Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 30-30win hardcast on deer?

I would like to work up a hardcast hunting load for my 30-30win for use on deer. I have had success with hardcast in larger calibers (47/70) but am not sure of their game stopping capabilities in a smaller caliber. A 170gr GC hardcast is available through Oregon Trail, and their loading data states that I can push this bullet over 2000fps if I so desire. Would this load be acceptable for game, or just a good plinking round?

I took a nice doe at about 75 yards a couple of years ago with a .307, downloaded to about 2000 fps. She seemed properly impressed by the cast bullet, which was a Lyman 169 gr. roundnose cast to about 18 bhn. As for the performance of a hardcast bullet, which are normally advertised to be about 22 bhn, I can't really say. I personally feel the bullet is too hard at 22bhn to expand at any normal hunting distance, say 50+ yards. Hardcast bullets are great for hunting in large bores IMO, but I prefer softer bullets for calibers that really need some expansion, such as the 30-30. I generally try to keep everything under 18bhn, even my .356 & .338.

Bob

358owner:
I've loaded a bunch of those bullets you mentioned in my 30-30, at virtually full power. I had to put the gas checks on them and size them to 308. The crimping groove was in the right spot though.

They seem to be as accurate as jacketed bullets, and penetrated into a box of magazines as far, but they didn't hold together as well. They wanted to crumble.

Like you, I'm a little concerned as to how well they would work on game. I suspect they would penetrate well, but not expand very well.
Smitty of the North

I've taken several deer with the Lyman 311041 GC bullet, water dropped from the mould to heat treat them. Load was 27 gr. 3031, ran just under 2000 fps in the 94 Ranger I used. Never had a deer go over 30 yards, and only recovered one bullet. That one went in the near shoulder, and lodged under the skin of the opposite hind quarter of a medium sized buck. He just tipped over and never moved. The bullet lost it's nose, but the entire shank was still perfect. According to the Lyman cast bullet handbood, a hard lead bullet will mushroom, but the "petals" break off because of the antimony making the alloy less ductile. I suspect that big flat point was a bit more effective than a round nose. I wouldn't hesitate for a minute using the cast bullets in the 30-30 on deer.

Cast bullets out of a 30-30 and 30-30AI were addressed by John Haviland (IIRC) in the most recent issue of Handloader. He stated that he'd used them with good success on pronghorn and deer. The Sisk 30-30AI on a 788 sure looked like a slick little rifle.

Bob:
Would you happen to know the bnh of the Oregon trail bullets? They didn't say on their Website.
Smitty of the North

JMHO, and likely worth just what you paid.
The term "Hardcast" is completely subjective. There's no rhyme or reason to the actual hardness of any particular bullet. If it says hardcast, then I guess someone thinks it's hard.
Drawing on my own personal, admittedly limited, experience; air-cooled wheelweights are about optimal hardness for hunting ammo. They're not soft enough give fouling problems at reasonable velocities, nor hard enough to shatter when encountering bone.
I use cast almost exclusively in the .30-30. Frankly, it has been my experience that just about any jacketed load, for the "trienta-trienta" works well with cast bullets... Sometimes better! Shoot & enjoy!

I have used quite a few Oregon Trail bullets in several calibers and have found them to be pretty hard. I just got a Saeco hardness tester and went and got a LC 170grn 30/30 bullet to test (without a gc). It read about 9 on the Saeco which is supposed to be about 17 1/2 BHN. I think that OT bullets must have a lot of antimony in them as they seem to shatter on some targets. BM

Bill

Thank ya Bill:
Smitty of the North

They will work if you put them in the right spot but I doubt the 30-30 and hardcast were ever meant to rejoice in each other. Cast bullets of softer alloy will work, and paper patch 1:20 will do dandy things for the freezer.