Pointed bullets in Marlin 336

[goodconcretecolor]

I find the Honnady LeveRevolution loads fancinating but would like to safely do something similar with handloads. If I load only a cartridge in the chamber andonly one in the magazine, there would be no points on primers. A Hornady 150 SST at 2300 fps would be a very viable 300 yard deer load and have 2 quick shots available. Would this work?

[stimpylu32]

Let me give a firm MAYBE , there a few things to consider here , one being the case OL , with the longer pointed bullets you may not have enough clearance to properly feed the 2nd round from the mag with out jamming .

And 2nd. you stand the chance of forgetting that you have a round in the mag and sticking another one in on top of it which will make bad things happen .

It may work , BUT from a safety stand point i would NOT recomend it , i just do not think it is worth having a rifle blow-up in my face to find out , when the Hornady Ev. ammo will work safely .

stimpy

[Wingman26]

I think that's the biggest thing, at some point you might forget and have more than one in the magazine, that could create a really bad situation.

[goodconcretecolor]

Would it be possible to plug the magazine the same way a shotgun magazine is plugged for hunting?

[stimpylu32]

GCC

Yes that would be posable to do but you must still take the case OL into account to make sure that the 2nd round would feed properly .

stimpy

[coyotejoe]

I think a bigger question is how those pointed bullets would perform on game at the reduced velocity of a 30/30.  One of the reasons the 30/30 developed such a fine reputation is that round nose and flat point 150 and 170 grain bullets are designed expressly for the 30/30 and no other. With 150 grain spirepoints you can't know if it was designed for a 300 savage at 2600 fps or a 300 mag at 3600 fps. One thing you know for sure, it was NOT designed for a 30/30.
  My own 30/30 is an old Savage m219 singleshot and I have fired quite a few spire points, mainly Remington 165 grains, through it with excellent accuracy. But for hunting I stick with flat point or roundnose bullets which I know are designed to expand and behave properly at 30/30 speeds. I'd rather have a bullet retaining 900 ft.lb. which expands properly than one with 1300 ft.lb which may behave like an FMJ. The ballistic coefficient of the Speer 130, 150 and 170 grain flat points is not all that much worse than spitepoints and you can push the 130 grain over 2600 fps for about the flattest shooting you can get in 30/30.
  For a strictly hunting load you will never burn much ammo and the cost of the Leverevolution won't add much to the cost of a hunt.  I haven't yet tried the 30/30s but in my .35 Rem I got 2192 fps, not much under the factory claim and the 1/2" group at fifty yards beats any handload I've yet tried. That will be my hunting load for sure because I know the bullet was designed for the cartridge. I could load spirepoints in that Remington pump but would not trust then to perform properly on game since they were likely designed for higher velocities than the 2200 fps I get with heavy loads in the .35 Rem.

[goodconcretecolor]

I called Hornady and they said this bullet will expand reliably down between 1800 and 1600 fps. At 2300 fps muzzle velocity, the 150 grain SST will have a velocity of 1745 fps and over 1000 fpe at 300 yards. I don't think the velocity is an issue.

[beemanbeme]

I think Stimpy's point about the spitzer bullet effecting the COL to where it wouldn't feed might be the main problem. I'd check that out and then go for it. 


Or leave things alone and get closer......... 

[GANDER]

 I run 250 gr SPTZ thru my 336 in 35 rem with no problems. I do load one in the chamber, one in the mag as others have described. I had to play a bit with the seating depth to get it to feed right but when all was said and done. I have an accurate gun that will put the THUMPOLA on deer and even elk.