Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Shopping List for 30-30 reloading

Just purchased a Winchester 94 in 30-30. I use a Dillon 550B for my handguns reloads. Would like to use it for the rifle. May hunt some pigs with it but will just plink a bunch first to get used to the rifle.

Can someone suggest what dies and other gear to buy that would work with the Dillon? Or does it matter?

mahalo

I loaded mine with Barnes 150 grain TSXs and I used LeverEvolution powder.

I AM DAMNNED IMPRESSED!!!

Hodgdon lists 28.5 grains as max. I started at 23 and worked up. When I hit 25.5 I was getting 3/4 inch triangles and 2400 FPS over my chrony. The muzzle blast and recoil was decidedly light. I think had I kept going I could easily have hit 2700 by the time I got to max.

Unless you've got some ungodly large pigs those bullets at that speed will go through every time and work nicely on the way through.

Not sure how to set up the Dillon specifically, but plain old Core-Lokts are cheap enough to plink with, and will surely get the job done on piggies and other things.

Thanks for the tips!

I've been loading for an M94 in 30 WCF, my first ever centerfire rifle, since I started loading. It is the one rifle which got VERY minimal attention... but for good reason. A then-max load of RL15 under a cup-n-core 150 gr RN (Speer HC, Win PP, RP-CL, Horn IL, whatever...) gives GREAT results, even w/ a 4.5x scope:



The center three are from a cool barrel; the other two are from a rapid 3-shot thread. Gotta loosen a screw in the barrel band to correct that, but obviously not the load's fault!

One thing I'll say as a hard core bolt-gun lover who neck sizes nearly all his brass, I found it most helpful to set my 30-30 FLS die to size JUST enough to allow easy chambering of the rounds. This has given me fantastic brass life even running what is now an over-max load.

Good luck; fantastic rifle!!

That is an excellent technique for loading to loading consistency in bolt guns too.

My M94 Winchester is very accurate with the Hornady 170 grain FP, not being too picky about a couple of powders I've tried in it.

I've ran 748 and IMR3031, and though the POIs are slightly different, the accuracy is about equal with either powder.

I prefer Winchester brass, and am using CCI primers to light either load.

OAL is 2.550" and crimped with a Lee FCD.

Great stuff efw. mahalo.

Nice group at 100 yds.

All I need to do now is buy the reloading hardware that will work with my Dillon 550...

Do you guys recommend the Lee Crimp die as well as the standard dies? Do I need anything "special"?

I assume you are single loading the .30 TSX's?

Doc

Thanks and my pleasure; happy to be of assistance.

That was the first group I'd printed with that rifle in many, many years and I was pretty excited to see the results!

Yes, I use the Lee Factory Crimp die in addition to a standard RCBS 2-die set with the seater dialed to put the case mouth over the cannelure. Obviously the Lee die adds a step, but I've found it easier on brass than the roll crimp built into RCBS seaters as well as more consistent.

No I believe he was talking about the one specifically made for lever guns... a flat-nosed, hollow-point offering?

I always crimped as a separate operation anyway, and like efw, have found that the Lee die seems to do a good job.

I would set the die to seat the bullet to the desired OAL, then readjust it to crimp. The Lee die allowed me to leave both dies at their respective settings, which in my mind, allowed the ammo to be more consistent from loading to loading.

I load the 170 gr Partition to 2425 fps in a 26" barreled '94 Winchester with RL-15, WW-cases and CCI-250 primers.

Believe it or not, it's an absolute meat and bone punch on WT deer and hogs to around 240 lbs.

Kills MUCH better than the silly paper ballistics predict.

Gunner

+1

You hit the nail on the head. Constantly adjusting your dies from seating bullets to contant crimping only leads to NON uniformity unless you have a machinist's back ground.

No. I am loading 150 grain Flat nose hollow point TSXs for 30-30s. They have a whopping big hole in the end and open nicely at pretty low velocity. have seen them open all the way in water jugs at <1500 FPS.