Range report nosler 30-30 ballistic tip (domed) plus a bit

kraky1 · Apr 30, 2012

Pretty new to the 30-30 but have done lots of realoading for other calibers.
Picked up my used '69 20" marlin a couple weeks ago. Mounted a 2-7 ballist plex burris on it. Not sure if I like a scope on the gun yet but figured now was a good time for load developement. Fun thing with the ballistic plex is using a computer forecast it looked if I was zero'd about 1.5" high at 100 the 3rd hashmark would be dead on for "gong attempts" at 300 yds. The new domed noslers shot really really good with a couple powders...shooting 1"- 1.25" at 100 yds. At the end of the day swung over the the 300 yd gongs, put the 3 hashmark on it and went 2 for two!! Heres some speed results:
Old federal 170's...pulled the bullets looked like 33.4 of 748 in them....dropped in 168 nosler spire points....shot great...speed 2160
Fed brass, 150nos30-30, 34.0 h4895...2350 fps...no signs of pressure shot great.
win brass, 150 nos 30-30, 35.5 748, 2290 fps.....shot great.
win virgin brass, 150 win silvertip spire point, 33.0 re12...2320fps....didn't shoot real accurate.
Same recipe only 36.3 Mr2000 only fired one for velocity reading 2253
fed brass, 150 nosler30-30, 32.0 I3031 2296fps....shot great...a couple slightly sticky extractions....maybe slightly over max? shot exc!!
fed brass, 140 hornady monoflex, 30.o I3031, 2270...shot 1.75" @100, extracted fine.

All these shot out of 20" barrel.

DrMike · Apr 30, 2012

MOA or thereabouts is very good from a lever gun. It sounds as if you have some fine loads and a good rifle. Congratulations.

Guy Miner · Apr 30, 2012

You're going to really confuse some guys by ringing that 300 yard gong with a mere .30-30 lever gun... :grin:

JD338 · Apr 30, 2012

kraky1

Outstanding job! 300 yd gong hits, that is very impressisve.
Scotty is going to go nuts when he sees this. :mrgreen:

JD338

kraky1 · May 1, 2012

I'll have to put some paper down there at 300. I was going to got down and look at the gong but another guy showed up to shoot at 100 yds so I didn't want to spend his time going down there. Those 150 noslers sure do shoot....that gun can do anything alot of my bolts can do. There's 3 gongs and I shot at the biggest one which is about 12".
Picked up those bullets on sale at shooters proshop for $10.95. Was gonna shoot em in my little 308 bar but then decided I should have a real 30-30. Man......should've picked up about 5 bags.

SJB358 · May 2, 2012

Wow, that is GREAT shoot from the 30-30. I am running the Leverevolution in my M94 with 170 Speer's at 2300. Shoots pretty well too. I only have a peep on my rifle, so it might take some work to get out to 300, but I should give it a whirl.. I have a couple bags of the 150 BST's, but haven't monkeyed with em yet. Might have to fix that. My son really like shooting that 30-30, so I try to keep him in the ammo!

kraky1 · May 2, 2012

Here's some more results from todays trip:

Maybe boring you guys but wanted to run some experiments. One thing is I notice via my headspace measurer that my casings once fireformed are about .032" longer at the shoulder than virgin. Thought maybe the fireformed stuff would be hotter. Also wanted to compare the blue box fed factory speeds to my loads. Wanted to find out if the long for weight 150 nosler bt 30-30 made more speed/pressure than the speer 150's Also wanted to check fed brass vrs win brass. And wanted to get a grip on some Trailboss numbers. Here's the results:

Factory blue box fed loads. 150 gr...I think they load sierra's 2350fps.

Rest are all handloads & were done with 34.0 H4895. 20" barrel.

win virgin cases speer 150 bullet crimped 2330fps
win virgin cases nosler 150 30-30 ballistic dome tip crimped 2320fps
win virgin cases speer 150 bullet no crimp light neck tension via m die 2314fps
win fireformed speer 150 crimped (actually slower..more case capacity?) 2305fps
federal fireformed speer 150 crimped 2330 fps
Trailboss powder under 110 v max 10.6 grains....sweet..like a 22 1380fps
trailboss powder under a 150 speer 10.6 grain 1141fps

Well, that's it. I guess the bottom line is I was pretty surprised how equal everything came out. Didn't much seem to matter whether cases were fireformed or virgin....whether bullet was a speer or the new long nosler....or brand of brass. I'm kinda thinking it wouldn't surprise me to mix up some headstamps...virgin or not and they would probably hit the same spot....but only the target will tell me that. I gotta keep watching shooters proshop and pick up more noslers.....they shoot stunningly in my gun and I got the last batch at just $10.95/50.

SJB358 · May 2, 2012

That is great intel buddy. I have found about the same. I crimp with the Lee FCD for all the lever guns. I haven't experimented much with them to be honest, just found some decent loads and shot them. I might have to try out that 150 BST though, it has a very thick jacket and should be a good performer. I do like the 170 Speer Deep Curl though. Looks very good in tests I have done and it shoots pretty well for me in my little M94. Might have to carry it a little more next Fall to get some blood on it.