Range Day

[PawPaw]

I went out to my private range today to shoot the new .30-30 Handi and the .308 Ultra Hunter.  These were the first rounds through the .30-30 and I was experimenting with 125 grain Sierra spitzer bullets, IMR 4895 and IMR 3031.  Groups at 100 yards were on the nature of 6 inches.  Disappointing.  Oh, they would kill a deer, but I hope to find a load that gives better accuracy.

Same story with the .308 Handi and 125 grain bullets.  Group sizes on the nature of 6".  I've done nothing to the rifle except to put a neoprene washer under the fore-end.  As a reference, I had a box of a load that I've used in lots of .308 rifles and shoots well in all of them.  I used that load in the Handi last year and it turned in really consistent groups of 1.5-2.0 inches.  I posted a fresh target and sent five rounds downrange.  Sure enough, I got a 2" five-shot group clustered nicely around the bull.  

I tried some cast bullets in the .30-30, a load I use in my Winchesters that features the Lyman 311041 and 27 grains of IMR 4895.  This load give me 1850 fps out of my lever carbines with accuracy around 4", wihich is good deer/hog medicine for the thick woods where I hunt.  I noticed more smoke than usual and when I looked at the chronograph, I saw that the load was turning in velocities hovering around 2000 fps out of the Handi.  All that extra smoke was probably the lube burning off with the extra speed.  A walk to the target showed me a 4" group.

I had loaded some 150 grain bullets but ran out of time and patience, so I packed everything up and came home.  I'll shoot those 150s at a later date.

[bikerbeans]

Experimenting, all part of the fun!

[gcrank1]

I would have thought those 125 Sierra spitzers would have done a lot better than that. Have you slugged the bore yet?

[necchi]

I tried those same bullets in my 308, same results, OK but nuthin to write home about.
I think their just a little short for the long throated handis.
Tried 165 Hornady SPFB and not much better, that actually suprised me I thought they'd do better. Will try 165 BT's in the future.
Next on the list is seirra 150 GK that I have loaded in a ladder, we'll see. This bullet also left the case before it reached the lands.

[quickdtoo]

I shoot the 125gr Sierra PH SPT in my 30-30 Improved, extremely accurate little bullet. 

Tim

[PawPaw]

I would have thought those 125 Sierra spitzers would have done a lot better than that. Have you slugged the bore yet?

Nope, I haven't slugged it.  Marlin/Remington/H&R make a lot of .30 caliber barrels.  I'd bet that it's a nominal .308 bore with a 1:10 twist, as that's about all you can get these days in a factory rifle.  All I did when I took it out of the box was clean it, insert a washer under the forearms, and mount the scope.  I haven't even shot factory ammo in it yet as a control.

I shoot the 125gr Sierra PH SPT in my 30-30 Improved, extremely accurate little bullet. 

Tim

That's the bullet I was using, Tim.  I was hoping for great things, but it didn't happen.  That's all part of the reloading game.  Now I know what doesn't work and I can concentrate on what might work.  I haven't found anything (.3030-.308-30-06) that will shoot that little bullet.  Maybe I'm trying to drive it too fast for the twist rate.  I tried three loads, and was driving it between 2400-2600 fps and no joy on accuracy.

This is going to be a grandkid rifle, eventually.  Still, I'd like to find one load that really shines in it.  I'll find that load, it'll just take a little more work.

[quickdtoo]

I'm pushing it almost 2900fps in my 30-30 Improved Handi, it should have the same 1:10" twist as yours, I don't think you can push it too fast in a 30-30. Perhaps it's a problem with excess bullet runout, how well does your seater die fit the nose of pointy bullets?

Tim

[PawPaw]

I'm pushing it almost 2900fps in my 30-30 Improved Handi, it should have the same 1:10" twist as yours, I don't think you can push it too fast in a 30-30. Perhaps it's a problem with excess bullet runout, how well does your seater die fit the nose of pointy bullets?

Tim

I don't think it's a problem with excess bullet run-out, Tim.  I've rolled the bullets across a tabletop and they look okay.  The seating stem in my die is a standard Lee seater for .30-caliber bullets.  It's tapered for spire-point bullets.  You bring up a good point, though, about seaters and how they should fit the bullet.  Most folks don't realize that the seating stem should fit the bullet nose.  I've modified seating stems with epoxy to precisely fit a particular bullet, and if you're seating flat point bullets, especially in calibers like the .30-30, it's easy to turn the stem around in the die to have a flat point to seat against.

[quickdtoo]

I had my first lesson on seater plugs with a Lee RGB 270 seating die and 150gr Nosler partiton seconds which had irregular lead tips, the hole in the seater plug was too small for the tip of the bullets, so it didn't center the bullet by pressing on the ogive, instead it would hang up on the lead tip and not be centered consistently, was easily solved by drilling the hole larger to press on the copper jacketed ogive instead. Flat point seater dies like the Lee 357mag aren't so easy tho, there is no hole, just a concave surface which as you mentioned, doesn't work worth beans on a spitzer bullet, not even a flat point like the 180gr Speer which I was loading.  I also recently learned the Hornady New Dimension 260 Rem seater plug won't work on VLD bullets, it's too shallow and the long narrow point hits the end of hole in the plug before the ogive touches. I just bought a Hornady concentricity tool which also can remove bullet runout, I ran some Remington 260 factory ammo thru it, all but one rounds measure .002"'.003" runout, but one had .006", that would more that likely been a real flyer had I not corrected it.

Tim