I've got a Savage 340 in 30-30 that I'm working up as a Yute rifle for #1 granddaughter.
Somebody somewhere mentioned using hollow-point boat-tail bullets. I've not been able to find actual working recipes.
Q: Have any of you actually used HPBT's in a 30-30 bolt gun? What bullet did you use? How did it work?
My dad bought a pair of the Savage 840s .. slightly dolled up 340s .. that were sold under the Western Field brand years ago, one for mom, one for grandma. (For Valentines Day no less.) He did quite a bit of load workup. He settled on 30.2 or 30.3 grains of IMR 3031 and 150 grain Sierra flat base bullets. In those cheap guns, with cheap POS 2-7X scopes, they'd give 3/4 inch 5 shot groups. Dad was all about accuracy. Problem was the velocity was not high enough and those bullets would "pencil" like made making them great for head shots and not much else. I remember mom shooting one of dad's cows and getting about 7 feet of penetration .. bullet went in the neck and lodged well down one ham. It wasn't hardly deformed at all.
I've wanted to try a couple of bullets ... Speer 130 grain HP, Speer 125 grain TNT, and Nosler 125 grain ballistic tip and Accubond. I think the light Accubond would do quite well in the .30-30.
Tom
