Curious if anyone here has tried 30-30 bullets in a .308. I'm particularly interested in the Hornady 160 grain FTX. My woods rifle is a custom Mannlicher stocked model 788 in .308 with a 17" Douglas barrel. This rifle is very accurate with mild loads and 165 grain bullets, but I'd like a bit more expansion. Velocity with the 165 Nosler bullet is over 39.1 grains of IMR 3031 is 2460fps. Any and all input would be appreciated.

in my limited experience with three kills out of a 35 Remington, I've found the FTX bullets to be very frangible. No pass thrus, yes the hogs were dead, but i quit using them.

I have a Remington 7400 Carbine (18 1/2") .30-06 that I use for specialized occasions. These guns like bullets between 150-180grs. with powder burn rates around IMR(H)4895. Not top loads either. So I elected to try bullets designed for the .30-30 because of the reduced velocities. I had 4 boxes of the now discontinued Nosler 170gr Solid Base .30-30 FP. I worked up a load for them. They worked well at around 2400-2500 fps.

I would limit them to dear size animals. They expand like varmint bullets on flesh at close ranges. The gun sports a receiver sight and is used at close to moderate ranges. .30-30 bullets have terrible BC specs.

Not exactly what you were asking but sheds some light on bullet performance.

I think it's a workable idea, but for more insight, I'd go back and re-read everything Ken Waters has written in Pet Loads about the 30-30, the 308, and the 30/06.

He claimed that most 150-grain factory 30-30 loads ran about 2,200 fps, and that most 170-grain factory 30-30 loads ran about 2,000 fps, which is ~200 fps lower than advertised. He also said that if you load the 30-30 to published velocity, that the bullets expand quite a bit more.

In one of his Pet Loads columns on the 30/06, he mentioned a factory load from one of the Scandinavian countries that they call the 30-30/06, which does pretty much what you're talking about. I see no reason that the same idea wouldn't work in a 308, especially in a carbine that you're purposefully loading down a little. I'd tend to stick with RN bullets over FNs to make sure that they don't hang up on the feed ramp.

FWIW, I've used H4895 to load 30-30 bullets at reduced velocity in the 30/06 for years, at first because they were cheap and then because I needed a load for my son that didn't kick too hard. I also loaded up a bunch for a buddy to teach his wife to shoot with a Savage 99 in 308. Loads in both calibers were accurate and didn't kick much, but we never killed anything with them.


Okie John

30-30 bullets are made for 30-30 velocities.

They are not an optimum solution for .308 velocities.

They might pair nicely with reduced loads of H4895, but for full power .308 loads, you many not like the results.

You could switch to the 165 grain Speer boat tail. They're on the soft side.

Or use a Barnes 130gr TTSX and use it for short and longer range work.

Ed

Never done it, never wanted to but if you load your 308 to duplicate 30-30 velocity they will work excellent. If you push them higher than 30-30 velocity (about 2300fps) you may run into explosive expansion and separation. If you load them +-10% of 2300 you should still be OK.

Not exactly apples to apples but, last year I loaded the 160 FTX in my '06 at 2400 fps. Never got to try them on deer but did kill a mangy coyote and dug a part of the core (77 gr.)out of an oak after it passed through a couple of .50 cent size saplings.

Stoney;
Many years ago (20+) I carried a Ruger M77RSI 308 for most of my local deer hunting. I started out with 165 grain Hornady SP's, but was never happy with the accuracy. After several weeks of trial and error accuracy work I finally decided to try 150 grain 30-30 bullets in an attempt to get better bullet performance as well as accuracy. I settled on the 150 grain Speer flat nose and 45.8 gr of IMR 4064 in a WW case with CCI 200 primers seated to 2.655" loa. That load gave 2647 fps and 7/8" to 1-1/8" 5 shot groups out of the RSI 18.5" barrel and proved very deadly on many northern Minnesota whitetails. Of the many deer taken with this load I was able to recover but two of the projectiles, both exhibiting perfect expansion characteristics, with 7/16 to 1/2" expansion and jackets peeled back to the cannelure. I guess in retrospect, what I ended up with was a nice handy 300 Savage, but a very deadly one! (my reloading notes show a Speer product number of 2011....not sure if they still make this bullet or not) GOOD HUNTING...sounds like you have yourself a nice rifle as well!

Bill

I have a 308 RSI, thanks TDN, and I picked up 500 150 gr Accubond seconds that are accurate and a sample of 1 expanded to an inch and retained 75% on a close (35') shoulder shot.
I have been using Varget and xbr8208, loaded test loads with CFE223 tonight. 150 Sierra SBTs shoot very well too.

Lots of useful information here. Thank you

I ordered some 170 grain round nose partitions today. At 2500fps, I'm hoping for expansion and penetration.

They will be all they can be!

Those work real good.My friend shoots a 308 sometimes and i load for him.

150 grain roundnose for the 30-30 going just a tad faster than a 30-30 should go.
They do make a hole at 150 yards broadside.

You will get it.

Just make sure you have a sharp knife and plenty of room in the freezer.

I have a Rem 600 308, 18" barrel. Had the same problem with expansion. 150's to 180's I was either dis-satisfied with expansion or velocity. Wound up trying a 125gr BT/AB with Varget, against what many said was too light. BINGO !!!! Just don't try to bust through a shoulder blade and it will flat out Hammer deer.

I think that would be a most effective deer hunting rifle... easy to carry length...

but then typical me... I'd load it to 30/30 velocity with a 150 grain FN, or maybe 300 Savage speeds if I needed it pumped up a little, substituting a 170 grain FN for say a 180 grain load...

a 1.5 to 4 power scope on top...