Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

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AmBraCol
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Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by AmBraCol »

Hey, guy! Greetings from SW MO for a change. While up here for my mother's birthday celebration I've had a chance to do a bit of loading and plan to do a bit of unloading (via the barrel) of what I'm loading in another week or two. I picked up some bullets from Hunter's Supply. They are marked 193 gr and are a blunt, flat nosed bullet with a beautiful meplat. I loaded some into the 30-06 brass over a healthy snort of Unique, but would also like to load some up for shooting through my grandpa's old Winchester '94 in 30 WCF. The problem is, none of my sources list any loads for that heavy of a bullet in the 30-30. The ones I've found online list heavier loads than I'm looking for, using powders I don't have available anyway. This is a gas check bullet but should do with with the right powder sans gas check. I've some 30 cal checks I could install if I HAD to, but am looking for lower intensity loads, preferably with Unique, but 231, Bullseye, Titegroup, 4227, 2400 and 4895 are all available in the cache.

Can you point me at reliable data for this bullet in the 30-30?

Thanks!
Paul - in Pereira


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Old Savage
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by Old Savage »

Six can certainly tell you.
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Larkbill
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by Larkbill »

I've done fairly well with 10.5 gr Unique with some 169 gr and 185gr gas checked. Mine are pointy and are loaded singly in my 94 or in my Springfield 325 bolt gun. I also shoot them out of my Remington 788 scoped gun but always loaded much hotter.
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by Jay Bird »

Paul, (Birdman of Leverguns here....fillin' in for whacky 6....he's out back weed whackin' :D )

I'd stay away from any powder faster than Unique.......I don't have the education to honestly make that choice but I never did like powders like Bullseye or 231 for reduced loads.

I use 5744.....19 grains for a 170 and before that powder came out I'd use a lot of unique.....ALWAYS loose in the case. Never use fillers of any kind and I really don't care what others think when there are so many choices to use without fillers. I've been there and done all that....

7, 8, or 9 grains of Unique with any grain bullet will make for a fun day of zero to 200 yard shooting.....Larkbill likes 10.5...great load....I personally just like to stay a bit under max loads.....Unique has the same chemical make up as Bullseye has but with a heavier coating to deter burn rate.

I really LOVE Unique ....it won't set no velocity records but will make near any cartridge ever invented go bang with enough velocity to know your shooting something....

I always get better velocity variations with Unique than anything else...2400 and 4227 also do well but are position sensitive according to my chronograph results...not bad, but as a frugal guy why use twice the powder when half of it will do the same.

Bit more comfort margin with 5744 along with higher velocities than Unique. :D

Here's a pic from a Lyman manual from the sixties......these loads work as good today as they did back in '95 or whenever the 30-30 came out.

Try a few without the gas check and save yourself the expense and work.....it's a hit or miss with gas checks on or off but you won't know until you try it. If the crown is good and the bore decent you'll probably be OK without them.

Neck size only and you can even get away using pistol primers. have fun shootin' as there's only so many "fun days" in a life.

Birdman of Leverguns......

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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by Sixgun »

Hey Birdman...thanks for watching my back and answering a few questions.......I was out weed whacking and I had to whack the neighbor for getting in my business....but that another story....

Should have pointed out to Paul about the drastic pressure changes using fast burning powders as noted in your picture.....only a grain or two will add 10-20 K pounds to the inner surfaces of those chamber walls......

Got to run........Jay (Old Win) and Gunny, (GunnyMack) along with Tom (Fordwannabe) are out in the driveway and Jay has that big buffalo coat on in 85 degree weather......think they want to know all about those "fightin' handguns" I have .....or used to have...
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1894cfan
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by 1894cfan »

Hope this helps. The RCBS Cast Bullet Manual number 1(they never got around to number 2) lists 16.0gr-18.0gr of 2400 (1756-1886fps), 13.0gr-15.0gr of H110 (1478-1633fps), 8.0gr-9.0gr of Red Dot (1295-1383fps) and 6.5gr-7.5gr of 700X (1086-1255fps) for their 30-180-FN that weighs out to 195gr of Lyman #2!
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AmBraCol
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by AmBraCol »

Thanks, guys! I really need to increase my library of loading manuals. I thought we had more around here than we do..I was thinking that around 9 or 10 grains of unique would be about right - but I don't trust feelings that aren't backed up with solid evidence. messing around in the loading room again has been a real blast -figurative, not literal - and I want to keep it that way. Cranking out the ammo on my old Lyman Turret press has been therapeutic. Carefully weighing each powder charge for the rifle rounds satisfies the OCD part of me. Hopefully I'll find time to prep some more brass to use in setting up the loads mentioned at the beginning of this post. the first batch went to Some 311008 bullets that Creeker cast for me.
Paul - in Pereira


"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." -- John Witherspoon

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http://www.pistolpackingpreachers.us
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AJMD429
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by AJMD429 »

I find lots of data on

AmmoGuide.com and LoadData.com.

The first one has a lot of ‘user’ data but they also list ‘factory’ data so you can get an idea if the users are crazy or not and going out of bounds.

I don’t have my login information handy or I can tell you how many loads they list for that bullet, if any. The annual fee to get full access is pretty nominal and well worth it. Having the Lyman Cast Bullet and Lee Loading Guide which are so educational, plus these two online sources, is usually all I need.
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Larkbill
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Re: Heavy bullet plinking loads in 30 WCF

Post by Larkbill »

The Castboolits message board has lots of loads too. That's where I got my starting load of 10.0 gr of Unique and eventually ended up at 10.5 in MY guns.
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