Looking for load data for bolt action 30-30 .
Thanks , Kenneth

You can't be serious.

Just use available book 30-30 data. The Remington 788 and Winchester 54 may take more pressure than a lever 30-30 but to what end. You’re certainly not going to garner enough more out of the 30- 30 case to give you any discernible advantage in the field.

A lot depends on what bolt action your talking about, the Savage 340 family has only a single locking lug. Husqvarna single shots I believe just use the bolt handle. The Rem 788 is really strong as is the Win 54 and Rem Model 30 in 30 Rem(rimless 30-30).

30-30 brass is pretty thin, they beefed it up to make the 375 Win which runs at a higher pressure. I wouldn't do much more than run high end 30-30 data in one of the strong actions.

Not really trying to up the Annie on pressure . I am aware the brass is a problem.
Just wondering what people have tinkered with as far as components .
Thanks , Kenneth

May want to try some of the Thompson Center loads?

The brass is not an issue. The web on a 30/30 case is just as thick as the web on my 308 Norma brass. Remember, 30/30 brass was used to form brass for the 219 Donaldson Wasp and that cartridge gets loaded HOT.
Having said that, bolt actions like the 788 or the Model 54 can be loaded up quite a bit but I have seen a Savage 340 with the lug cracked by overzealous loading. GD

I'd just use regular 30-30 data with pointy 150s. Might try a bit of neck sizing only along the way as well.

As others have said, many bolt action 30-30s were not designed for much pressure. However, P O Ackley did develop loads for a two lug bolt action 30-30. That data is in his books.

Still, I wouldn't mess with it. Just use conventional 30-30 data.

Or pointy 130s

I use standard .30-30 data in my Savage 340, but with 150 grain spitzers. If you can find some LeveRevolution powder (which seems to be unobtanium in the current market) you can break 2500 fps out of a 24 inch barrel and break 2400 fps out of the 20 carbine length barrels. I'm sure you could do better out of the Model 54 or 788,

Never had any but the old run-of-the-mill levers
and a contender and break opens , although a
friend used a bolt 30/30
He used the same cheap discount store ammo
I used, and we always managed to put our
deer in the freezer with what we had.
I think a box of Remington or federal 30/30
was about 6 or 7 dollars back then. What is
it today? 2 or 3 dollars a round?

A 30/30 or a 308 can use just about any
reasonable load and do well. They don't
need high speed high pressure loads to
do the job. That's why they're so popular.

Good Luck with it

It is a 340 , guess I got lucky and hit a good one .
It shoots right at 1”at 100 yds Give or take. With an occasional clover leaf .
It is ugly as a mud fence , could have been used for a boat paddle in shallow water .😀
Not smooth , but it sure does shoot well with just about anything I have ran through it .
Just wanted to play around as I am currently working on some 336 loads . Thought I’d try some other powders and bullets .
Hell , I might try loading close to the lands just for grins and see what it does.
Thanks , Kenneth

I would rate the 340 in the same class as the M94 strength-wise. Don't hot rod it.

If you're getting MOA with a 340, count your blessings. While I'm sure there are more of them out there like that, all the one's I ever messed with didn't come very close to that.

Don't know how much useful info these will provide but if you search for "shooting channel savage 340" on youtube that guy tests some cast bullet loads with a Savage 340. He even has one using IMR4831 which is not a normal .30-30 powder.

You'll also get a bunch of other video reviews of the 340, some fairly good and some just "watch me violate safety rules and shoot badly"

This is good advice. I wouldn't hot rod a one locking lug Savage 340 and have long thought that the action was just marginally strong enough for 225 WIN pressures with the emphasis on marginally.

Yep , I had one in 222 and it was an ok shooter , but nothing spectacular.
This 30-30 really surprised me cause it is a rough looking gun and the 222 looked mint.
Got a friend who says his 222 340 out shoots his 700 222 . Most don’t seem overjoyed , if it weren’t for this one shooting so good it would be gone . Action is rough . Unusually rough , but I don’t mess with it because as it is , it’s accurate. Also being butt ugly makes it a good to carry gun in bad weather
Kenneth

I knew an old duffer over in the VA Blue Ridge years ago whose favorite black bear rifle was a 340 .30-30. He loaded soft round nosed gas checked 210 grain bullets (Lyman/Ideal 311284) with the cases stuffed with Surplus 4831 (H-4831 now). He got excellent accuracy with mild pressures, and a few bears as proof in the pudding. Frank Marshall was his name, a luminary in the early days of The Cast Bullet Association, and he sure knew his stuff.

That inspired my .30-30 hunting load for nigh onto 40 years now: a 190 grain soft flat nosed cast bullet over 28.0 grains 3031. A fairly stiff load that was pushing things in a M94 back in the day but which absolutely sings in my M54 Winchester and 1899 Savages. 2050 fps chrono'ed out of the 24" M54 barrel, boringly regular MOA accuracy to boot. At a bhn of 10-12 it expands as well as any factory jacketed bullet.

I actually really like the Savage 340

That RCBS bullet comes out just about 200 grains for me. I've used the same 28 grains of 3031. It shoots great. Also have used compressed charges of IMR 4350, which shoot a bit faster out of a 24" M94. 760 does the same, but I don't trust it for cold hunting temps.

Glad to hear that! (Mine's actually a custom mould an old compatriot named Sid Musselman designed and had made by Saeco a coon's age ago, back around 1980.) I've noticed that virtually same design show up in other catalogs since then. He was another one of those know it all but unassuming old guys who took a wealth of cast bullet knowledge with himself to the grave. The mould drops bullets cast of WW's+tin at exactly .310" in the body and .301" on the nose. Serendipitously the throats of the guns I use it in are .310 and .309" so it's a good fit, and the .301" nose is ever so lightly engraved by the tops of the lands which greatly enables it to have a straight passage down the barrel.

I'm here to tell anybody not nailed down that if you want a real wood's thumper of a .30-30 get a good bolt gun or single shot and stuff it with heavy soft lead bullets. An added benefit is you can thumb your nose at the bullet companies, and shoot the thing at a small fraction of the cost of factory stuff and/or jacketed handloads. What's not to like?

Kinda wanted to do that with my 308

Sounds fun. I'm watching the local shops for a Savage 340 30-30. I had a beauty of one last year but somebody was willing to pay me twice what I had into it.

Those old 340's were really some accurate rifle once you figured out how the trigger works(heavy but predictable).

Don't think you can use just any pointed bullet for deer hunting with it just because you can due to the magazine. Not all pointed (spitzer) bullets will perform well at 30-30 speeds, so I'd stick with tried and true bullets. There are some pointed bullets for the bolt action 30-30 out there, but you'll have to do some homework.

The other factor is that even at "enhanced" .30-30 velocities, spitzers don't prove much (if any) advantage at traditional .30- ranges, say out to 200 yards or a little more.

As a kid, I was always a little intrigued by the 340 Savages I saw. They had a sort of industrial look to them. A couple of my friends, two brothers , had them. Their dad had bought them those as their first deer rifles rather than 94 Winchester’s, his stated logic being cocking the Winchester hammer made too much noise and could scare a deer.

I’ve seen it stated that part of the reason 30-30’s work so well is that the bullets made for them are made for that cartridge alone, so they are able to be tailored for very specific performance parameters. Other bullets, who knows? Will it be used in a .300 Savage or a .300 WM; a .250 Savage or a .257 Weatherby? There don’t have to be any compromises with 170 grain, 30 caliber roundnose bullets.

I rehabbed one a couple of years ago but have yet to hunt with it. I need to get it in the woods. I like the idea of those heavy cast bullets.
I have given some consideration to having Jess rebore it to 38-55.

Beautiful gun! I shot my first deer with a bolt action 30-30. It looked exactly like the Savage 340 but if I remember right it was made by Stevens or Revelation. I made the dumb decision to sell it and "upgrade" to a 270 bolt gun. I still miss that old 30-30 and always keep my eye out for one at the right price. It was a solid shooter and I still regret that decision. I shot a lot of deer with that 270 and it will never go anywhere but miss my 30-30. My dad made me break it down and refinish the stock and clean it everywhere. I was dumb and lost one of the scope caps and had to use an old breakfast syrup cap instead.

I remember reading a Ken Waters Pet Loads column on bolt-action 30-30s. His position was pretty much the same as everyone here: keep pressures low because of the brass, use softer bullets, and enjoy the accuracy.


Okie John

I used to load 170 grain Remington RNCL component bullets in the 300 Savage for shooting whitetails in northern New England woodlots, the thought being that since they were designed to work at 30-30 speeds they would expand more quickly/violently at higher 300 Savage speeds.

My Speer number 9 manual has a bolt action .30-30 section starting on page 223, and a thorough introduction. Nothing too earth shaking but would help you get a start including data for 100, 110, 130, and 150 grain pointed bullets.

If you cant find a Speer number 9 PM me with your address and I will send you mine.....

That would put you right at the top of the shelf sir . I may take you up on it and certainly return it .
Got started at 7:30 this morning.
Shot three shot groups with the 340 and 336 .
Got some old 170gr Hornady flat nose , probably 30 yers old , grin .
Anyway set them over 36.5 gr of LVR crimped on the canulure . This gave a COAL of 2.565 .
So I measured the chamber of the 340 and it had an COAL of 2.746 . Wow ! What a throat . I loaded nine fir the 340 on the canulure and nine at 2.740 .
Saw little difference in groups reguardless of COAL , was using one inch squares . Should have taken time to adjust eye ocular as apparently my eyes have changed enough over the years the old Baltur scope made it a struggle to get the post reticle on six o’clock consistent . But managed 1.7-1.9” groups . This was a new load to me so didn’t know what to expect .
Every group had two that were .4-.7” but a flyer wrecked that .
Still plenty good for deer hunting .
336 ran about the same with a much better scope , so not sure it was rifle versus load or shooter versus scope .
But a consistent sight picture was difficult . Magnification unknown , but post was slightly wider than one inch square at 100 yds .
Shot several other calibers throughout the morning with several loads testing under 1/2” in 308 and 243 .
So it seems I wasn’t having a bad day . And as we know a 3-4 hour range morning is a good morning .
Lol , wore the dogs out walking back and forth marking groups . The older one started limping so I put them in .
Kenneth

We used the Sierra 150 spire point flat base and IMR 3031. Accuracy was very good, under 3/4ths of an inch for 5 shots in both rifles. (I think they were 840s, not 340s.) The problem was expansion was limited to non-existent. One time mom plugged one of dad's cows in the neck. The bullet went diagonally through the body and was located in the far ham ... measured 7 feet of penetration. That was not unusual enough .. so one of the reasons we always took head shots on deer.

If I was going to do it today, I'd either stick with a conventional flat point .30-30 bullet meant for the velocity the cartridge generates or I'd look at a Nosler 125 grain ballistic tip or accubond.

So far as data .. stick with what's appropriate for a lever action or Contender. Pressures should be the same. You might find more pointy-bullet data for the TC in the handgun section.

Tom

I stumbled across an old M54 a few months ago in 30WCF. My load as very similar to gnoahh's, a gas checked and powder coated RCBS 180 gr FP and 29 grains of WC846 powder. The RCBS weighs around 185 gr with a soft alloy and the WC846 pushes it to 2075 fps. It's accurate using the Lyman 48 receiver sight. Unfortunately, no deer has cooperated and shown up when I've been carrying this rifle. We have 3 more days of season here in AL, so it could happen yet.

Several years ago, I did some gun trading with a local Amish fellow that I know. He told me that his father had a Winchester 94 in 32 Special, and I was trying hard to trade for it. An Amish kid heard the conversation and asked me if I'd be interested in a 30-30, so I naturally assumed it was also a lever gun.

Wrong, as he said it was a bolt action. I was hoping for a Remington 788, but he shows me a Savage 340, that looks like it had been tied to a truck bumper (or in this case, maybe a buggy bumper) and drug down the road a few miles. He said it needed a "little work", and it certainly looked as if it did. Anyway, he claimed it was a very accurate rifle. I had no desire to find out.

My point being........though I've never had any experience with a bolt action 30-30, I did know someone who had a Remington 788 in one, and swore up and down that it was one the best shooting rifles he ever owned. I know the one I had in 243 certainly was.

I see 340s from time to time, but always in .22 CF of some sort. Have enough of those. The early ones look better, I think.

I just went out and checked my data for my 840 bolt 30-30
150gr FN 31.5 4064
130 Hornady SP 33gr 4064
These put a bullet MOA @100
I likely would not have purchased this rifle but......my lifelong friend passed away and his son came over to the house about 2 weeks after the funeral and gave me a handful of his Dads rifles.

The 840 was beat pretty bad as it could really tell a story, it was well used. I took it apart and re-blued it and prettied the stock up and it is a nice looking good shooter.
A real good rifle for a young shooter to practice with, good luck with yours.

After watching he videos, I have one question. Since when is the Lyman #311041 a plain base bullet? I have two of those molds and they take a gas check.
Paul B.

Keep your loads reasonable but take advantage of the wonderful bullet selection out there. And don't fall into the "no advantage to a spitzer in the 30-30" school of thought. That old argument doesn't hold water.

I've been using 30-30s in the Contender for years, my current being a 24" DVH Custom barrel that is superbly accurate. Using a book load, this barrel pushes the 110 grain Hornady GMX to 2805 fps. Designed for Blackout speeds, this bullet gives soft tissue expansion down to 1600 fps and is rather wicked at the higher speeds of the 30-30. And while it expands to a wide frontal diameter, it still maintains a high percentage of its weight, allowing for relatively deep penetration. I am generally not a fan of monos at pedestrian speeds, but this bullet -- along with the 110 and 120 grain TAC-TX Blackout offerings from Barnes -- feature different technology and do significantly more damage than the conventional monometals. Having detailed quite a few wound channels from these bullets, "impressive" is the word that comes to mind.

Another terrific bullet is the 150 grain Speer Gold Dot Bonded-Blackout, which consistently opens to nearly .6" with impact speeds as low as 1600 fps. It still opens decently down to 1450 in my own testing. Speer's book load of CFE223 and this bullet give me 2469 fps, and I've used it on some large hogs, numerous coyotes and a couple of does as well.

The 125 grain Nosler BT and Accubond are also topflight choices. Muzzle speeds of 2600 fps are safely attainable in my barrel.

With good bullets in a single shot or bolt rifle, the 30-30 makes a dandy 250+-yard medium game cartridge, and I'd have no qualms pushing it out to 300 under the right conditions. My 110 grain GMX load is less than 9" low at 300 and maintains just over 1000 ft./lbs of energy -- more than enough for any whitetail or mule deer out there. .

Taken from the boar below:






Taken from test medium with an impact speed of just under 1700 fps:




Exit on a coyote with 110 grain GMX:



Barnes 120 Blackout bullet taken from hog below:

Some folks still must like those 340's. A 340C in good shape sold for $581 on gunbroker last night. Obviously a fellow could pick up a brand new Ruger American for a lot less.

I'd been watching this auction sit at $315 for several days and was going to bid a maximum of $425 but it quickly escalated beyond that with several hours left to go.

Speaking of Ruger Americans, it would be pretty neat if Ruger did a run of those in .30-30. Wonder if they'd sell any, besides the one to me?


https://www.gunbroker.com/item/891152569

And the one to me! Be Well, RZ.

Of the 3 bolt action rifles in 30-30 that I know of, Remington 788, Savage 340 series, and Winchester 54, the only one that sold in volume was the Savage and it probably sold in volume because for a long time it was the least expensive new commercial centerfire rifle on the market. Almost anybody could afford to buy one. I remember when it would be more unusual not to see a Savage/Stevens/Springfield/House-brand 340 series rifle in the used gun racks of most small town gun shops all over northern New England than it would be to see several of them.

I don't think that Ruger would sell enough American Rifles in 30-30 to justify the cost of getting a rimmed cartridge to feed reliably in those magazines.

On of the older Lyman manuals had an article about a bolt action .30-30. I'll look when I get home.

Mike

I did the same thing with Winchester component bullets for the .32 Special that I loaded in a questionably sporterized 98 Mauser in 8X57mm. Not the best idea ever but a cheap rifle and free bullets were better than nothing.

Mine is a Foremost branded Savage, J C Penny’s I think. Dad bought it for me 50 years ago for my birthday. Between me and the old man lots of deer and hogs have hit the dust. Need to drag it out and kill a hog or two. It loves the Hornady Levrolution ammo.

I have thought for a long time that it would be a fun project to turn a modern bolt action into a 30-30 AI, and shoot it at modern bolt gun pressure.

But then reality sets in, and I realize it would be a 300 Savage.

Just found an old Penny’s ad online from 1969, about the time dad bought mine. White line butt spacer and gold trigger model sold for 59.99, the Marlin lever action was 99.99. Makes dollars and sense now why I got the bolt gun. Dad loved me to death but boy was he tight with a dollar.

Oh, it's just wishful thinking for sure. But I have the dies, a few hundred .30-30 cases and a few hundred jacketed RN bullets plus molds and lead to make a bunch of cast bullets suitable for it, so I'm thinking, hey, c'mon Ruger, meet my individual needs...

Yeah, maybe, but I surely wouldn't try that trick with a Savage 340. Would be interesting as an academic exercise with a 788 or somesuch. Perhaps.

Cool idea....never thought of that one....

Thinking about this some more. (Ok, I'm bored.) With the smaller case capacity of the .30-30 making it virtually an ideal .30 caliber cast bullet launcher, considering the current paucity of gunpowder a lot more holes can be punched in paper for the same amount/cost of powder to do the same thing with the same bullets at the same sedate velocity out of .30-06's and .300 magnums. More bangs for the buck, so to speak. What's not to like?

Though not bolt actions, you won’t encounter much in the way of feeding problems with these .30-30s:

I talked to Jess about it and he said he had done a few and they turned out fine. My Marlin 30-30 that he rebored to .375 win will work with both 38-55 and 375 winchester. I haven't given up on the idea. This won't chamber of course, but it feeds like butter.

I've got a Savage 340 in 30-30. I was expecting to load pointy bullets with it, but I was warned against it on this august forum. .308 FP's are meant to open up at 30-30 velocities. Something like a Hornady IL SP 150 grain is not. I'd had a friend that used to shoot pointy bullets in his, but

a) He was doing it to win bets
b) He never shot them at deer.

The 340 is a great rifle, and the 30-30 is a great round, but it is not a 30-06. I shoot mine with slightly off-MAX loads of H4895 or LVR. Mine seems to prefer 170 grain Hornady FP's over the 150's. I've also tried the FTX-- it works fine as well.

I also would like a .30-30 bolt gun. I had my chance about 20 years ago at a gun show when I came across a 788 for $350 but, at that time, I was on the look out for a Marlin 336 SC.
For now I will be happy shooting my 165 grain cast bullet at 1950 fps from my CZ-527 carbine in 7.62x39.

+1

Brother has old Savage 340 in 30/30 which is a fun little gun I would like to load some 130 gr T-Tsx's up if I can find some time....

maybe in the fall after I retire.

without reading the 6 pages of the thread....

I'd just use the load data ya find for a single shot pistol in 30/30...

I agree with that with one qualifier. I had a Remington 788 in .30-30 and loaded 125 grain pointed bullets for it for the kids I took hunting. However, the bullet had to be so deep in the case that the ogive had to be inside the case neck to fit in the mag. Some folks trimmed enough of the case so that the bullet looked correct in the case. One kid almost lost the mag on the first day we hunted and at the time finding a replacement was near impossible and costly if one could be found. I traded the rifle off for a Contender in .30-30.

Just retired a few weeks ago and now have time to fiddle with toys ,
Not a bad thing , but bad timing .
Have went through some components in the last several weeks . But the crunch has opened my eyes to trying different components that I normally wouldn’t . Have bought several cans of reliant , accurate , and 748 in the last few weeks . And various bullet wieghts.
But it seems my honey hole is drying up , so I might have to back off plating so much .
I need to visit Cast Boolits , haven’t taken time to do much research on this , sounds interesting .
Thanks to all , Kenneth