My experience is that it does give the extra velocity. It tends to burn clean and the accuracy is there. I can't help you with the cold weather weather.
30-30 expected accuracy.
- Thread starter Todd Earhart
- Start date
Just a update on 30-30. I found some hornady 150 gr rn and win.748. After a couple different loads I'm at 1 inch at 100. I'm proud of this and want to thank everyone for the help.
Todd
Todd
Used to use a Model 94 in .30-30 for deer hunting. The Weaver 4x scope made it a 1MOA rifle with Federal 170 gr. soft points.
Took every deer with a single shot and the longest taken was about 125 yards. Plenty of knock down power within that distance.
If you will be hunting at longer ranges, the .30-30 may not the best choice of caliber.
Took every deer with a single shot and the longest taken was about 125 yards. Plenty of knock down power within that distance.
If you will be hunting at longer ranges, the .30-30 may not the best choice of caliber.
I agree completely. We do all of our centerfire rifle testing at 100 so I thought, I'm going to do the same for the 30-30. Like I said earlier in thread, I've killed a lot of deer with this rifle but never shot at paper. Made a mistake by doing that and sent me down a rabbit hole it get it better.
Todd
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
I finally tested my 3-9 scoped 336 . I used 150 grain Berry’s plated with 748. 34.5 grains put a 11/4” 3 shot group on target at 100. 2 touching and 1 outside. Shot off a rest and rear bag. I’ll retest with some good hunting bullets when I get to Texas but I am hopeful. It may be a shooter.
This thread gives me hope! I though I heard voices in the rabbit hole, now I find out I’m not crazy. There are other voices down there.
I spent a bunch of time and resources chasing the golden 30-30 ammo /load /powder/projectiles. Every time I thought I found it, I fired enough to mess up the group. I even played with a thermometer and stopwatch. I bought my way out of the rabbit hole. I found an H&R Handy Rifle in 30-30. Now I can play in endless caverns; (for those unfamiliar, it’s a break open single shot).
I spent a bunch of time and resources chasing the golden 30-30 ammo /load /powder/projectiles. Every time I thought I found it, I fired enough to mess up the group. I even played with a thermometer and stopwatch. I bought my way out of the rabbit hole. I found an H&R Handy Rifle in 30-30. Now I can play in endless caverns; (for those unfamiliar, it’s a break open single shot).
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I'm at 38.5 of 748. That's .4 gn. under hornady max. I didn't shoot over chronograph but didn't show any pressure signs. Its a near full case.
Todd
Its been fun. I was surprised how loose the groups was when I started. How good have you been able to get the H and R?
Todd
The H&R is/was a fluke. A friend bought it used, bought ammo and I shot. (According to him 1”). He returned to the ammo source and bought all they had of that batch number. He sold me the 6 remaining boxes of Fiocchi Interlock 170. The gun was threaded for suppresser and had a polymer stock. When he removed the suppressor, the stock twisted. I replaced it with wood. Extreme heat, then rain/mud suspended my shooting. Now our weather is much improved but life keeps getting in the way of shooting. I’ll let you know if I see the 1 inch. If the lands allow, the 308 family of bullets opens up lots of opportunities to waste limitless supplies.
DeerHunter82
Gold $$ Contributor
I have an old 336 in 30-30. I use IMR 4064 and have gotten just under 2” at 100 yards with 170gr Sierra Pro Hunters. No need to test further in my opinion. 2” with a scoped lever action is fine by me.
Looking for much better than 2 moa is most likely rifle ammo sights trigger. That said, some of the older ones I have played with can be "Fairly" accurate. We have a steel Ground Hog target set at 200Meters up our club. I was using cast bullets in a very old model 94 30WCF rifle w peep sights this weekend. The GH target bit the dust quite a few times. Made me happy. mike in ct
Actually a find of mine and I did something similar years ago with 444 Marlin. We saw no real difference, he had a Ballard rifle and mine is Micro Groove.
We each shot 10 rounds for group from each rifle, 5 from our own rifle and 5 from the other guys.
I never shot soft lead in my Micro Groove but I hear it's an issue, I did shoot a bit of hard cast with no issues.
My 444 is accurate enough at 200 yards with the semi-buck horn sight that I removed the scope.
No issues in a micro groove.
@Todd Earhart,
My experience with the 30-30 was a little jaded.
I had a Savage 340 (?) bolt action in 30-30 when I first got into hunting back in the early 1980s.
The factory ammo shot ok. Nothing special that I remember. Always got the job done when it counted. I don't remember how many deer I took with it.
Then I found out that one of the guys I worked with reloaded.
I told him that I wanted a pointed 150gr bullet for it. He didn't want to do that, concerned about slam firing in the magazine.
I had to show him my rifle before he agreed to it.
Well, he loaded some up and off to the range I went.
After seeing what it could do, I started using golf balls for targets at 200 meters.
If I did my part right, I could hit them about 2 out of 3 shots.
My experience with the 30-30 was a little jaded.
I had a Savage 340 (?) bolt action in 30-30 when I first got into hunting back in the early 1980s.
The factory ammo shot ok. Nothing special that I remember. Always got the job done when it counted. I don't remember how many deer I took with it.
Then I found out that one of the guys I worked with reloaded.
I told him that I wanted a pointed 150gr bullet for it. He didn't want to do that, concerned about slam firing in the magazine.
I had to show him my rifle before he agreed to it.
Well, he loaded some up and off to the range I went.
After seeing what it could do, I started using golf balls for targets at 200 meters.
If I did my part right, I could hit them about 2 out of 3 shots.
I have only one .30-30 lever action - a Marlin 336 XLT 24-inch SS factory barrel with a scope.
I find that its accuracy is very dependent on bullets and on powder, but I had to get a decent trigger to really get good results.
My conclusion is that Lever Revolution powder and Hornady soft tip bullets - 140 GTX and 160 FTX (high BC and the soft tips don't create a primer ignition problem in the tube).
The traditional lead tipped 150s just can't get the kind of accuracy that the GTX and FTX produce.
Both managed under 1MOA at 100 yards for 5-round groups
I find that its accuracy is very dependent on bullets and on powder, but I had to get a decent trigger to really get good results.
My conclusion is that Lever Revolution powder and Hornady soft tip bullets - 140 GTX and 160 FTX (high BC and the soft tips don't create a primer ignition problem in the tube).
The traditional lead tipped 150s just can't get the kind of accuracy that the GTX and FTX produce.
Both managed under 1MOA at 100 yards for 5-round groups
Marlin 336 XLT 24 inch barrel | |||||
Trigger | Bullet & Powder | Average | Median | St Dev | # Groups |
Happy Trigger | 140 gr GTX Lever Revolution | 0.942 | 0.940 | 0.298 | 12 |
Happy Trigger | 160 FTX Lever Revolution | 0.909 | 0.861 | 0.356 | 40 |
Happy Trigger | 150 gr Pro Hunter Lever Revolution | 1.756 | 1.825 | 0.375 | 4 |
Happy Trigger | 150 gr Interlock Lever Revolution | 1.351 | 1.426 | 0.699 | 3 |
Factory Trigger | 140 FTX Lever Revolution | 1.524 | 1.524 | 1 | |
Factory Trigger | 160 FTX Lever Revolution | 1.465 | 1.426 | 0.423 | 7 |
Factory Trigger | 150 gr Pro Hunter Lever Revolution | 2.862 | 2.862 | 0.727 | 2 |
Factory Trigger | 150 gr Interlock Lever Revolution | 2.056 | 2.039 | 0.393 | 8 |
Gun Smith
Gold $$ Contributor
"In all cases I have worked the metal bands and wood forends to improve accuracy plus bedded the tangs of the stocks." - Good Advice Captain!
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