Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New 30-30 bullet question ?

Just received a box of Nosler's 150 gr. E-Tip 30-30 bullets.

They do not have a crimping cannelure. I've always crimped lever action rounds, so I emailed Nosler and asked about it.

Also asked about load data for this long monolithic bullet. Never had much luck running hard bullets out of a 30-30, below average velocity coupled with terrible accuracy.

Their answer was that the bullet done well in their test and to use normal 150 grain load data.

I'm using Hodgdon Leverevolution powder and will start at the bottom and work up, can't imagine it will make it to max. Bullet is long, would work great in a .308 Win timber rifle.

The bullet has an awesome ballistic coefficient but without good velocity may as well use regular soft points...

You think this bullet will slip in the case ?



Barnes 150 gr. Left
Nosler 150 gr. E-Tip center
Hornady 150 gr. right

A Lee factory crimp die will secure it with no cannelure needed.

Just out of curiosity, why bother with a mono in .30-30 unless you're required to for some reason (ie lead-free regs or similar.) They've been making really good C + C bullets for .30-30 for a long, long time. The bullets have been made for that single cartridge's performance parameters, they work well and they're cheap.

Just wondering.

This is true,but I don`t believe they will slip without any crimp.

I was thinking the same. That bullet seems like the answer to a question nobody asked.

I've played with most all 30-30 bullets, trying something different. What other 30-30 bullet has a coefficient of .344 ?


Thanks Loco used the Lee crimp, it should work.

i run nosler 150 bt in my 3030 savage mod 99. no worry about the tip and deer and hogs just fall down D R T !

Now that's what a mono cavity ought to look like. I'd love to see that bullet with a pointy tip moving at 3000fps. It would work nicely, I think.

I've seen .30-30 factory loads that slipped. I sure wouldn't trust those.

170 Sierra has shot better than anything I have ever loaded and I've tried alot. I could see that slipping, you could always load a couple with no powder, put them in the mag tube first then fire 15 rounds or so and see if they slip any. The Lee factory crimp die will do a pretty good job if set correctly

Same here.

The solution to having bullets slip when used in a tubular magazine gun is to abandon such relics and switch to a rotary magazine Savage lever action!

I haven't crimped a .30-30 bullet since, like, ever.

High BC of these new bullets? Meh. What does that matter at close-up woods distances where .30-30's shine? Good expansion? As good or better than a SierHornSpeeCorlct? If not, why bother? Better penetration? Unless you're planning on sticking big bears, bull elk, musk oxen, and woolly mammoths with a .30-30, again so what.

Aside from acceptance in those misguided areas that require lead free ammo, I agree with the previous comment of it being the answer to a question nobody asked.

I think this is the first time in my life (and I'm old) that I've ever seen ".30-30" and (ballistic) "coefficient" used in the same sentence.

Don't get me wrong, I have .30-30 dies and when my boys were at home I reloaded .30-30's for them. They took a lot of pride in the fact that they shot stuff with Dad's homeloads. Today, if I had a .30-30, I'd just buy a couple of boxes of Remington, Winchester or Federal factory loaded 170's and never look back.

I think if I had to use those bullets, I'd pull the expander plug and make sure it was significantly smaller than bullet diameter, to assure a tight bullet fit. I'd also tumble the cases after resizing, to make sure the inside of the necks are completely dry and free of lube.

I guess if I owned one rifle, and wanted to stretch the range of a .30-30, that would be a possible answer.

The old smooth side Barnes X 150-grain bullet worked well in the .30-30 and .30-30AI. It was one of the most accurate bullets I have shot in the .30-30's regardless of barrel length or powder used. I had no trouble with the bullet receding in the case - most my loads were 100% load density. I used the Lee Factory crimp with satisfaction.
The Barnes bullet works very well on our light frame deer. The bullet opens quickly and penetrates well.