Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 30-30 ruger #1 handloads

What bullet are you running?

I shoot 170 partitions out of my marlin 336 30-30.

I've been loading 150 Partitions for my K1A 30-30 with maximum book loads of LVR. I don't have the chrono numbers handy, but accuracy has been close to MOA. I've also had good luck with accuracy using the 165 Partition. I carried the 150s last season for white tail but didn't get an opportunity to take anything.

130gr Speer Single Shot Pistol Bullet and 40gr CFE223. Depending on barrel length that load will get close to 2600fps.

Following up on this, I checked my notes:

150 NP, CCI 200 primer, 38.5 gr LVR - 2560 FPS and 2" at 100 yards. Higher velocity than what Hodgdon shows for that charge weight with a WLR primer and 24" barrel.
150 NP, WLR primer, 38.5 gr LVR - no chrono info, two groups recorded, one at 1" and one just over 1/2" at 100 yards. Must have been one of my better days.
165 NP, CCI 200 primer, 36.5 gr LVR - 2400 FPS and a 1" group at 100 yards.

The first 150 NP load with the CCI primer was when the K1A was brand new, probably less than 10 or 15 rounds through it. Seems worth trying it again given the excellent velocity. I have some of the WLR loads remaining and will use the chrono next time I shoot it. It won't be soon since there is about four feet of snow at the gate to the range I belong to after last week's dump. Any of these loads should work fine at typical woods deer ranges. The 150s were on sale recently at Shooters Pro Shop and may still be.

There are many different opinions on how to get good accuracy from No. 1s. For what it's worth, I use a small piece of 1/16" rubber between the barrel and the forward end of the forearm on my No. 1s. I then tweak the forearm screw tension to try to find the best group size. This simple approach has worked well on at least a dozen of these rifles I have owned. I have a couple that have not responded to this technique, but it takes time to find the best screw tension and I'm not done with them yet. Also, my groups are usually only two or three shots since I'm more of a hunter than a precision target shooter. If I get under 1.5" from the first two or three rounds from a cold barrel, I'm usually satisfied and depending on the intended game, may conserve components instead of trying to shrink group size.