Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Savage 219 30-30 stalking rifle

I have a 26" barreled single shot Savage 219 30-30 and should have the opportunity to shoot whitetails does in a suburban setting. Trying to set it up as a stalking rifle. Accuracy(neck shots?) and quietness are paramount shots will be absolute maximum 100yds with 50yds much more common.
What loads has anyone actually used?
something like a 125-150gr Ballistic tip?
other extreme a soft 190gr lead?
experiences?

No experience here but it sure sounds like fun. Are suppressors allowed where you shoot?

I owned a Savage 219 chambered for .30-30 for a number of years. It liked 150 grain Winchester factory ammo. Five shots into less than 1-1/2 inches using a 4x scope. Stupidly, I sold it.

I think for your purposes any factory ammo from up to 170 grains will do fine, assuming you can find any.

You will love it. Like R40X, I also had one that I stupidly let go of. They are slim, light, and in my opinion, downright elegant in their own way. Perfect for stalking, and mine was very accurate.

I have a 219 in 30-30 and 22 Hornet, and I have a vintage H&R two barrel 410 and 30-30 combo.

I load the 170 gr loads under 165 gr BT SP bullets, and the load has been a good 150 yard killer for several kids who used the guns on their first deer. I've loaned them out to many friends over the years, and their kids loved them...nice and easy to carry.

I traded a 219 30-30 barrel with a Savage scope mounted to a good member here and kept the open sight barrel I had. The H&R has a Weaver K3 P&CH mounted.

it wont be a $3000 German Jagd or British Stalking rifle but i dont see why it cant be a quiet quick classy American gentlemans rifle just the same.
Hornadys .308 190gr subsonic bullet looks interesting anyone using it on game?

Maybe look at some of the bullets commonly loaded into the .300BO that will perform at subsonic velocities and work up some reduced loads for them...

Yup. My first thought when I read the opening remarks was this very thing. Maybe one step further and go with a flat nosed 190-220 grain cast bullet, cast extremely soft so as to expand nicely at 1000fps or so.

Another bullet worth your consideration is the Speer 130 gr. FN if you can find them. I have used this bullet effectively on Whitetails (small sample of four) at 50/75 yards with shots placed just behind the shoulder and have read reports of similar success. My rifle is a Marlin 336A and loaded these rounds to standard velocities not subsonic. Interested in how your project develops.

Any recommended loads for the heavy and slow ?

Get thyself a Lyman cast bullet manual and read up on it. TrailBoss is one powder that comes to mind for this application. I've messed with minuscule charges of Bullseye and Red Dot but I'm not publishing loads because I don't know how careful other folks are when it comes to guaranteeing the prevention of double and triple charges.

I load the 165 grain flat base Interlock with RL15 for my Utica 219 in 30-30 and for my recently acquired Henry single. I have not hunted the load, but see no reason why it wouldn't work. The rifle is light, and handles well. I'd like to find a barrel in 22 Hornet.

Savage 219L-D single shot break action 30-30
1 in 12" twist
26" long.
7 pound rifle

220 gr HNDY round nose moly W748 2.92" 26" barrel, 30-30
Quickload prediction:
33 gr 51 kpsi 2176 fps
34 gr 56 kpsi 2232 fps
35 gr 62 kpsi 2287 fps
36 gr 68 kpsi 2340 fps
37 gr 75 kpsi 2394 fps
38 gr 83 kpsi 2446 fps brass and primer still look good
39 gr 92 kpsi 2498 fps primer very cratered, case full of powder, ball powder compresses a hair below 2.92"

I used some 120 grain Barnes TAC-TX bullets in a Henry 30-30 single shot I had recently. They are designed for the 300 BO. They shot very well in the rifle with no load work up but I have no idea what expansion on game would be like. I would guess they wouldn't need to be pushed hard in the 30-30 to perform well so that might work well for lower/starting loads at the ranges you're considering.

If you can get it, Hornady has a 30/30 subsonic ammo that works well.

yeah planning on trying that but WAY more fun to work up loads!

The load used was RCBS 30-150-FPGC (from Montana Bullet Works), 15gr. SR4759 (discontinued) and Federal 210M primers in RP cases, fired at 100 yards.

Yes! That's what I'm after!
Can you by chance tell me the numbers on the scope bases

I learned from another thread that the .30cal. 125gr. Ballistic tip is crazy deadly and some swear by it. I'm hunting with it this year.

If I recall correctly, they are both No. 43. They appear at the top of this photo, though not sharp enough to easily read the numbers: