Hi
I wonder which 150 grain pointed bullet is best suited for 3030 velocitiis. I mean it can open at low speed.
regards
danny

Nosler Ballistic Tip would be my choice, and I'd keep an eye on Powder Valley, which sometimes has Nosler Solid Bases. Those are reputed to be the softest bullets on the market, and you are likely to get someone telling you that they are too soft even at .30-30 velocities.

I demand that a bullet opens up and have always gotten splendid accuracy from those two. My deer shooting was with the SBs from a .308, and I never had any complaints although some would say there was needless damage. My response is that I can throw away a whole lot of bloodshot meat before it totals one deer lost to a bullet that did not expand.

In my opinion, a lot of conventional 150 gr spitzers should work well at .30-30 speeds. After all, if they work at .30-06 or .300 mag velocities with an impact at 200-250 yards, they should open up at .30-30 speeds at 100 or 150 yards. I think Sierra flat bases, Speer Hot-Cores, Hornady spire points and my personal favorite in a .30-30 bolt action, the 150 gr Winchester Power Point over a max load of H-335, would all work fine.

you probably already know this but do not use pointed bullets in a lever gun,the pointed bullets can set off the primers,I tryed 150gr nosler bullets but loaded 1 at a time

Of course you can also just have one in the magazine too, so you can have a quick follow up if you need it.

Danny,



Most pointed jacketed 30 caliber bullets get real iffy at expansion below 2000 FPS.



Two possible choices are:



Northfork 150 grain = Mike says his will expand a low as 1700 FPS, and has pictures on his website to prove it. He states they were designed for 30 caliber handgun rounds, so should work.



The "best" choice is not a 150 grain at all, it's the Barnes 130 grain X bullet. Its pointy, and you should be able to drive it to around 2500 FPS in a 30-30. That would keep it above it's velocity expansion range (about 1950 fps) out to 250 yds or so.



I know you said 150 grain bullets, but an X bullet (even one as lite as 130 grains) will hold together and penetrate.



Good luck,



Bob

My vote is with Leftoverdj for the 150 Nosler Ballistic Tip. It should act like a "controlled" expansion bullet at .30-30 velocities, since the nose is very expansive and the solid base tends to hold the jacket and bit of the core together to push them deeper than most people give credit for. The 125 Ballistic Tip should also do well on deer-sized game in the .30-30 if you want more velocity.

I don't recommend it, but the Ballistic Tip would probably have a difficult time actually denting a primer enough in a nose-to-base magazine to actually ignite it. A few firings would deform the Ballistic Tips in the magazine noticably, however; and not having a crimping groove might allow the BT to be shoved deeper into the case if subjected to repeat firings while held in the magazine. I REPEAT, I do NOT recomment the practice of using ANY spitzer bullet in a tubular magazine, other than as a single cartridge in addition to the one in the chamber for a two-shot repeater.

By the way, Leftover, I don't regard the old Solid Base as all that soft. In fact, it has given pentration in my (admitedly unsophisticated dry media) tests at consistently about 90% of that of the Partition. It is true that it produces a lot of tissue trauma due to a quick-expanding nose, but overall, it's a deeper penetrator than nearly any "conventional" jacketed bullet.

Top choice for me would be the Nosler 150 BT's. Pricey so being cheap I would also look at the Hornady Sierra and Speer 150 SP offerings as well as the bulk Remington's. Midway still has the Hornady 130 grain single shot bullet listed so if you can get some over there, they would perform well in your bolt gun.

I like the Speer Mag-Tip because it is physically short enough to cycle through my M94 (of course one must load one in the chamber and ONE in the magazine) AND it has the proper ogive for use in my Contender factory barrel. I've even used it in the .30 Herrett but I think it is right about at the edge of usefulness since it only starts at about 1900 fps from my barrel.

I've been using the Sierra 150 gr. Flat Base Spitzer in my T/C Carbine for several years. FWIW, I had no difficulty in reaching 2500 fps with RX15 although best accuracy was around 2400 fps. I did try BT's and although accuracy was tops they are fragile. JMO, any would work but even if you get best velocity, 250 yards is about the best you end up with, maybe a tad bit more. I see little reason to bother with boat tails for the cartridge.

My first thoughts were a plain vanilla Hot Core because they seem to be somewhat softer than the norm, or a Hornady with the fluted tip. But I agree that a BT is an excellent choice..

My vote goes to the Sierra 150 gr. ProHunter flat base bullet. I have seen it perform on ferel hogs at a velocity of 2425 fps shot from an old 788 Remington chambered for the 30-30. One shot kills on hogs up to 180 lbs. Should work well on deer too.

May I be half the man my grandson thinks I am.....RiverRat

I have shot hundreds of them and I say hands down it is the Winchester Power Point. They have always opened up for me from 10 to 200 yards. I have tried several others, including the Nosler Balistic Tip, and the Winchester is my #1 choice. PS
I shoot them out of a Savage and Stevens bolt actions, and have also used single shots.

My wife has shot some critters with the 130 gr standard Hornadays, not the pistol bullet. Worked great. Gets just a little better trajectory than the 150s and the expansion was commensurate with 30-30 vels.

HI
I own a 340 savage and a m24 savage both in 3030 no one has a tubular magazin. I plan for hunting roe deer and need somewhat better trajectory because the vital point area is very little.
regards
danny

Off topic a bit but;

Hot Core:

I'm not sure about the stregnth of that that NEF rifle. I looked at their website and see some pretty hot chamberings so you can take what I'm going to say for what you think its worth.

I've played around with the 30-30 case in Rem. bolt guns. I'd stay with bullets in the 130 plus or minus a bit range. I had great luck with old AA2015, and H322. I'm not sure about the new AA XMR or whatever it is stuff. Watch the pressure closely and work your way up. You might find your results interesting. Again for others, I'm not sure of the stregnth of the NEF actions. The pressure signs may be more subtle than in a bolt gun. Remember my posts about shooting the 30-30 in hunter benchrest?

knobmtn

Hey Knobmtn, Thanks for the info. I just made a quick scan of their 2004 catalog and noticed the same action is available in the 270Win. That is a good 16k c.u.p.s(I think) higher intensity than the good old 30-30.

My buddy, Al, has no desire to try and turn it into something other than what it is. In fact, he may be satisfied with some Reduced H4895 Loads or maybe even the Blue Dots. But, I do have a good bit of H322 on the shelf and really appreciate your comment concerning it.

I do plan to use good old Pressure Ring Expansion(PRE) while developing the Loads for it. He got a couple of boxes of Factory Ammo, so we will have something to establish a Benchmark Standard.

...

Speaking of the chamber, I'd picked up some "Once Fired" 30-30s at the Range from a guy sighting in a few years ago. I'd planned to give them to another buddy, but haven't seen him. So I gave them to Al. We tried one in his NEF and immediately got it stuck in the chamber. So, this NEF chamber is a bit more snug than the M94 the guy was using at the Range.

Had to cut another cross-slot in his Weaver Base today so he could get the Scope positioned a bit more to his liking. That is one really nice thing about the Weaver Aluminum Bases - easy to add more cross-slots with a file.

It sure does "hang" well in the Off-hand position. Very nicely balanced.

Thanks again for the scoop.

I've had to cut extra notches in Weaver bases myself. You would think Weaver would just cut them at regular intervals like a pitkinney rail. Anybody here have any Weaver connections.

150 Ballistic tip

For truly reduced loads that open easily, I like the 135 gr. Sierra .30 handgun bullet at about 1,700-1,900 fps. Very good for those unable to tolerate much recoil because of either tender or advanced ages and/or physical disabilities.

AC