Great ammo (BUFFALO BORE) for .30 Carbine Blackhawk

J

jski

New member
BUFFALO BORE FULL POWER+ U.S. 30 M1 CARBINE AMMUNITION

110 grain FMJ, Round Nose @ 2,100 fps
1638 fps - Ruger Blackhawk, 7.5
110 grain Soft Point, Round Nose @ 2,100 fps
1587 fps - Ruger Blackhawk, 7.5
110 grain JHP, Round Nose @ 2,100 fps
1587 fps - Ruger Blackhawk, 7.5

THE PROBLEM:

The typical current commercially manufactured 30 M1 Carbine ammo is running at or below 1,900 fps with 110gr. bullets, when fired in good old US military 30 M1 Carbines, with their 18 inch barrels. When the US issued this military cartridge in 1941, it was designed to propel a 110gr. bullet @ 1970 fps out of the carbine…..it is possible to exceed 2,100 fps with 110gr. bullets and still be within the SAAMI max. average pressure limits of 40,000 CUP.

We are not making this ammo to be cheap blaster/plinking ammo, although you can certainly do that if you like. This ammo is designed to be useful in defending ones’ life or in harvesting game up to the size of 200 lb. critters.

All three of these Buffalo Bore 30 M1 Carbine loads are giving close to 2,100 fps in my various 30 M1 Carbines, as can be seen below.
 
Anyone try these in a M1 Carbine? I have 2 that are designated as part of my Home Defense/SHTF Gear, and for that, they look good if they will feed Ok, and not cause other problems.

both%20slings.jpg


The bottom one is a legal pistol.
 
And? Been loading Speer 110 HP's with IMR4227 for eons. Runs around 2000 fps or a bit less depending on the powder lot. Max load pressures were 39,000CUP(SAAMI only gives PSI and there's no converting PSI to CUP.). Expands dramatically every time. Makes a grapefruit sized hole in a ground hog. Wouldn't think twice about shooting a wee 200 pounder with it either.
There's really no need to exceed 2100 fps.
Handgun .30 Carbine load data is the same as rifle data. Velocities are much lower, of course. Don't have pressure data, but when .30 Carbine handguns first came along there was no ammo but SAAMI spec ammo and milsurp.
 
My CMP Inland is part of my HD setup also.
Not feeling it with these buffalo Bore offerings.
In general, I'm happy with the performance of any of the standard soft point loads such as Remington or PRVI. And I'm very happy with the Hornady Critical Defense load, which shoots very well in my Inland.
I keep a GI 15rd mag of Hornady in the carbine, another in the stock pouch along with a third of FMJ.
 
Thought this was supposed to be a revolver thread, in the revolver forum.
Don't see a single example of it's performance in a revolver.
Thinking the suposed increase in velocity is much less significant in the shorter barrel of the title gun n this thread, the Ruger Blackhawk 30.
 
The 1st posting has .30 Carbine Blackhawk data.

I've been reloading for the .30 Carbine for my Blackhawk for about a year now. I use 110 gr. Berry's plated bullets and 115 gr. hard cast (22 BHN), gas checked bullets. I've pretty much stuck to using Hodgdon H110 powder, somewhere between 14 and 15 gr. charges. I've been experimenting with different charges. Plus Starline brass.

These puppies have proven to be exceptionally accurate but I haven't had the opportunity to chronograph them yet.
 
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Let me try this again. I bet these puppies compare favorably the a .357 round loaded with "125 grain Hard Cast, Flat Nose, Gas Checked" bullet.
 
Colonel K

I just finished chronograph tests on the new Buffalo Bore 125 grain 30 carbine ammo. I fired two carbines from a rest at a chronograph screen placed 10 feet away. On the plus side, the ammo was just as soft shooting as the old GI loads, and did not damage either carbine in my test (original Standard Products GI M1 and a Plainfield M1). On the minus side, there was no way to feed this ammo into the chamber except manually, and then only after removing the cartridge from the magazine. Otherwise, the feed ramp will not support it, and the flat blunt face of the bullet then snags firmly on the pronounced squared shoulder on the barrel and breech. The other disappointment was the velocity. Out of the 18" barrels they clocked an average of 1930 FPS and 1932 FPS, respectively, with the highest recorded velocity being 1963 FPS, and the lowest being 1913 FPS (both from the Standard Products carbine, and in direct succession). By comparison, some old Lake City 110 grain mil surplus loads fired through the Plainfield averaged 1954 FPS, with the highest velocity being 1990 FPS and the lowest being 1921 FPS.

Conclusion: the 125 grain BB load (1036 ft/lb) averages 11% more kinetic energy than a milspec 110 grain load (933 ft/lb), but the 2100 FPS claim is not supported. Statistically, the cartridge should be developing 1224 ft/lb of energy, but the highest recorded level was 1070 ft/lbs. As for throating the chambers to improve feeding, don't worry. I have no desire to tinker with a valuable WWII collector's piece. I may consider altering the Plainfield chamber, but that still won't cure the velocity deficit.

I did contact Buffalo Bore regarding the advertised velocity vs. actual velocity, and received the following reply from the owner.

"If you’ll go to our web page for that item (any item for that matter) and once there, click on the “more info” icon and read the extensive text written by me, you’ll note that I discuss our advertised velocity versus the real world velocity in my five test guns. It is not normal for us to advertise a velocity below the actual obtained velocity. In the case of the 125gr. 30 Carbine load, we had to get it entered into our price sheets and catalog for the new year, long before we could develop it, but once I was done developing it, contrary to the ballistic program I used, I clearly knew it would fall short of our advertised velocity, but it was too late as all our advertising was published, so I point this out on our site in detail as to not mislead anyone. Being in a production business requires us to often put items into print that are not yet fully developed. Normally I can do this with little trouble, but the 125gr. 30 Carbine load was an exception and it was certainly not my desire to be misleading."
 
I spoke to the folks at Buffalo Bore and came away with the understanding that the 125 gr bruisers were primarily targeted at the Blackhawk.
 
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