Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Good 30-30 loads

Does anyone have a good, accurate load for the 30-30? I have a 336CS that hates all the factory stuff I've tried and isn't too fond of the reloads that i've worked up either. Bad groups in the neighborhood of 2-3" at 50yds. The reloads I tried were 150gr Sierra FN bullets, Rem cases, Fed 210 primers, and 33.5 gr AA2520. Anybody have any good loads??? I would consider 170gr bullets if I needed to. Thanks, -kgonzo.

I've reloaded the .30-30 a little bit, but not a lot. What has worked so far is the Speer 170gr. bullet, W748, WLR and CCI250 primers, with W-W and R-P cases. This is the only hunting bullet I have tried so far, and I can keep 20 consecutive rds. in a paper plate at 100yds off hand. I realize this is not a terribly exacting standard, and makes comparisons difficult, but that's what I do. I have used H335 with this bullet, and it has been sometimes good and sometimes bad. Other bullets I have tried(just because I have them laying around)are the Sierra 150gr. BTSP and 125gr. Spitzer. Neither group as tight as the Speers, but the loads are only just started, and not developed.

Kgonzo,<P>You might want to read a 30-30 article by Paco Kelly....go to the following URL....<P><A HREF="http://www.sixgunner.com/paco/3030again.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sixgunner.com/paco/3030again.htm</A><P><BR>(Quote from the article)<BR>"The best bullet I have found so far for my 30-30s is the Speer 130 grain flat tip. H322 gives this bullet 2720 fps.... with a 3 inch high point at 100 yards it is down only 12 inches at 300 yards... goodness are we still talking about the 30-30?" (end Quote)

the marlin should shoot, those are lousy groups, kgonzo... I have a marlin 336CB that will group 1.5" at 100 yards, it has the Ballard rifling, i dont know if that makes a difference or not...gutpile

El Lobo, Thanks for the link, that was very informative. I'll give some of his recipes a try as well as some Youper has posted as well. Thanks, -kgonzo.

Kgonzo,<P>Yes, very interesting.....a 130gr .270 bullet at 3000 fps has been considered good elk medicine for a lot of years!<P>El Lobo in NM

I've been having good luck with 35 grains of BL-C(2) in Winchester and Remington cases in my Model 94 trapper. Only 150 grain bullets work for me, because the 170's just don't have the rpm's to stabilize properly in that short 16" barrel. I have to try those 130's Paco Kelley was talking about. <P>Talker<BR>

Might be a common thread here!??<BR>My .30-30 group sizes suddenly got much, much smaller in both a 94 Win. (cut rifling) AND a 336 Marlin (button rifling) when I went to Speer bullets. <BR>My best load uses the Speer 150 gr. Flat Soft Point with Win. 748 powder. (Forgive me, I'd like to state the exact recipe, but too paranoid!) I shot my biggest whitetail with this load in the Marlin, at about 40 yards, broadside. Very quick kill.

Another vote for the 170 grain Speer and W-W 748 powder. Working up to the maximum load in the Speer manual I get factory advertised velocity in a 20" Marlin. It shoots into 2"@100 yards, which is about all I can get out of a Lyman peep sight and big gold bead. Note that Speer used CCI 250 magnum primers with this ball powder. Hope this helps, curmudgeon

I've had good luck with Nozler Flat Nose Boattails 150gr and H414 cci mag primers. <BR> Fuzz

A load that shoots well for me is 33 of Varget under any 170. I like the Sierra ProHunter but last year they were out and I bought Hornady and it didn't make any difference. I use Fed non-magnum primers and whatever brass people who don't reload give me. This load will shoot onto a golf ball at 50 and a baseball at 100 which is OK. That's out of an old 94 Winchester with a William's peep sight from sitting.

The best load I've found for my Win 94 Centenial rifle is 35 grains of IMR 4064 under a Remington Core-Lokt 150 gr RN. I've only shot three groups of this load so far and those were at 50yds. The groups measured 5/16 inch, 3/4 inch, and 1.8 inches. The reason I test at 50 yds is because I can't see these semi-buckhorn sights woth a flying fiddle. Gonna have to put a Lyman tang sight on this thing. Have not tried any Speer bullets in this one. From what I read here, it looks like I may have to.
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<br>With good square notch sights, I can do pretty good still. My NEF Handi rifle in 45-70 prints 1 3/4 to 2" at 100yds with its favorite load (54 gr of IMR 3031 under a 350 gr Speer FN). But then it has sights I can see much better than those on the Winchester.

I just took a crack at loading for the 30-30 and haven't had real good luck yet. I started with IMR4895 because that's what I had on hand. Have been able to get some groups down to around 2" at 100 yards in my 336A Marlin with Hornady 150s.
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<br>I'm interested in any advice on crimping. I got awful results with the RCBS dies and have stopped crimping at all until I get the right load figured out. I know crimping will alter those results too.
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<br>What's the best way to crimp a 30-30 case for consistent groups?

Lightfoot,
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<br>I use Lee dies. The set I have came with a factory crimp die and seems to work great. Experiment with the degree of crimp until you find something that works for your rifle. I use factory ammo as an approximate starting point.
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<br>You can buy a Lee crimp die for many different calibers. They are about $8.00 or something, if I remember correctly. I've heard that crimping all ammo for any caliber/gun can give more consistency, although I haven't tried it with anything other than the 44 mag and 30-30. If your 30-30 is a single shot or bolt, no crimp is really necessary.

The RCBS crimp relies on having all cases at exactly the same length - any variation in length and the crimp changes.
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<br>I guess Lee does it differently? I've heard that from others.
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<br>I'll give that a try. Coulda bought the Lee 3 die set for less than the RCBS too...
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<br>thanx,