were going to shoot some chucks at a couple hundred yards, I think they would be fine. I have about quit loading for my .30-30's. For the ranges I use 'em the factory ammo is fine. To have more pratice and save $ or increase your range would be a reason to load this ammo. For pratice, I use my bolt guns, the same when I want more range, so for my use, the factory stuff is fine. If I were in Pa. and wanted to use my .30-30 all summer for chucks I would load them and shoot em. For deer I guess I might want a couple more rounds in the magazine.

[coyotejoe]

Well, I'm probably opening a can of very slimy worms here but I really think the alleged danger of spitzer softpoint bullets in tube magazines is highly overrated. I once put a primed case in a vise and hammered a softpoint bullet against the primer, it totally flattened the softpoint back to the jacket and never marked the primer. Now FMJs would be another matter. If a smokeless powder cartridge should somehow detonate in the magazine there would not be sufficient confinement to build up dangerous pressure, most likely the primer would just pop the bullet out and the powder would fizzle.  More of an issue for a tube magazine is the crimp groove to prevent bullet setback in the magazine, do your 110 bullets have a crimp groove?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Joe, somewhere in the past, I did read in one of Elmer's columns I believe where a bullet did detonate in the magazine of a Model 71,I think, and it blew the magazine off of the rifle and maybe a few fingers off the shooter, BUT IT DID HAPPEN. While one primer may not go off the next might, try if you like, but it is not for me.

[RaySendero]

My brother has been loading his 30-30 with 125 gr pointed bullets for years.  He's plugged the mag to stay safe - Loads one in chamber then one in mag.  He's killed a lot of deer with that set-up.  Says he only needed the second shot one time.

[Hank Zudd]

thanks for all the imput. I'll probably use these as varmit loads in conjunction with my standard round nose fodder.

2 x at a time isn't a death knell for using this combo.   

[Hank08]

having a 30/30 go off in the mag tube is about as likely as winning the lottery but the possibility is there so I don't load pointy ones in mine.
H08

[Travis Morgan]

I just don't see where you're gonna gain enough accuracy in a .30-30 to make it worth the (negligible) risk. Primers will take a hell of a beating without going off, but I don't really want to lose a gun or some fingers proving myself wrong.

[coyotejoe]

Joe, somewhere in the past, I did read in one of Elmer's columns I believe where a bullet did detonate in the magazine of a Model 71,I think, and it blew the magazine off of the rifle and maybe a few fingers off the shooter, BUT IT DID HAPPEN. While one primer may not go off the next might, try if you like, but it is not for me.

Who ever made pointed bullets in .348 caliber?

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Joe, as I said I don't remember what the lever gun was. I thought the same thing about the .348 caliber, I don't remember any pointed bullets either. But for some reason that rifle and caliber stuck in my head. It well could hav e been something else, even a .30-30, but I remember a picture of a lever gun and the caption, IT DID HAPPEN! in one of the books or magazines that Elmer wrote.

[mcwoodduck]

I always wondered if the bullets even line up on the primers of the round infront or are lower?
As the bullet is tapered I wonder if the skinny, pointy front end does not drop in the mag and rest on the rim gravity tells me it will.
but under heavy recoil I can see things lining back up.  i do not think you are going to have that kind of recoil with a 110 grain bullet.
But better safe than sorry.  Sounds like one for myth busters.
I tend to load for the weak action and figure i know what I am doing but have other people at the range (customers and friends) that shoot my guns as well and do not want to give them the oppertunity to screw up my stuff.  Once had a customer try to stick a 308 Win in a Engfield 303 saying .005 difference should work.  Lickily the gun would not close.  He is no longer invited out to the range.
And since then I would only have ammo for the weakest action in the ammo locker.

[coyotejoe]

Well my only 30/30 is a singleshot but I still load roundnose and flatpoints because I know they are designed to expand properly at 30/30 speeds and within 200 yards, long shot for a 30/30, there really isn't much to be gained from spirepoints anyway. I have loaded some Hornady 130 grain spirepoints just to see how they compared to the Speer 130 grain flatpoints but since they grouped about the same I decided to go with the Speers. It was interesting to find that I could easily get over 2700 fps with those 130 grain bullets from the 26" barrel.

[T.R.]

This a favorite for shooting 'lopes out to about 225 yards or so. If I wanted to load a full magazine, I'd clip the tips with bulldog snips.

TR

[lgm270]

Joe, somewhere in the past, I did read in one of Elmer's columns I believe where a bullet did detonate in the magazine of a Model 71,I think, and it blew the magazine off of the rifle and maybe a few fingers off the shooter, BUT IT DID HAPPEN. While one primer may not go off the next might, try if you like, but it is not for me.

I read the same thing Wyo Coyote.   I read the same  Elmer Keith story  in Guns & Ammo Magazine.  Your  recolletion of the specific rifles (i.e M-71), nature of damage and injuries to shooter is identical to mine.

[fknipfer]

I don't remember for sure but I don't think I have ever taken more than two shots at a deer.  If you can't get them within two you are just wasting your ammo.  One in the magazine and one in the chamber probably makes more sense as it makes you hunt better and take you time.

fknipfer

[coyotejoe]

Yep, I don't feel a bit handicapped with a singleshot. The only time I ever used "a quick second shot" was for "a quick second deer", but in that instance I was shooting an M-70 in 6.5 Swede.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

Igm270, thanks for the info. I was pretty sure I had read that, but as we get older, who knows??