Loading for a couple of Marlin 336's-20 & 24" bbl's.I have a variety of powders available and am looking for suggestions,along with opinions on the 130's performance on deer.Thanks!
I am loading the Sierra 125 gr HP along with the Speer 130 gr flat point in a Marlin model 30 (Glenfield series) with a 20 inch barrel. The two most accurate powders are Hodgdon "LVR"with the Speer 130 gr and CFE223 with the Sierra 125 gr. Both loads are under 1 inch in my rifle for 3 shots.
I load 42.0 of LVR with the Speer 0 gr and 36.3 of CFE223 with the Sierra 125 gr. For what ever reason the Speer bullet impacts 13 inches higher on paper than the CFE223 and 125 gr. Sierra.
I will be using the 125 gr sierra this year so I don't have a bullets performance report for you.
I shot a feral hog in the neck with a 130 grain Speer on top of a hot load of 3031, killed the hog but angled into the far shoulder and didn't exit, found mostly in classic mushroom shape but it did hit some bone.
Not a Gunwriter... A sample of one. I used 36.0 grains of W748 with this load. Shot this Doe at about 40 yards tight behind the shoulder and she ran just far enough to make it over over the ridge top (20 yards or so) and then collapsed sliding down the offside to make me work to get her out. Bullet exited. I plan to experiment with Varget for future load development.
Indeed it was! Woods Walker,I have the exact same 336A with a Leupold 4x.
Mine wears a Texas made Weaver K3.
Shew me thy ways, O LORD: teach me thy paths. "there are few better cartridges on Earth than the 7 x 57mm Mauser" "the .30 Springfield is light, accurate, penetrating, and has surprising stopping power"
Woods, that is a sweet set up. The one I own has an early Lyman peep. Fun is the operative word. Bcraig Thanks for the article on loading the 30-30. Good read. Eep the idea of trimming the 110 flat for the varmint role. A whole new set of possible uses in the off season.
I used to only shoot shotguns and rimfires, then I made the mistake of getting a subscription to handloader.......
Regarding the link....some of Paco's .30-30 Improved loads seem a bit warm...and certainly don't follow the 4:1 rule of Mule Deer's for the relationship of increased case capacity and resultant velocity increase. I have Sam Fadala's book on the 94 Winchester...and felt the same regarding some of his loads. I like .30-30s, but have never felt the need to hot rod them.
After poking a big Alaskan river otter with a 'light' bullet for the 30-30 and having it come to rest in the elbow as shrapnel, never penetrating the back side of the animal, I decided to simply run 170 Corelocts and not worry anymore. (Too bad, those 130 Hot-Cors shot very well, and fast, in my M94s.)
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
I thinking about getting a 30/30 MGM barrel for my T/C pro hunter. Does anybody have experience with what grain bullet and powder would be good for this?
Last edited by MLC; 10/08/16.
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