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30-30 reloading
- Thread starter Dudechevy
- Start date
I have answered my own question. the taper on the bullet starts too soon for the bullet to seat deep enough. When the cannelure starts to hit the bras the COL is still .250 too long. I purchased this bullet to reload my 300 blackout, and wondered if i could also use it for 30-30, and now I know i cant.
thanks yall
thanks yall
As a general rule you do not want to use pointed bullets in a tube magazine. Hornady does make a flextip bullet for the 30-30 but you have to trim the case a little shorter so that it will chamber correctly. It also depends on the type of lever action that you have. The newer guns are designed to work with the flextip bullets. You may have to update the follower on an older model.
You can use any .30 caliber bullet and no crimp if you SINGLE LOAD ONLY.
Loading ammo to work properly through the tube magazine is a different matter. Rounds must be the right length, have the right nose profile and be properly crimped.
If you are loading for a T/C Contender or if you single load that Marlin/Winchester lever gun you can use spitzers and no crimp, and some good results can be had, HOWEVER, never, NEVER, NEVER put that ammo into the tube magazine of a lever gun!!!
Loading ammo to work properly through the tube magazine is a different matter. Rounds must be the right length, have the right nose profile and be properly crimped.
If you are loading for a T/C Contender or if you single load that Marlin/Winchester lever gun you can use spitzers and no crimp, and some good results can be had, HOWEVER, never, NEVER, NEVER put that ammo into the tube magazine of a lever gun!!!
Dudechevy,
You'll notice that Sierra, Nosler, Speer and Hornady and the other major bullet makers all have flat or round nose bullets for 30-30. Speer has the biggest selection with 100, 110, 130, 150 and 170-grain offerings. Sierra comes next with 125, 150, and 170-grain FP Pro-Hunter bullets. Hornady makes 170 grain flat points and 140 and 160-grain flexible tip bullets which, though pointed, have rubberized tips that act like shock absorbers so they won't set off a primer. There are also a whole slew of cast bullets out there that work well, including those by Beartooth Bullets, the original owner of this forum.
The reason for the special bullets for tubular magazine rifles is two-fold. One is that the crimp cannelure and grooves have to be located so the correct amount of bullet sticks out of the case to feed correctly. This is why Hornady, for example, has a different bullet for the .308 Marlin than for the .30-30, even though the weight and type of the two bullets is the same. You want to look for bullets made for the 30-30 specifically for this reason.
The more significant reason is for safety. Cartridges in a tubular magazine have a spring pushing down on the cartridge column. When the gun fires, the inertia of the cartridge column mass tries to keep them in the same place, so the recoil force that starts it moving backward with the gun is transferred mainly through that spring to the top cartridge. In turn, the top cartridge transfers it to the cartridge below it through its case head contact with the second cartridge's bullet. If that bullet is in contact with the primer, that jarring acceleration or the sudden stop, when the compressed magazine spring expands and hammers the cartridges back against the carrier, can set the primer off, firing the cartridge in the magazine, destroying it.
Your primers need to be properly seated below flush with the case head so the bullet's don't make contact with it. If you have doubt, you want to check for that by putting some lipstick on the nose of a bullet sitting upright on the bench and setting a primed case on top of it to see if any lipstick transfers to the primer. If it does, don't use that bullet or set your primers deeper. (A primer pocket depth uniforming tool can help you with getting a little more primer depth.) An optimally seated primer is seated pretty hard and is about 0.003" deeper than where you first feel the anvil feet of the primer make contact with the floor of the primer pocket. Note that even the flat nose bullets require the primer be seated at least below flush with the case head.
Pointed bullets with hard noses are obviously the worst, as the point jams against the primer above it in the column right where a firing pin would, and the pointed shape focuses the force on the primer. But primers can sometimes go off with surprisingly wide and offset contact areas. M.L. McPherson had some photos of the split magazine of a Marlin 1895. He'd been shooting it in winter and running a pretty warm load through it. Because he was wearing gloves, he hadn't notice by feel that the last round he put into the magazine hadn't gone in quite 100% and he didn't look to see the gate was jammed slightly open by it. So the last inserted round was angled inward slightly and just the edge of the flat nose bullet seated in it was leaning on the primer of the previously inserted cartridge. But that was enough to set it off and send metal particles flying.
Bottom line: Follow the rules for loading tubular magazine by using bullets intended for the job and being careful to set your primers as fully and deeply as you can. The potential for damage isn't worth taking risks with.
You'll notice that Sierra, Nosler, Speer and Hornady and the other major bullet makers all have flat or round nose bullets for 30-30. Speer has the biggest selection with 100, 110, 130, 150 and 170-grain offerings. Sierra comes next with 125, 150, and 170-grain FP Pro-Hunter bullets. Hornady makes 170 grain flat points and 140 and 160-grain flexible tip bullets which, though pointed, have rubberized tips that act like shock absorbers so they won't set off a primer. There are also a whole slew of cast bullets out there that work well, including those by Beartooth Bullets, the original owner of this forum.
The reason for the special bullets for tubular magazine rifles is two-fold. One is that the crimp cannelure and grooves have to be located so the correct amount of bullet sticks out of the case to feed correctly. This is why Hornady, for example, has a different bullet for the .308 Marlin than for the .30-30, even though the weight and type of the two bullets is the same. You want to look for bullets made for the 30-30 specifically for this reason.
The more significant reason is for safety. Cartridges in a tubular magazine have a spring pushing down on the cartridge column. When the gun fires, the inertia of the cartridge column mass tries to keep them in the same place, so the recoil force that starts it moving backward with the gun is transferred mainly through that spring to the top cartridge. In turn, the top cartridge transfers it to the cartridge below it through its case head contact with the second cartridge's bullet. If that bullet is in contact with the primer, that jarring acceleration or the sudden stop, when the compressed magazine spring expands and hammers the cartridges back against the carrier, can set the primer off, firing the cartridge in the magazine, destroying it.
Your primers need to be properly seated below flush with the case head so the bullet's don't make contact with it. If you have doubt, you want to check for that by putting some lipstick on the nose of a bullet sitting upright on the bench and setting a primed case on top of it to see if any lipstick transfers to the primer. If it does, don't use that bullet or set your primers deeper. (A primer pocket depth uniforming tool can help you with getting a little more primer depth.) An optimally seated primer is seated pretty hard and is about 0.003" deeper than where you first feel the anvil feet of the primer make contact with the floor of the primer pocket. Note that even the flat nose bullets require the primer be seated at least below flush with the case head.
Pointed bullets with hard noses are obviously the worst, as the point jams against the primer above it in the column right where a firing pin would, and the pointed shape focuses the force on the primer. But primers can sometimes go off with surprisingly wide and offset contact areas. M.L. McPherson had some photos of the split magazine of a Marlin 1895. He'd been shooting it in winter and running a pretty warm load through it. Because he was wearing gloves, he hadn't notice by feel that the last round he put into the magazine hadn't gone in quite 100% and he didn't look to see the gate was jammed slightly open by it. So the last inserted round was angled inward slightly and just the edge of the flat nose bullet seated in it was leaning on the primer of the previously inserted cartridge. But that was enough to set it off and send metal particles flying.
Bottom line: Follow the rules for loading tubular magazine by using bullets intended for the job and being careful to set your primers as fully and deeply as you can. The potential for damage isn't worth taking risks with.
the Black Spot
New member
U can cut off the lead tip and make it flat for tube use in a leveraction
Use flat points in all tubular magazine.
I know round nose are supposed to be OK but that RN is still in contact with the primer and in theory the soft lead of the RN should not ignite the primer....but I don't like "in theory" safety .....I like flat points in 30-30 . Better safe than sorry in theory !
Gary
I know round nose are supposed to be OK but that RN is still in contact with the primer and in theory the soft lead of the RN should not ignite the primer....but I don't like "in theory" safety .....I like flat points in 30-30 . Better safe than sorry in theory !
Gary
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
Best to use ammunition suggested by its manufacture.
Although it is possible to fire spire point cartridges with a Winchester 94. So long as the cartridge is: (chambered by hand.)
Only one 30-30 lever I know will fire such cartridges at whim. Model 1899/99 savage.
Although it is possible to fire spire point cartridges with a Winchester 94. So long as the cartridge is: (chambered by hand.)
Only one 30-30 lever I know will fire such cartridges at whim. Model 1899/99 savage.
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so I am better off loading with a RN rather than polymer tip.
Don't confuse the hard plastic tips used on high BC bullets used in other action types with the soft rubber bullets designed to work in a lever action rifle.
As to which is best, you'll just have to experiment with your rifles. I've never tried them, but most people report very good results with the soft rubber tipped Hornady bullets. Even in older rifles.
At typical 30-30 ranges I don't see a huge advantage. The soft rubber pointed bullets do retain velocity and impact somewhat faster at ranges beyond 100 yards compared to RN bullets. But the difference in trajectory is small. If I anticipate shooting farther than 50-100 yards I don't carry a 30-30.
I can attest to the value of using the Hornady Flex tip bullets, both the 140 grain GTX with Gilding metal core and the 160 grain FTX with a lead core, in my .30-30 Marlin.
If you don't reload, you can try the Hornady LeveRevolution ammo to see how they work in your lever gun.
I got a 2X accuracy improvement at 100 yards with the flex tips over the standard 150 grain flat nose bullets that Uncle Nick listed.
That's all I load for my .30-30 now.
If you don't reload, you can try the Hornady LeveRevolution ammo to see how they work in your lever gun.
I got a 2X accuracy improvement at 100 yards with the flex tips over the standard 150 grain flat nose bullets that Uncle Nick listed.
That's all I load for my .30-30 now.