Sierra .308 (.30-30) 125gr JHP

[dks7895]

I have a Marlin 30AS .30-30 that I am outfitting with Skinner sights.  I plan to use it as an all around farm gun for varmints to whitetails. The property is mostly wooded so shots are going to be within 100 yards.

I am wanting to work up a good all around load for this, and I am interested in the Sierra .308 (.30-30) 125gr JHP bullet.  There are lots of powders and bullet types that work with the .30-30.  Does anyone have experience with this bullet in a Marlin levergun?  What powder do you like and how much?

[stimpylu32]

dks

While I have never used that bullet in the 30/30 , I have used the light weight 90g JHP's that were made for the 30 Carb. with some luck , both in single shots ( Handi & TC ) as well as a Win 94 . Both IMR 4895 and BLC-2 worked very well with the lighter bullets .

Now , depending on what part of the country your in ( Deer size ) and the type & size of varmints your after , you may want to look at a bit heavier bullet , something in the 150 to 165 grain range .

stimpy

[dks7895]

Thanks Stimpy...

Federal sells PowerShok cartridges using a 125gr JHP bullet for the .30-30.  I've read good things about them and want to try them, but cannot find any locally.  So I guess I'll have to make my own.  I've never reloaded for the .30-30, and there are several powders that work with it.  Just curious what others have used with success.  Save me a little trial and error.

[Catfish]

I loaded up some of them for a neighbor for coyote and groundhogs. They were plently accurate enough for the job, but as far as I know he never shot a coyote or a groundhog with them. He did take them to W. Va. and killed a deer with them. I gave him heck when I found out, but he put the bullet in the chest and it dropped like a rock he said. I still doubt that the bullet would penitrate much meat or stand up to heave bone, even deer bone, but for a varmint bullet in the 30-30 I doubt you could do better.

[Larry L]

I load for varmints 35.0 grs H335 under a Sierra #2020 125GR HP/FN. That's a max load so work up to it. It's very accurate out of the 3 Marlins I have including a trapper model. I'm not sure I'd use it on deer though. The bullet is probably moving at 2500'ps and is still in the explosive mode at 100 yds. Coyotes at 100 yds just drop in their tracks even with a bad hit. What few bullets I've recovered lost over 50% of their weight. It brings a new definition to shooting the 30-30 as a varmint gun. Another option is the 110gr RN carbine bullet using the same loading data. I've never chronograph it but it's sailing pretty good and is deadly on varmints too. Using H335 will give the old Marlin quite a bark too. Recoil is extremely light but there is nothing left of the bullet to recover at 100 yds. Even at 150 yds the bullet goes to dust but does it inside the animal.

[Mule]

I use that bullet in my Marlin 336.  I have also used it for 7.62 X 39 shot from an SKS.  With both guns the terminal performance on deer was impressive.  Usually DRT.  The SKS went down the road.  I am still using up my stock of .30-30 loaded rounds.  Unfortunately the powder I was using is depleted and not readily available.  I anticipate using BLC2 or AA2230 to develope an new load.  The guys at Sierra can be very helpful if you give them a call.

[spinafish]

I load that bullet for a friends Trapper length Marlin..I use 1 grain less than max of Varget listed for the 130 grain flat nose.  His son killed a nice 8 pt and a large doe last year with that load.  Its the most accurate load we have found for his rifle.

[Bob A]

I have been loading this bullet for a few years. I have found excellent loads with Reloader 7 and TAC. I know others who do well with H4985 and H335.
As you wrote in your post, there are a lot of powders that work well in the 30-30, and most of them work just fine with the 125 gr Sierra. Lyman's #48 says that Reloader 15 is potentially the most accurate with the Sierra 125 HP. If you have any of the medium fast powders on hand, it will probably work fine. If you have to buy a new powder, you might have a look at what is available in your area. Buying powder off the internet is easy but expensive if you only need a pound of powder. The Hazard Fee will be more than the powder. If you do buy on the internet, try to find the powder and primers at the same store and order them together, you will only pay one hazard fee that way.

Bob A