Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General One Lever Action arsensal 357 vs 45 vs 30-30

I've never tried Trail Boss, but I've never seen the need. Any flake pistol powder can be used in 30-30 cases to produce good results with the right bullet. I like Unique and Blue Dot, but H110 or 4227 also work well. My favorite powder for 2000-2200 with 115's is 4227. The H110 pressure curve is very steep, meaning that things go from mild to tops in a couple grains. I don't like the volatility, but I've gotten great results from it in regard to accuracy. It doesn't beat 4227 though, and 4227's pressure curve is far more flat. 4198 is another great one. And 3031. And Reloder 7. I've not tried CFE or Lever with cast bullets, but they are excellent with jacketed bullets, and my favorites, producing top speeds and excellent accuracy. My brother swears by 748 for jacketed and cast bullets 150-200gr. It was the powder my father used as well. 748 seems to be the perfect burn rate for the 30-30 case and its lower MAP.
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There is plenty of pistol powder data out there for the 30-30. www.castpics.net is a place I often glance at for loading data that is tested. If you go to the Reloaders Reference tab, scroll down to Cast Bullet Data Lookup, and then select "30/30" (not "30-30") from the drop-down menu, there are many loads listed that correlate with Lyman's and RCBS's cast bullet data, as well as that of gun writers and powder manufacturers.

Sounds like some good info HuntnShoot.
I'll try to get out this weekend and put 60 or 80 downrange to make some brass. Then next weekend hit the fun show to do some horse tradin for some loadin supplies. Who knows what lies in wait.

You should post a pic of your new to you rifle. Another scope option you might look at is the Weaver Classic V 1-3 x 20mm. Plenty of reviews on it there at MidwayUSA.

yep Weaver 1-3x20........helluva bargain for $160 ish......

Marlin SS 44 mag 2005

Can't seem to figure out how to add a picture from my fancy phone camera. Went to image gallery, but when I try to choose a file I get nothing.
Says HTML disabled, but not exactly sure what that means or how to enable it, or if this is preventing uploas from phone.

I have a VX1 1-4x20, but waiting til I find the perfect base before I take the 3-9x40 off.

1-3x or 1-4x20 fits purfect

Kind of jumping ahead here to get my 2 cents in, A Rossi 92 short rifle in 45 Colt will run a 300 gr XTP at 1700 FPS which will/would probably give a grizzly bear second thoughts about is future behavior. A 300 gr to 325gr hard cast would probably shoot thru the same grizzly end for end. A 250gr bullet at over 1800FPS will reach 150yd easily and a 0.452" hole thru a whitetail will leave a short blood trail. My Rossi weighs almost exactly 5# and as been fitted witha shotgun style stock. A 5# rifle running the 300gr gives a stiff little kick with 300 gr. Recoil with a 454 tends to move the magazine tube forward. Also with appropriate pressures a 45C will exceed a 44 magnum by about 10% in kinetic energy.

I may just gas up some 250 grain XTP's and use my 20" Rossi 45 Colt to thump Bambi this year.

Here she is as delivered. Marlin 30TK 30-30. For now, my one and only centerfire levergun. The 18.5" barrel is just right for a knockabout, woods bumming, rock-paper-critter poppin rifle.

As soon as I get around to locating a new base, I'll put the 1-4x20 on her. She's a little top heavy right now.

Nice. That scope is a touch large for the carbine, LOL.

How are you getting 1700 fps/mv with a 180gr XPT from a lever gun? .357 Mag, correct? Or, was that a misprint? Curious.

If I could only have one, I would choose:

1 1895 in 40-72
1 1894 in 25-35
1 1873 in 38-40
1 1892 in 44-40
1 1876 in 45-60
1 1886 in 40-65
1 Marlin 1889 in 38-40
1 Marlin 1894 in 44-40
1 Whitney Kennedy in 38-40

I've had two Marlin 1894C's and one Rossi 92 in .357. I 've also had a half dozen 336's in .30-30. I put thousands of rounds, both handloads and factory through all of them and never found the .357 to be as accurate as the .30-30. I never got close to .30-30 power out of the .357's either. The best I could get out of my .357's was 1885 fps with a 158 grain XTP over a book max load of lil gun. I suppose 1700 fps would be possible with a 180 but doubt it would best a 170 partition at 2200 or a 190 grain Hawk at 2000 out of a .30-30 for penetration.

That’s a lot of ones. Something close to 29 1’s in 38-40. I will probably need more ones after I get this one broke in good.

What load you using to get that? The highest estimates I've calculated in quickload were around 1800 FPS with a 200 grain bullet before running out of powder space, much less a 300!