Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Pyrodex In My 30-30?

With the powder shortages I was wondering how well loading Pyrodex would work in some of my rifles. Since it doesn't brew up a lot of pressure, I would think it would work and be a mild loading. I realize it's dirty and makes a lot of smoke.

30-30 was once a blackpowder round wasn't it? Seems like it should work fine

The .30-30 has never been a blackpowder round, it was actually the first commercially available smokeless powder round.

It was originally known as the .30 WCF.

Pyrodex is pretty corrosive, so cleaning immediately is very important.

If the fired cases aren't thoroughly cleaned and dried after use, they'll be ruined. Also magnum primers are recommend for BP or subs. Although I've not tried standard primers.

Thoroughly cleaning the rifle after use would be good too.

Also, you may want to contact the manufacture to check. And read up on BP and sub cartridge loading. Its important to avoid dead air space in the load, and some subs warn against over compression.

If I were to do it the gun would be reduced to individual pieces and cleaned better than new ASAP after shooting.

30 caliber, 30 grains smokeless powder. As has been said, clean everything thoroughly after using Pyrodex, it's nasty stuff.

Let us know how it works.

I'll shoot it in my vintage H&R Topper 410/30-30 2 barrel combo I bought 50 years ago. The 30-30 is spooky accurate with the old K 2.5 I put on top.

Nope

Seems like this should lead to a discussion of the .32 Winchester Special.

Hi. Am sure you could, but i’d dread the fussing over corrosion. BO gets a bad rap. It’s the subs that are a beech. Being a break action, at least it’s fewer parts.

You come up this summer and you can have this pound someone gifted me!

You still in Libby, Doc?

I might make it up there and do some Kokanee fishing on Koocanusa.

I have been resisting so far, but will now comment:

The .32 Special appeared shortly after the .30-30, and is essentially the .30-30 necked up to .32 caliber, but the barrels had a 1-16 rifling twist instead of the 1-12 twist of the .30-30 (or, for purists, the .30 WCF). This allowed the .32 Special to be handloaded with black powder and still result in reasonable accuracy, because the slower twist and larger bore didn't foul as much. Some people have disputed this, but the original Winchester records (and other contemporary publications) bear this out.

I have also tested it in a Winchester Model 94 made in 1952, and got well under minute-of-deer groups (in fact rivaling smokeless, jacketed loads in the same rifle), with both cast and jacketed bullets. Did an article on this for Handloader magazine long ago. May have even reprinted it in one of my pre-Gun Gack books.

The reason Winchester went to the trouble was that reloading with early smokeless powders was pretty hazardous, due to a lack of data and the tendency of handloaders used to black powder to assume filling up the case completely was necessary.
During my research I found that handloading with black powder was really common even in many "smokeless" cartridges up until about World War Two, especially during the Depression, because black was cheaper than smokeless--and often more available, especially in rural areas.

A friend of mine loaded up a .30-06 round with black and fired it off in his 1917 Enfield. Along with the necessary cleaning job, the rifle stunk to high heaven.

Gee, did it smell like sulphur?

Dunno what you plan to do with such loads, or what kind of bullet you're thinking of, but a suggestion just for grins. Fill the case with whatever junk you want to shoot with and put a round ball in the case. Did this awhile back using real BP in the Sneezer.





Hornady makes .311" diameter round balls. Little flare on the case mouth, gently tap the ball in place and a touch of SPG lube followed with a mild crimp.

i have used Black in 45-70, 38-55, 45-60, 375 win, 32-20, 25-20, 35 rem, 30wcf, 310 cadet, 30-06, 250-3000 sav., 45 colt, 45 acp, 357 mag, 38spcl, 44-40, 32-40 wcf. and probably some more i can't think of. oh yeah, 12, 20, 16, and 410. gauge.

some suck with bp and some shine. cleaning is actually easier with a bolt action then a muzzle loader. every shooter in America should know how to make Black powder.
many showed excellent accuracy, paired with cast bullets whats not to like.
brass cleaning is one drawback. must be done quickly, can't sit in a to do bucket for a couple weeks. i have maybe 10 45-70 cases that are black around the mouth, and a little brittle. work fine for BP but they are saved just for that.

wife claims it's rotten eggs!

Any real blackpowder cleans up easier with less effort than any substitute. 3-4 wet patches in a shiloh 45-70 then a couple of dry ones followed by an oily one good to go. Less time than smokeless but you have to do it everytime you shoot the gun. Mb

Might also comment that I never had any problem with cleaning my .32 Special after shooting it with black powder. I opened the action, then ran a cleaning rod down the barrel until I could hold a brass brush, wrapped with a cotton patch soaked in solvent, inside the ejection port and hold the brush while I screwed the rod onto its threads. (This is far easier than it sounds) Then I pulled the brush/patch OUT through the bore. Didn't take long to get the bore clean without getting any fouling inside the action.

It's much easier to push a brush through the rear of the barrel--which is one reason falling-block actions are so popular among BPCR shooters. But it's equally easy through a break-open rifle..