Posted: 3/2/2013 11:01:09 PM EDT
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I use a .30/30 in my area, woods so thick you don't need a scope.
My Marlin 336 likes the Winchester 170 gr. PP. I've only used the low-end from Rem/Fed/Win. I have 320 rounds set back, my initial goal was 500. All I find on the shelf now are fancy deer-branded boxes at $1+ per round. Do they really kill deer deader? |
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Deer don't know the difference between a cheap bullet and an expensive bullet.
The Hornady Leverevolution does improve external ballistics, and your rifle will be easier to shoot further than before. Even with that advantage my .30-30's get a solid diet of 150 grain Speer Hot Core bullets (same as in the Federal ammo.) .30-30 is a great cartridge, but primarily a brush gun for me. Typically if I shoot something with it it's inside of 100 yards. If I'm hunting open country I grab a flatter shooting rifle. Just wait out the scare, then go back to buying what you usually buy AND learn to reload. |
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It was past my bedtime, probably should have waited to post!
Thanks though, I didn't think the premium loads would make much of a difference for a short-range .30/30. That's all I've seen available lately though. I'll wait it out. I have read about Leverevolution but don't think I need any more distance in thick woodlands. Also, deer are on the smaller side here in the Ozarks. I want to get into reloading. I've saved all my brass. I read a post in GD where someone stated .30/30 is tricky. Also read a huge Marlin 336 thread over at THR where people posted their optimum loads and didn't recognize any gotchas. I'll probably start with 9mm first, then rifle cartridges with necked cases. |
| Only time I use 'fancy' bullets is when hunting deer with my AR. Barnes or Fusion in that case. If I'm carrying the .243 or .30-06 I'll load it up with any 100gr or heavier softpoint that shoots well in my rifles at the ranges I expect to be shooting at. The deer don't seem to care what my ammo cost. |
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I have found that there is a time and place for 'fancy bullets'. For example, say you want to hunt BIG deer eith your .243. The .243 will kill them with regular powerpoints or corelokts, but something along the lines of a Partition is more reliable. Or you want to use a .223. There most definitely IS a big difference between a regular 55 soft point and something like a Barnes TSX or Nosler partition.
There are other examples. I hunt moose. While many are taken with plain jain regular vanilla soft points, the increased performance of a tougher, more controlled expansion bullet is worth the cost. .30 is a popular caliber. You'll find regular, no frills 150 grain soft points (powerpoints, corelokts, etc) loaded in everything: .300 Savage, .308 Win, .30-06, .300 Win Mag, etc. These are often the same bullet stuffed into different cases. Want to bet that same bullet behaves differently at .300 Savage speeds than at .300 Mag speeds??? Sometimes 'specialty' bullets come into play here too. I load .308 Win to .300 Savage speeds. the Nosler Ballistic tip opens hard and fast, too hard and too fast for Magnums in many cases. However, at most speeds like in the Savage, the ballistic tip is in its sweet spot and works wonderfully. This works a bit better for me than regular 150 corelokts or powerpoints. The ballistic tips usually result in dead-right-there dear, even with heart shots, while regular soft points kill them but need tracking 50,75 yards. Because the impact speeds and the bullet are matched, the combo works wonders. Again, its worth a bit more for a bullet that works. .30-30 is a different case entirely. No maker takes 150 grain pointed soft points and stuffs them into 30-30 cases. In virtually every case, the 30-30 is loaded with bullets designed specifically for that caliber. The jacket thickness, jacket skivving, lead hardness and amount of exposed lead are all desigend specifically for .30-30 impact speeds. They work wonderfully! It will be vary hard to see a substantial improvement over regular vanilla bullets in 30-30. The only time I would consider specialty bullets in 30-30 would be handgun hunting. If using a TC Contender pistol with a 10,12, 14" barrel, velocities would suffer. A Ballistic Tip would be helpful. If it means anything I spend $100's and $100's on 'fancy bullets' in everything from 5.56 to .350 Rem Mag. In all cases its a means of using the very best bullet for a very specific caliber, gun, barrel length, game and range. There are two execptions: I also load .30-30 and .35 Rem. In these two cartridges it's near impossible to beat the regular plain jane factory soft point bullets. A 150 or 170 powerpoint or corelokt will do everything a .30-30 is capable of doing, and there is no better bullet for .35 Rem than Remingtons 200 Round Nosed Soft point. These are already matched to caliber and cartidge perfectly. If you are hunting grizzly with a 338, buy a partition. Shooting deer with your AR? Buy a TSX or a Partition. Hunting whitetails with your TC Contender? Use a ballistic tip. These are likely worth the extra couple bucks a box. But if you are hunting whitetails in the woods with your 30-30, you might as well grab any box of Win/Rem/Fed 150 or 170 soft point you can find. 100+ years of fine tuning and hte manufacturers have these loads dialed in. Anything else in .30-30 is pure marketing hype. |
| I used the Rem. 170 grain round nose 30-30 ammo for my first ten years, or so, of hunting deer up in NW WI. It did a fine job until I just had to have some bigger hammers. Bet they'd still work just fine. It was actually kind of amazing looking back at how many deer dropped in place when hit by that slower moving round nosed pill. |
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I agree with Frozenny.
Especially for the 30-30, there is no need to get "fancy" bullets. I shoot 170 Speer Hot Cor's at about 1800 FPS out of my Marlin. That is enough speed to go clean through a 350 lb black bear, including going through a shoulder blade. There is plenty of power there, a lot more than you will see on paper. I also handload, so I can customize each load to exactly what I want it to do. In my .30-06, I shoot 150 Speer Hot Cors at about 2800 fps. This is my deer, antelope, sheep, and goat load, (should I ever draw a sheep or goat tags). For elk, I will probably load up a bonded bullet, or the TSX or similar, again loading to the game I plan to hunt. With the .30-30, don't worry about it, just shoot a load that shoots good in the gun. |