180g rn hornady safe for 30/30

[351 power]

are these bullets safe in tube magazines? is the cannuler band in thr right place to crimp? thank you

[Siskiyou]

A good question, because it has a similar profile as the Hornady 150-grain RN that Hornady recommends for the 30-30 and I load for the 30-30.  I went all the way back to Hornady VII manual and there is no data for the 180-grain RN in the 30-30 section, currently or in the past.

The cannelure is not a critical issue it is the overall length of the completed round.  The long 180-grain bullet is going to eat up the limited powder space in the small 30-30 round reducing the launch velocity.  Hornady recommended velocity for the 180-RN is 2400-3400 fps you are not going to be able to load the 30-30 to the bullet design standard.  The crimping issue can be taken care of using a Lee Factory crimp die.  My loading for the 30-30 with bullets recommended for it indicates that most loads are close to being compressed and there is not room for a 180-grain bullet.

Hornady data shows the 170-grain flat point designed for the 30-30 just making 2100 fps with maximum charges.  

Even the old 303 Savage only made the high 2100 fps with a maximum charge pushing a 170-grain bullet when sporting a 26-inch barrel.  In the far past there were 190-grain bullets designed to expand at 303 Savage velocities. 

The 180-grain Hornady RN is a tougher bullet and I doubt that reliable expansion can be counted on.  

[351 power]

those are great arguments i had not thought about. the 30-30 is my new project. i have the 180s here but they probably wouldn't be a great choice. thank you for the response.

[kevinsmith5]

Hodgdon also only goes to 170 gr loads and their max velocities are mightly low (sub 2000).

[30063030223357]

Hornady 170 grain flatpoint are a better choice. I've used them for years in the 30-30 and they are great deer killers! They will put down a deer faster than a pointed 30.06 any day. Just from my experience!

[PawPaw]

At .30-30 velocities, it's hard to beat the old standards.  The Hornady 170 grain or the Remington Core-Lokt 170.  Both are designed to work at .30-30 velocities and the bullet manufacturers have long experience with those bullets.  I'd hesitate to calculate the number of deer that have been killed with a 170 grain bullet traveling ~ 2000 fps.

Both of those bullets are safe for tubular magazines, as is any bullet recommended for the .30-30.  There are numerous 170 and 150 bullets made by Hornady, Remington, Speer, Sierra, Winchester, that are safe for tubular magazines.  One of my favorites is the 130 grain Speer flat point.  It's designed for .30-30 velocities and is very accurate in my Handi. 

The .30-30 is one of my favorite cartridges.  It's a great round that is often overlooked by shooters who want something more whiz-bang. 

[simplicity]

I have loaded the hornady 180 rn in the past and had no issues (I had alot of them), though at the moment I can not find my data I had it was about 14 years ago when I did it. If you can get your hands on some of the older loading manuals one of the origanal loadings from winchester was a 190gr. i took that data and used it since it was a lighter bulllet. It accually turned out to be quite accurate in my pre 40's 94. So I say yes you can load them look up the 190gr data and start from there.

[Siskiyou]

I just made a run at my reloading manuals dating back to Lyman’s 42nd Edition, copyright 1960.  No data for jacketed bullets over 170-grains in the 30-30. 

303 Savage data in the same manual list loads for 180 and 190-grain bullets.  By the 44th Edition data for the 180 and 190 grain bullets were dropped for the 303 Savage.

Catch-22 is the charges for the 30-30 and the 303 Savage for the 170-grain load appear to be the same.  I believe one of the reasons is the market for a 190-grain bullet designed to expand at low velocities produced by the 303 Savage had disappeared. 

In 1956 I hunted with a barrowed M99 in 303 Savage.  HB had owned the rifle before WWII but finding ammunition had become difficult and when he came across it he bought.  The end of the low velocity 190-grain 30-caliber bullet was in sight.  HB had bought a new Winchester M88 in 308 Winchester, and hunted with 180-grain Silvertips; a bullet that worked at 308 velocities on deer.
(HB could have extended the use if his rifle if he had been a reloading.  He had boxes of once fired brass from his rifle.  But he could not find any one who reloaded for it.)

Manufactures were already loading a different 180-grain bullet in the 300 Savage, 30-40 Krag, and 30-06.

Manufactures got the design of good 30-30 class bullets down pat.  I have been involved with the dressing of numerous deer taken with standard fair 30-30 bullets and the bullets have produced advertisement type mushrooms.