30-30 question

[Possum]

I have no idea where my other post went.  But here goes again. I am shooting a 10" 30-30 barel and fixing to reload for it.  What is a good deer bullet that is reasoably priced that will do the job from 25-100yds on Southern deer from 80-165lbs?  Kind of want a economical bullet that I can shoot some without breaking the bank and at the same time be sighted in for deer.  Any ideas on bullet weight, style, brand?

[myronman3]

the reality is though that if you are staying under 100 yards,  the specialty bullets really wont gain you much.  they come into play once you get over 100.

[traveler59us]

I don't know why most people think that the 30.30 is so weak. I too have a 10" 30.30. useing a factory 150 grain I took an elk at 58 yards and the bullet went through the lungs on a quartering shot and lodged in the shoulder. When recovered and weighed it still weighed 127 grains. I would use this load again or the 170 grain both remington without any reservations.

[Major]

  I don’t know why most people think that the 30.30 is so weak either.   When I look at my ballistic tables I see that with almost any weight bullet the 30-30 has more velocity and energy at 100 yards than most .44 Magnums have at the muzzle.   I don’t call that weak!   :roll:

[Possum]

So I could use a 165gr Rem PSP and get enough expansion @ less than 100yds?  I'm thinking I probably could.  I'm going to load up a few and check them out.  I was reading on the other post about the 30-30 about using milk jugs with water.  What determines if the bullet is expanding... the exit hole on the other side of the jug?

[Bob/FLA]

Are you kidding me?  You can't kill NOTHIN' with a 30-30.  You have to have one of those new doubleblted, nuclear tipped, super magnums.   :roll:

I too would go with the 150 gr.  I actually use cast bullets for mine.  150gr and flat as a pancake on the nose.  You should hear them hit...SMACK!!!

It will do just fine for you.
Good luck!

[Ranger413]

Hornady 130gr. Soft Point.  I think the SSP (single shot pistol) bullet of the same weight is identical.  I've had terrific luck with these out of my .308 Winchester.  Never had a deer get away, they only have run a max of 30 yards.

Ranger413

[Bug]

Use the 165 PSPCL, that is. What you are going to run into here, is getting into bullets that are designed for higher velocity than you are going to have, and they won't expand. Pick a bullet 150gr or less, use a Nosler Ballistic Tip, or use a bullet designed for the .30-30 (round nosed, if you just have to have a 170gr). Do more than one!
  From a 10" .30-30 (I have & use one, and like it a lot!) I would stick to a bullet between 125gr and 150gr. You will have enough velocity to get it to perform, and trajectory will be flatter. The specially designed single-shot pistol (ssp) bullets were made for this application.
  Finally, consider the cost of your bullets against your total cash outlay. It is false economy, if not plain stupid, to scrimp on your bullet. It is the final stroke, to your whole effort. If that's not important, maybe you need to rethink some things. No flame intended, just some sound thinking.
 FWIW, I use 150gr flat points that I cast myself (you wanna talk cheep bullets?) for most of my shooting,,,,,,Bug.

[Possum]

Thanks for all the input.  I'm not going to scrimp on my bullets.  I just need something reasonable (like 9.00 per 100) that will kill a deer humanely at 100yds or less and also allow me to shoot a little for fun.  Noslers and the 20+/100 just get more expensive when I am plinking.  What I REALLY want is an economical bullet to plink with and then a hunting style that has the same trajectory.  That will come with time at the range and a little experimenting.  I think I am going with a 150gr bullet right now.  If that does not expand well, I will try a lighter bullet.

[Thomas Price]

I have very good results useing Hornady 130 gr. Single Shot Pistol bullets loaded with 30.5 grains of Reloader 7. I am shooting a 14" barrel and my groups are around 1-1/2" at 100 yards. Sorry to say but I have only shot one deer with this gun but it did a good job, the shot was about 80 yrds right behind the shoulder (exit hole was same place opposite side)and the deer only went about 40 yards. The deer weighed about 120 lbs. live weight.

[chez48]

I used Winchester 150 grain power point factory loads to take a fat doe at 15 yards this fall.  On shot put her down in her tracks.  The cartridges can be had around here (NY) for about $11 per box.  I have several boxes that I shot during the summer ready for reloading.

[444encore]

The .30/30 is no miracle round. It is merely adequate. The fact that it is the most popular and widely used round in the country for deer hunting has more to do with passed down traditions than it's efficiency of killing deer humanely. Truth is there are many more effective rounds on the market. It is "possible" also for the .30/30 to account for more lost deer
than any other round without it showing through it's reputation as "most widely used".
  I hope that there aren't many people relying on manufacturers charts of
"energy" to choose a hunting round. These figures are computer generated and really have nothing to do with a bullets ability to take down game. Energy figures do not take into account projectile diameter. A more realistic figure for the real world would be the T.K.O factor which adds the diameter into the equation and since after all when penetrating
a  soft target , interference translates directly into tranference of energy.
Obviously the larger the diameter the more the interference and the more energy transfered to the target. So Major, please don't rely on those charts that only take into account bullet weight and velocity.

[Johnly]

I have no idea where my other post went.  But here goes again. I am shooting a 10" 30-30 barel and fixing to reload for it.  What is a good deer bullet that is reasoably priced that will do the job from 25-100yds on Southern deer from 80-165lbs?  Kind of want a economical bullet that I can shoot some without breaking the bank and at the same time be sighted in for deer.  Any ideas on bullet weight, style, brand?

I have S-14 in 30-30 and a 30-30AI and I've settled on 150 grain bullets as the best balance between speed and penetration.  I tested 3 different  bullets, the 150 gr Nosler Ballistic tip, the 150 Rem Bronze Point, and the 150 gr. Rem 30-30 bullet when I was working up loads. The cheapest bullet, the Rem 30-30 bullet often punches the tigher group in my barrels and both barrels seem to like 748

John in Oregon

[Steve P]

I have to second John's post.  My 10" barrel likes the Remington 150s and 748 also.  

Good Luck,

Steve  

[hunt4570]

Are you kidding me?  You can't kill NOTHIN' with a 30-30.  You have to have one of those new doubleblted, nuclear tipped, super magnums.   :roll:

Do they chamber this for the contender?Where do I get one?I love my 14in 30/30(150 gr ballistic tips/130 hornady ssp)but if I could shoot the entire herd at 5000 yds with one of them fancy jobs it would be coooool :-D  :-D  :-D  :-D  :-D

[Gregory]

You asked the same question in your "What are you all shooting post" and this was my response:

I'm shooting a 300 Whisper out of a 10" barrel and settled on the Remington 125 PSP bullet. The Nosler 125 BT and Hornady 130 gr SSP bullets were slightly more accurate, but at 2000 fps I didn't like the way they worked on gallon milk jugs filled with water, the Remington bullet perfomed better.
I used the Remington bullet to take a spike buck this season, had complete pass through on a just behind the shoulder shot at 30 yds. Ended up with a dead deer that travelled maybe 80 yds after the shot. Not much of a blood trail however.
You may want to try the Remington 150 gr RN bullet, it performed well in my water jug test, but it wasn't as accurate in the Whisper as I wanted.

[Wesley]

Possum
I don't know how others do the milk jug test, but after filling with water I like to line up 4 or 5 single file going away. Then I try to shoot through  them all with one shot. Gives me a crude idea about expansion and penetration.
Wesley